SAN FRANCISCO – The Phillies battled back from three deficits, but could not do it a fourth time and lost 8-7 to the San Francisco Giants on Sunday afternoon.
Conor Gillaspie’s RBI hit against Severino Gonzalez in the bottom of the ninth won it for the Giants. They have won 32 of their last 42 games. The Phillies have lost 28 of 36.
The big story in this game was the continued struggles of Aaron Nola. He did not pitch past the fourth inning for the fourth straight start.
Nola arrived in the majors 11 months ago and recorded a 3.12 ERA in his first 25 big-league starts. His ERA in his last four is a troubling 15.23.
Starting pitching report
Nola failed to pitch past the fourth inning for the fourth straight start. He went 3 1/3 innings, gave up a career-high 10 hits and five runs. He also hit three batters.
Here’s how deep Nola’s slump is: He has pitched just 13 innings in his last four starts and he has been tagged for 32 hits and 22 earned runs. He has walked seven batters and hit four over that span. He had a 2.65 ERA in his first 12 starts this season. It has ballooned to 4.45 over his last four.
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Cueto gave up eight hits and six runs over six innings. He hadn’t given up more than two runs in nine straight starts. He entered the game with a 2.06 ERA. He had a 1.07 ERA, the best in the majors, in his previous nine starts.
Bullpen report
Brett Oberholtzer gave up a run in 2 2/3 innings pitched.
David Hernandez surrendered a booming RBI double to Angel Pagan with two outs in the bottom of the seventh as the Giants pushed home the go-ahead run. Hernandez has been tagged for 10 runs over 6 1/3 innings in his last six outings.
Gonzalez pitched a scoreless eighth, but took the loss in the ninth. He gave up two hits and a run in the frame.
At the plate
The Giants had 16 hits. The Phillies had 12.
The Phillies trailed 5-1 after three innings, but scored four two-out runs the next two innings to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth. Carlos Ruiz and Freddy Galvis had run-scoring hits in the fourth and Cody Asche tied it with a two-run single in the fifth.
The Giants went up, 6-5, with a run in bottom of the sixth, but Odubel Herrera tied it again with a long solo homer to center to lead off the seventh.
The Giants went up, 7-6, in the seventh and Asche tied it with a hit in the top of the eighth.
Pagan had four hits and two RBIs for the Giants.
ICYMI
Herrera is staying in centerfield for now (see story).
Up next
The Phillies play the Diamondbacks in Arizona the next three days. Here are the pitching matchups:
Monday night – RHP Vince Velasquez (5-2, 3.65) vs. LHP Robbie Ray (4-6, 4.59)
Tuesday night – RHP Jerad Eickhoff (5-9, 3.36) vs. RHP Zack Greinke (10-3, 3.61)
Wednesday afternoon – RHP Zach Eflin (0-2, 6.28) vs. RHP Archie Bradley (3-3, 4.83)
The Phillies will need to make a roster move to move Velasquez from the disabled list to the roster. He is moving into Adam Morgan’s rotation spot. Morgan could be stay with the club and move to the bullpen or be sent to Triple A.
