Aaron Nola, Phillies can’t yet seal NL East as dominant homestand ends with letdown
PHILADELPHIA — Shortly after their lopsided loss, the Phillies gathered in the home clubhouse to watch the finish of the Mets game taking place 90 miles away. It was simple; a Philadelphia win or a New York loss was all the team needed to officially wrap up the National League East on Sunday afternoon, and the building was prepped for celebration.
But after a clunker of a start from right-hander Aaron Nola and an extra-inning win by the Mets, all partying had to be put on hold at Citizens Bank Park. No corks were popped. The photographers couldn’t enter the clubhouse. The sheets of protective plastic that hung above each locker never had a reason to be unrolled.
Nola, perfect for three innings, allowed six runs in six innings in a 10-3 loss to the Royals in the finale of a three-game series. He cruised early, then ran into a wall, giving up a two-run home run in the top of the fifth inning and four runs in the sixth. The starting pitcher when the Phillies clinched postseason spots in 2022 and 2023 and when they won the NL East last year, Nola couldn’t find the same type of success this time around.
“I’ve been blessed in those situations, of course, and another one today,” Nola said. “But it’s baseball. I just tried to try to go out and put the guys in a good chance to win, and I did that for the most part, until that first home run and then the sixth inning.”
The Phillies gave Nola some early run support, as slugger Kyle Schwarber hit an opposite-field homer in the first inning, just as he did in the 2022 playoff clincher in Houston. Catcher J.T. Realmuto added another off left-hander Noah Cameron with a laser down the left-field line to put the Phillies up, 2-0.
“He’s a big-game guy, really,” manager Rob Thomson said of Schwarber. “Everything started off really well with him and J.T. getting the two home runs in the first inning. It looked good. Nola was cruising until the sixth.”
Nola surrendered his first hit in the fourth and gave up a two-run shot to Jac Caglione in the fifth. It continued to unravel the next inning. After Bobby Witt Jr. hit a triple to right field, Vinnie Pasquantino doubled him home. Two batters later, catcher Salvador Perez hit a three-run home run to put the Royals ahead by four. With another rough outing in a season that’s had only a handful of good ones, Nola’s ERA rose to 6.44 through 15 starts.
Kansas City tacked on four more runs against the Phillies bullpen, and a Bryson Stott home run was the only other source of offense for Philadelphia. By the time the game ended, only a fraction of the announced crowd of 42,513 remained in the seats as the Phillies invited the fans to stay and watch the Mets game.
The players watched on the televisions in the clubhouse as the action played on the scoreboard in left field. Unfortunately for the Phillies and the fans who stuck it out, New York came away with a 5-2, 10-inning win at Citi Field on a walk-off home run by Pete Alonso.
“We were just tuning in,” Schwarber said. “We knew that if it’s a loss there, that we’re going to celebrate.”
The Phillies will have to save it for tomorrow, or the next day or probably some other time this week. Their magic number is still at just one, so they are still in prime position to be crowned NL East champions soon, barring the unthinkable. However, it looks like that’ll take place on the West Coast during their upcoming road trip instead of back home in Philadelphia.
That’s certainly a letdown to close out a dominant homestand that began with a four-game sweep of the Mets and two straight wins over the Royals to propel the Phillies into this position in the first place. Still, there’s no shame in finishing off the NL East on the road. The team will have its first chance on Monday night against the Dodgers.
“Of course, we always want to do any type of big game, clinching game in front of our fanbase,” Nola said. “Makes it that much more fun. But that didn’t happen today, and that’s baseball. We’ll go try to do it in LA.”