The Philadelphia Phillies needed electricity and excitement to force a Game 3 in the Wild Card Series against the Braves Thursday night. It was immediately obvious that their starter, Aaron Nola, was anything but.
Nola looked flat from his first pitch. He could not find the strike zone with any consistency, and it came back to bite him before the first inning concluded. Ten of his first 13 pitches were balls, resulting in two walks and a 2-0 count to Michael Harris II.
Pitch No. 14 from Nola would have been a ball had Harris not golfed it into the right-field stands. 3-0 Braves.
That pitch may have been as close to the ground as it was to the strike zone. According to MLB.com’s Sarah Langs, the pitch was 1.11 feet from the ground — the lowest pitch Harris has hit for a home run in his career. It was the third-lowest pitch hit for a homer in the postseason since tracking began in 2008.
Nola surrendered more homers than any starting pitcher this season. Limiting baserunners in front of those long balls helped his second-half turnaround. Thursday night, he failed to do so.
The veteran right-hander escaped the inning without further incident. Nola continued falling behind hitters in the second inning. Before the frame ended, he would exit the game. Nola finished with 1 2/3 innings pitched, allowing two hits, two walks and three runs on 38 pitches, only 19 of which were strikes.
Still, Philadelphia had reason to feel confident. The Phillies had just overcome a three-run deficit less than 30 hours earlier, and Zack Wheeler was headed to the mound.
Unfortunately for them, Atlanta’s opener, left-hander Ray Kerr, made them uncomfortable for much longer than anyone anticipated.
Armed with a sidearm delivery, a fastball that did not touch 95 mph and an extra-slow curveball, the lefty, who made just nine regular-season appearances after a nearly two-year recovery from Tommy John surgery, delivered 3 1/3 strong innings and, most importantly, got past Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper twice without allowing any damage.
Credit is due to Kerr. He delivered in the biggest moment of his career, throwing more pitches than in any previous outing. The left-hander’s cutter was almost a slider, and his curveball danced to the plate.
Phillies hitters could not handle his fastball despite it never reaching the edge of the strike zone. Coming in at under 95 mph and being fully in the zone, his other pitches left Philadelphia’s offense unprepared for what seems like a meatball in today’s game.
It did not matter who was on the mound for the Braves. Phillies hitters fell into poor habits, feeling the pressure of the moment after going down early. They finished with a 32.9% chase rate, matching their fourth-worst regular-season mark.
Philadelphia went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position. In total, the offense tallied six hits and two walks, with one of each coming from pinch hitters. Four of the other six baserunners came from Kyle Schwarber, who reached three times, and Bryce Harper, who reached once.
The Phillies could not muster enough to overcome the first-inning deficit. It continued a trend of the bats failing to show up with their season on the line.
Since 2022, the Phillies are a combined 22-for-159 (.138) in games in which they were ultimately eliminated from the playoffs. They have a long offseason ahead of them to figure out how to buck that trend.
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