PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies’ loss in World Series Game 4 on Wednesday did not hinge on the last batter for starting pitcher Aaron Nola.
No, it had far more to do with the offense being victims of a combined no-hitter, earning them an inglorious spot in postseason history. But it was the last batter that stood out to Nola. That was the moment in the fifth inning where he felt he’d had a chance to potentially change the team’s fate. Yet he couldn’t quite do it.
Instead, the inning ended up spiraling out of control for the Phillies, giving the Astros a pathway to victory, 5–0, and tying the series at two games apiece.
David J. Phillip/AP
With the game scoreless in the top of the fifth, Nola had allowed a single to Astros center fielder Chas McCormick, followed by another to Jose Altuve. That gave him two on, none out, for a showdown with Houston shortstop Jeremy Peña. He felt this would be his last batter regardless of what happened. Yordan Alvarez was up next, and after the Astros designated hitter made hard contact in his first two at bats, Nola did not think he would be allowed to face the slugger a third time. Given manager Rob Thomson’s aggressive management of his bullpen so far this World Series, it seemed like a natural spot for Philadelphia’s best left-handed reliever, José Alvarado.
But just how the lefty would enter was up to Nola and Peña: with two on and one out, or with the bases loaded and none out, or perhaps with the game no longer scoreless at all.
Nola first got Peña to whiff on a curve: 0–1. He then fouled off a bunt attempt: 0–2.
This was his chance to put the rookie away. But he found that he couldn’t hit the spots he needed to.
“It was not well-executed,” Nola said, “the two-strike pitches.”
He missed outside with a curve. Then inside with a changeup. Now, the count was even, 2–2, and he went back to the curveball. Yet Nola let this one hang a bit too much over the plate. Peña lined it into left—just a single, not quite enough for anyone to score, but more than enough to end the night on a sour note for Nola.
“That’s kind of the team they are, and the past two games I’ve faced them, they’ve done that,” he said. “They don’t go down easy, especially when it gets to two strikes. They battle.”
The at bat might not have felt like such an inflection point had things gone better for Alvarado. But the lefty set the tone for his outing right away. His first pitch struck the batter, bringing in a run, and there was more damage to come. The Astros would get five runs before the inning was up. They would not score again, but they wouldn’t need to, and the loss went to Nola.
It continued a rather frustrating recent stretch for the Phillies’ ace—which especially stings considering how well he finished the regular season. This year, he made six starts in September and early October, and all were excellent. Other than an instance where he was burned by a rain delay, he lasted at least six innings each time out, with eight or more strikeouts. He posted a 2.36 ERA in that time—his best month of the season. After years of being dogged by struggles late in the season, Nola had seemingly flipped that narrative on its head, and he carried that success into the playoffs. His first two postseason starts—one in the wild-card round and one in the NLDS—looked just as strong as his last few of the regular season.
But his outings since have been more disappointing. In his NLCS loss against the Padres, he allowed two home runs, and he did the same in Game 1 of the World Series. “I think it really comes down to execution, just missing his spots a little bit,” Thomson said of Nola before his Game 4 start. “He really leans on his command. When it's off a little bit, usually that's when he gets into some trouble.” In a sense, Wednesday night was actually an improvement there; only one of the seven hits he allowed went for extra bases, a double by Kyle Tucker. But even though he was no longer chased by the long ball, he was still getting hit consistently, and the result was a far cry from what he’d been doing in September.
Thomson insisted he’d not seen any issue with Nola’s command early on Wednesday—instead praising his ability to get out of jams and keep the game scoreless even as he allowed baserunners in three of the first four innings.
“I thought his stuff was actually pretty good, and I thought he battled,” Thomson said. “They did get some runners on base, but he battled through it and made some big pitches… I thought he was O.K.”
It was a frustrating night for the Phillies all around. But as players said Thomson reminded them in a postgame speech: They already have experience being on the wrong end of a no-hitter. Back in April, they lost a combined no-no against the Mets, and they came out the next day and won. That victory wasn’t easy, but they did it all the same, their manager reminded them: Down 1–0 in the seventh, they broke through in the later innings to snag the win, 4–1. Thomson encouraged them to take the same mindset tomorrow.
“Whatever has happened has happened,” said right fielder Nick Castellanos. “Everything that is good is over with and everything that is bad is over with. We’re just focused on tomorrow.”
