Cubs 8, Phillies 1: The Season Is Slipping Away

Updated: 8:02 p.m.

BOX SCORE

For the first time all season, the Phillies have lost consecutive starts by Aaron Nola.

For the first time since his rookie year, Nola allowed three homers in a game.

Daniel Murphy, Anthony Rizzo and Javier Baez took Nola deep, and the Phillies failed to cash in on two big opportunities early against Jon Lester in an 8-1 loss Sunday to the Cubs.

It's yet another series loss for the Phillies, who are 72-64 despite a series record of 18-21-6. The Phils have won just one of their last 11 series, a four-game sweep of the Marlins, who they face next.

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The loss drops the Phillies to four games behind the Braves, who beat the Pirates, 5-1, Sunday night.

No offense

The Phillies had three hits in the first inning and three hits in the fourth inning off Lester but couldn't score in either frame. Roman Quinn started the game by splitting the gap in left-center field and flying around the bases. Unfortunately, he was thrown out at third base attempting a triple. 

As the old baseball adage goes, you never want to make the first or third out at third base ... especially in the first inning, especially with a pitcher like Nola on the hill.

It was a case of Quinn's speed actually hurting him.

The Phillies scored a grand total of four runs in the three games against the Cubs. They were outscored 15-2 Saturday and Sunday.

Their only run Sunday came with two outs in the ninth, a Jorge Alfaro RBI double.

"Am I surprised? Yeah, because we're a better baseball team than that," Rhys Hoskins said. "We've played better baseball throughout the year. ... We still have plenty of time."

A blow to Nola's Cy Young chances

It didn't even take Nola five innings to reach double-digit strikeouts for the sixth time this season. 

But the Cubs put a dent in his ERA and Cy Young chances Sunday (see story).

With the race so tight - Jacob deGrom has a 1.68 ERA and Max Scherzer has a 2.22 ERA with 249 strikeouts - any small misstep for Nola will have huge implications.

His final line read: 5⅔ innings, 5 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 11 strikeouts.

Nola is 15-4 with a 2.23 ERA. The Phillies have won 20 of his 28 starts but lost two in a row behind him.

Weak bottom of the order

The Phillies' 6-7-8 in this game was Scott Kingery, Pedro Florimon and Alfaro. You're not going to score many runs with that trio preceding the pitcher. All three have an on-base percentage below .310.

Florimon started at second base in place of the slumping Cesar Hernandez, who is just 45 for 200 (.225) since July 1. Kingery started at short, with Asdrubal Cabrera at third and Maikel Franco sitting.

It's a delicate balance for Gabe Kapler, getting enough offense and defense in the lineup at the same time. When Nola and Jake Arrieta pitch, Kapler likes to utilize his best defensive arrangement, which explains Florimon and Kingery starting in the middle infield. 

The larger issue is that the Phillies just don't have enough players who are pluses both at the plate and in the field.

"We put a lineup out there that we were really proud of defensively and in large part, we put that lineup out there because we wanted to protect Aaron Nola," Kapler explained.

"I think we continue to try to stack the deepest possible lineup that will see the most pitches and ultimately I think that will pay dividends for us."

Florimon struck out in each of his first two at-bats, including a punchout that stranded two runners before an Alfaro single.

Upcoming schedules

The Phillies are in Miami Monday through Wednesday, have an off-day Thursday then face the Mets Friday through Sunday at Citi Field.

The Braves have seven games this week - three at home against the Red Sox, followed by four in Arizona.

Up next

The Phillies are in Miami for three games, followed by an off-day Thursday and then a three-game set at Citi Field.

Monday afternoon at 1:10 - Vince Velasquez (9-9, 4.05) vs. Jose Urena (4-12, 4.56)

Tuesday night at 7:10 - Jake Arrieta (9-9, 3.54) vs. Trevor Richards (3-7, 4.26)

Wednesday night at 7:10 - Nick Pivetta (7-10, 4.66) vs. Sandy Alcantara (1-0, 1.80)

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