PHOENIX – Rob Thomson has said in the past that he is a constant scoreboard watcher for out-of-town games.
He probably didn’t like what he saw Saturday. Not only did his Phillies drop a 4-3 decision to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field, the Milwaukee Brewers won their game with the St. Louis Cardinals and pulled three games ahead of the Phillies for the top seed in the National League.
The Phillies pulled out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Harrison Bader walked on four pitches to start off the game and sprinted home on a double by Kyle Schwarber off Arizona starter Zac Gallen. Schwarber moved to third on a groundout by Bryce Harper then score on J.T. Realmuto’s sacrifice fly to deep center.
Arizona tied the game 2-2 with solo runs in the first and third off Nola, but he was given the lead back in the fourth when Alec Bohm homered to center for a 3-2 lead.
“I think I’m just getting through the ball better, not cutting my swing off and just kind of the way I feel. Just feels getting through the ball better,” said Bohm. “For a little while there I was just kind of stuck. Just keep building on the consistency of it. Today when I swung I put the ball in play which is more on par for what I do. When I’m good, when I decide to swing at a pitch, and make the right decision, the ball is getting put in play.”
As the manager said, a lot of good things despite a loss that dropped them to 92-63.
“It was nice to see Schwarber get a couple of hits, the double to left-center was a good sign,” said Thomson. “Bohm is swinging the bat well, Stott had a couple base hits, great at-bat in the ninth. Lot of good things today.”
But the Diamondbacks got to Nola in the sixth when, with one out, Blaze Alexander doubled off the wall in centerfield and scored a batter later when James McCann doubled to right-center. Tanner Banks relieved Nola and struck out pinch-hitter Tim Tawa, but Ildemaro Vargas blooped a single just over the head of shortstop Bryson Stott and Arizona grabbed a 4-3 lead.
An error by third baseman Alexander on a ball hit by Otto Kemp and a walk to Bryson Stott by Gallen gave the Phillies two men on with two out in the seventh, but Harrison Bader grounded into a fielder’s choice to end that threat.
The Phillies got a pair of runners on again in the eighth when Kyle Schwarber led off with a single but was forced at second on a great play by Geraldo Perdomo who dove and snagged a Bryce Harper grounder to force Schwarber at second. Harper advanced to third on a single to right by Realmuto, but Brandon Marsh struck out looking and Bohm flew out softly to center.
Should the Phillies need a fourth starter in the playoffs Nola helped himself on Saturday, if there is indeed a competition for that spot between him and Walker Buehler. Nola went 5 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits, four earned runs, a pair of walks and struck out 4 while throwing 55 of his 84 pitches for strikes.
“I could have been a little more aggressive, a lot better than last outing,” said Nola. “Body feels good. I’m 100 percent finally. I feel great. My arm feels good, so overall I feel really good. They’ve got a pretty good lineup. They’re scrappy, hit the ball both ways.”
“I thought he was pretty good,” said Thomson. “Encouraging. I thought his fastball command was good, 93, 94. Landed his curveball early in counts and behind in counts, so that was a good sign. Yeah, 65 percent strikes, got some whiffs. It was good.
“Today was really encouraging to me just because his fastball command, velocity was up and he held it for most of the game. I’m not sure if there’s not some fatigue setting in, just because he hasn’t had a full season. Sometimes that’s good. Really, with the amount of starts he’s had he’s still kind of building back. I don’t know whether there’s some fatigue setting in but I liked where he was at today.”
Gallen, the Bishop Eustace product, kept his hot pitching streak alive by picking up the win as he improved to 13-14 on the season. In his last 10 starts, he is 6-2 with a 2.82 ERA after giving up three earned runs in seven innings to the Phillies.
“His secondary pitch was really good,” said Thomson. “The changeup to lefties, the curveball to righties and lefties. Really good.”
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