Aaron Nola is back, but the Phillies offense comes up short yet again in 4-1 loss to the Mariners

Well, this trip out west has turned into a disaster in a hurry. Aaron Nola gave the Phillies exactly the kind of quality start they needed, six strong innings, but it didn’t matter one bit because the offense had zero answers for George Kirby, who cruised in a 4-1 Mariners win on Tuesday night.

Two losses in a row now, the nine-game winning streak feels like a distant memory, and the Phillies are staring down a sweep at T-Mobile Park. The pitching held up its end again. The bats got muzzled.

Aaron Nola is BACK, so at least we have that…

Let’s start with the good, because Aaron Nola continues to be a genuine bright spot. This was almost the classic, standard Nola start the Phillies have come to expect when he’s right. He tossed six innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs while striking out seven. Just one homer allowed too, because he kept the ball down all night and pitched with real conviction. Good stuff.

The homer he surrendered came off the bat of Cal Raleigh, who is absolutely scorching right now with four home runs in two games, and it came on a knuckle curve in a 2-1 count that Raleigh just scooped and drove into the right-field seats. That’s not a bad pitch. That’s a red-hot hitter doing red-hot hitter things. Tip your cap and move on.

What’s encouraging is how sharp Nola looked under the hood. His pitches had strong shape all night, the spin was up, and the velocity ticked up almost across the board.

Interestingly, he sensed a different plan from Seattle and adjusted on the fly, leaning on his sinker, which he located beautifully, throwing it for strikes 71 percent of the time and mixing front-door and back-door looks to keep hitters off balance.

Only one of his seven strikeouts even came on the knuckle curve, which tells you how well he adapted. Over his last six starts, Nola now has a 2.60 ERA, and he says he feels like he’s been “on the attack” lately.

After how brutal the first three months looked for him, this resurgence is one of the best developments of the season. The Phillies will take this version of Nola every single time.

Only real trouble came in the sixth. After a leadoff lineout, Julio Rodriguez singled, stole second, and came around to score on a Josh Naylor single to center, beating Justin Crawford’s throw home. That was it. That was all Kirby needed, because the Phillies offense gave him nothing to sweat.

Phillies Offense is Frustrating…

George Kirby was NOT the guy who walked in having allowed 11 earned runs over his last two starts. Instead, he came right at the Phillies early and often and completely shut them down.

Using his full seven-pitch mix, Kirby threw at least 60 percent strikes with every single offering and got the Phillies to chase out of the zone nearly 50 percent of the time. That’s a recipe for a long, quiet night, and that’s exactly what it was.

The four-seamer was the killer.

The Phillies struck out five times against it, and Kirby threw it more than a mile per hour harder than his season average, using it 40 percent of the time, up 12 percentage points from his yearly rate. He got a swing-and-miss on HALF of the Phillies swings against it. When a strike-thrower like that has his best fastball working, it’s a tough night, and the Phillies simply had no response outside of one swing.

That one swing belonged to Justin Crawford, whose second-inning RBI single was the lone bright spot offensively. Credit to the rookie, because that hit pushed his average to .313 over his last 60 games, 10th best in all of baseball over that span and first among NL rookies.

Doesn’t really matter though because one run isn’t beating anybody, let alone a locked-in Kirby, who finished with 7 2/3 innings, six hits, one earned run, nine strikeouts, and a walk. He was flat-out one of the best arms the Phillies have faced in weeks.

Trea Turner has gone hitless in four of his last five games. End of story.

We have to be done with Orion Kerkering

The bullpen didn’t help matters, and Orion Kerkering’s struggles rolled on. With Nola done, Mattingly handed him the seventh, and while he got the first out, he let the next three hitters reach from the bottom of Seattle’s order, a hit-by-pitch, a single, and a walk after a mound visit.

He battled to get a big popout from Arozarena, but then Mattingly went to Brooks Raley for the lefty-on-lefty matchup, and Dominic Canzone punched a two-run single to blow the game open. That was all she wrote.

Kerkering’s continued inability to find himself is a real concern with October looming. This team needs bullpen arms it can trust in high-leverage spots, and right now Kerkering isn’t one of them. That has to get sorted out.

The Phillies rolled into Seattle riding a nine-game winning streak and now find themselves on the verge of getting swept. The pitching hasn’t been the problem in these last two, at least not the starters. Wheeler’s clunker aside, Nola gave them every chance Tuesday. It’s the bats that have gone cold at the worst time, and the bullpen hasn’t picked them up.

The good news is Wednesday sets up well for a bounce-back, even if it won’t be easy. The Phillies face Bryan Woo, who’s been excellent at home with a 1.96 ERA, but they’re countering with Jesus Luzardo, who owns a sparkling 1.95 ERA on the road. That’s a real chance to avoid the sweep and salvage something from this trip if the offense can finally wake up.

Two tough losses, a strangled offense, and a sweep on the line. Not what anyone envisioned after nine straight wins, obviously, but it’s a long season, good teams get punched in the mouth on the road sometimes, and this one just needs its bats to show up Wednesday. Get Luzardo a couple runs and get out of Seattle with a win.

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