The defending World Series Champions were in South Philadelphia last night to take on the red-hot Philadelphia Phillies. After a day off on Monday, the Phillies hoped to carry momentum after sweeping the New York Mets and catapulting themselves into first place in the National League East.

Tuesday night started with what we all hoped would be the Phillies ninth straight victory. Aaron Nola was on the mound for the Phillies facing a familiar foe in Max Scherzer. Nola and Scherzer were both locked in for the first four innings and the Phillies found themselves in an all-out pitchers duel, until Mother Nature reared her ugly head and forced a one hour and 44 minute rain delay.

Box Score >>

Aaron Nola has been up and down all season long for the Phillies. Last night, he was absolutely brilliant, so of course, something had to go wrong. Nola allowed just one hit and struck out seven batters, five of which came on curveballs in only four innings of work. Nola’s knuckle curve was a thing of beauty and the location and command was there until the rain delay.

For the Dodgers, Max Scherzer had allowed just three hits and struck out six Phillies batters in just three and a third innings of work. The Dodgers and Phillies both struck out 15 times each on the night. The rain delay definitely hurt. Nola attempted to stay loose throughout but once we reached the 90 minute mark, it was obvious he was going to be done for the night.

From there, the Phillies had Scherzer out of the game after just three and a third, and the Dodgers had Nola out of the game after just four innings. You really couldn’t have asked for a more ideal situation, but the delay proved to hurt the Phillies. The Dodgers bullpen pitched a combined 5 2/3 scoreless innings while the Phillies bullpen struggled.

JD Hammer was the first on the mound for the Phillies and hit his third pitch over the left field wall to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. Matt Moore allowed three more runs in the sixth inning. Moore faced four batters, allowed three hits, and let up three runs. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse for the Phillies, Girardi then opted to put in Enyel De Los Santos who allowed another run to make the game 5-0.

The Phillies eight game winning streak came to an end. They were delayed for almost two hours, squandered a great pitching performance from Aaron Nola, and left eight men base, five of which were in scoring position.

Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Braves beat a very good Cincinnati Reds team by a final score of 3-2. The Phillies now have a one game lead on the Braves and a two game lead on the third place New York Mets in the National League East.

For the Dodgers, Mookie Betts was a late scratch last night and will likely be heading to the injured list. The Phillies need to capitalize the next two nights to keep pace with the rest of the National League East. Tonight, Kyle Gibson will make his third start with the Phillies since being acquired at the trade deadline. He will face Dodgers pitcher David Price.

The Phillies are in first place. Make sure you grab a fresh t-shirt from our store as the hunt for Red October continues. Check out the shop here.

We’re also running a pretty sick giveaway on Twitter, giving away two shirts every night this week. Check the tweet below and get yourself in the running to win.