Phillies Aaron Nola Blue Jays

Aaron Nola makes history, Phillies bullpen blows it in second-straight loss to the Blue Jays

Saturday was supposed to be a celebration. Aaron Nola, the longest-tenured Phillie, toed the rubber against the Blue Jays on Alumni Weekend with a stadium full of franchise legends watching, and he made history right in front of them.

Because this is the 2026 Phillies and we simply cannot have nice things, the bullpen took that beautiful moment and lit it on fire, blowing the lead not once, not twice, but three separate times in a 7-5 loss in 11 innings.

A milestone night, two clutch comebacks, and it all went straight down the drain because this relief corps cannot be trusted to protect a lead if their lives depended on it.

First, Give Aaron Nola His Flowers

Let’s honor the history before we get to the arson. In the second inning, Nola worked Brandon Valenzuela to a 2-2 count and absolutely painted the inside corner with a 93.4 mph front-hip sinker for strikeout number 2,000. A gorgeous pitch on the black for a milestone that only one other man in this franchise’s 143-year history has ever reached.

Aaron Nola 2,000

Aaron Nola is now just the second pitcher in Phillies history to hit 2,000 strikeouts with the club, joining Steve freaking Carlton. He’s the 94th pitcher in all of MLB history to get there. Say whatever you want about his ERA the last two years, the man belongs in that conversation, and one day his name is going up in bronze on the Wall of Fame whether the ERA crowd likes it or not.

He did it in front of the legends, on Alumni Weekend, which is about as fitting as it gets. He also tossed five innings of two-run ball with eight punchouts, and he’s now given the Phillies at least five innings in seven straight starts.

The steady version of Nola is exactly what this rotation needs.

The Injury Scare That Thankfully Wasn’t

Naturally, there was a heart-attack moment. In the sixth, Nola took a 104.3 mph comebacker off his leg and Mattingly yanked him immediately. Given how paper-thin this rotation is after Dombrowski whiffed on a starter at the deadline, the entire fanbase held its breath.

The news came back encouraging with negative X-rays, a right knee contusion, and Nola saying he still plans to make his next start Thursday at the Field of Dreams game. Exhale. This team cannot afford to lose a single arm right now.

Turner and Harper Went Back-to-Back Off Scherzer

The other slice of history belonged to the enemy. Max Scherzer, a longtime Phillies nightmare, was dealing his best game of the year, cruising through 5 1/3 scoreless with Toronto up 2-0, and in the sixth he passed Walter Johnson on the all-time strikeout list.

Then the Phillies stomped all over it. Trea Turner, Scherzer’s old teammate, yanked a slider into the left-field seats. Three pitches later, Bryce Harper, another old teammate, obliterated a slider to the pull side for homer number 25. Back-to-back bombs, a dead ballpark suddenly rocking, and a tie game.

Turner and Harper have combined for a .962 OPS since August began, and both look absolutely locked in right now. That’s the version of this offense that scares people.

The Arraez Rally Was Everything I Love About This Team Now

After the back-to-back shots, they went full small-ball. Spencer Miles kept trying to climb the ladder on Luis Arraez, and on the fourth straight elevated pitch the three-time batting champ punched a single up the middle. Bryson Stott, red-hot, doubled down the line to move him to third. Then Brandon Marsh smoked a 100-plus mph ball, and Arraez scampered home with the go-ahead run on a bobbled throw.

Before Arraez even got to the dugout, he stopped and said something to Justin Crawford in the on-deck circle. Whatever it was, it worked, because Crawford promptly fell behind 0-2 and then ripped a triple off the right-center wall, inches from a homer. Phillies 4, Blue Jays 2.

Crawford’s now seventh in the majors in average since June 14, one of the most underrated turnarounds in baseball, and having Arraez mentoring him in real time is only going to make him better. THAT is the Arraez effect. THAT is why I’ve been screaming about this guy since day one. He makes everyone around him better and he does it while playing with more energy than the rest of the roster combined.

Phillies Bullpen Blows It

Here’s where the good vibes die a violent death. The Phillies had the lead and could not get it to the ninth, because this bullpen is a dumpster fire that keeps finding new ways to combust.

Bowlan gave them a clean seventh. Then Mattingly went to Jose Alvarado in the eighth, and Alvarado did what he’s done all year. Struck out the first guy, then walked Guerrero and Kirk. Got a big flyout for the second out, jumped ahead of Andres Gimenez 0-2, and then grooved a fastball right down the middle that Gimenez lined into right-center to tie it. Alvarado walked off with a 5.77 ERA, the WORST mark in baseball among the 34 relievers with at least 50 appearances.

The Phillies keep whining about his batted-ball luck, and sure, some of it’s bad luck, but when you’re walking the ballpark and leaving 0-2 heaters over the heart of the plate in high-leverage spots, the luck excuse doesn’t fly anymore. He’s just not getting it done, and they keep running him out there in spots that decide games.

Emergency Territory, and It Cost Them

It only got worse from there. The bullpen is so gassed that Mattingly had to use Chase Shugart for the THIRD time in four days, something he literally called “emergency” territory.

In the 10th, Alec Bohm brain-locked at first base on a chopper, thinking about a throw to third instead of just stepping on the bag, and Toronto cashed it in with a go-ahead sac fly. The Phillies clawed back again on an Arraez sac fly, because of course Arraez was involved, but that was the last gasp.

Then the 11th, Shugart back out there because there was literally no one else, and he hung a pitch to Nathan Lukes, who deposited it in the right-field seats for the game-winner. Three times the Phillies handed this bullpen a lead or a tie. Three times it gave it right back. Ballgame.

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