Aaron Nola fell behind early last night in the top of the 1st inning. He allowed 3-runs and the Phillies’ night seemed to be over before it even started. Without Nola being the ace that he surely is and an offense who has been struggling to remain consistent while missing key players such as JT Realmuto, Rhys Hoskins, and Jay Bruce, going down 3-0 early seemed to be a recipe for disaster.

It wasn’t. In the bottom of the 1st inning, the Phillies answered right back and were all over any pitch that Seth Lugo attempted to throw over the plate. Bryce Harper, Alec Bohm, and Didi Gregorius went back-to-back-to-back and just like that, the game was tied.

Jean Segura almost added another home run, but fell just short and ended up on third base, which allowed Adam Haseley to single to shallow right field, and just like that, the Phillies took the lead.

At this point in the game. We are now entering the second inning and the Phillies have a 1-run lead. Bryce Harper comes to the plate for the second time, and absolutely DESTROYS a home run to the upper deck in right field.

Jimmy Cigs then singles to shallow center and scores Alec Bohm. The Phillies were now up 6-3 and Aaron Nola began to settle into the game, finally with some run support, and all things considered, the Phillies fought back and were well on their way to winning the game.

What happened next shoudn’t surprise anyone who has been watching the Phillies. By the 3rd inning, Aaron Nola had thrown over 50 pitches. I knew it. You knew it. Everyone knew it. The Phillies were going to have to rely on their bullpen to hold a lead and save this game.

Aaron Nola left the game after pitching 5.1 innings and allowing 5 hits, 5 ER, 5 walks. He struck out seven. In comes Blake Parker, who has honestly pitched relatively well for the Phillies. But of course, in a game where you actually need the bullpen to hold a lead for you, the opposite was going to happen.

Blake Parker allowed a run and the game was now tied 6-6 in the 6th inning. From there, Tommy Hunter actually pitched well. David Phelps struck out 3 batters in a row for a scorelesss inning and then Brandon Workman came in and was an absolute mess. He allowed 3 runs on 3 hits in just 1/3 innings of work.

Game over.

To put all of this into perspective, the Phillies have lost 12 games in which they have led by 2 or more runs. They have lost an additional 7 games in which they led by 3 or more runs.

Give me HALF of those losses back and we would be sitting comfortably at the top of the NL East. We’re not. Not even close. The Phillies are now 24-25 and holding onto the 8th seed in the playoff standings.

They have a make-up double header against the Blue Jays today. Zach Eflin is on the mound for game one. He has been brutal over his last 3 starts going 0-1 with a 6.61 ERA. He’s allowed 11 runs in 15 innings. If the Phillies want to stay in the hunt for October baseball, they will need Eflin to return to summer form immediately.

Issues are piling up for the Phillies.

• Arrieta is done for at least the regular season.
• Jean Segura took a fastball off his elbow last night and will miss time.
• JT Realmuto is ruled out this weekend with a left hip flexor.
• Rhys Hoskins’ timeline for return is still uncertain.
• Spencer Howard hopes to resume light throwing sometime next week.

September baseball is never kind to the Phillies. This year is no different.

Ring that bell, baby.