DETROIT — Even though Aaron Nola was having one of his strongest starts of the season so far, interim manager Don Mattingly tried to play it safe.
Rather than push Nola a third time through the Tigers order on Friday night, Mattingly lifted Nola after five innings, with his pitch count only at 84. His pitches looked sharp, and he held Detroit to just three hits in what was at the time a 2-2 ballgame.
“That’s one I’ll probably lose a little sleep over,” Mattingly said.
Because the move immediately backfired. Tim Mayza became the latest left-handed reliever to struggle for the Phillies, unraveling for five runs in the sixth inning as the Tigers pulled ahead for the 10-2 win.
Mattingly said he went to Mayza since left-hander Riley Greene was due up to start the sixth, and liked that matchup better. He also wanted to force the Tigers to pinch-hit lefty Kerry Carpenter, due up third. But Greene worked a 10-pitch walk, confirmed by an automated ball-strike challenge on a 3-2 pitch that missed the zone by less than 0.1 of an inch.
Mayza also walked Matt Vierling, who pinch-hit for Carpenter.
“I didn’t really count on the walks,” Mattingly said.
Nola said postgame he felt like he still had gas in the tank. Did he think he was getting the sixth inning?
“Kind of, yeah,” he said. “Donnie just said there was a pocket of lefties coming.”
For five innings, Nola’s changeup and curveball were both effective. Together, they accounted for seven of his eight total strikeouts, the other coming on his fastball. Nola has a 5.75 ERA this season, but put together a solid outing to build on after the All-Star break.
The Tigers had six lefties in their starting lineup against him, with Delco’s Kevin McGonigle leading off. He hit a 414-foot, two-run homer off Nola’s sinker in the third inning, the eighth of the Bonner-Prendie grad’s rookie season so far. McGonigle is set to make his first career appearance at Citizens Bank Park next week as one of the Tigers’ All-Star representatives.
“Felt like we were mixing pretty well tonight,” Nola said. “Got behind on several guys, especially McGonigle right there. Good hitting, right there. Hit that ball pretty hard, out of one of the deepest parts of the field. So hat off to him on that one. Obviously, big walk right there that hurt me right before him, but overall I felt pretty good.”
After Mayza walked two in the sixth inning, a single from Eduardo Valencia — who debuted for the Tigers Thursday — broke the stalemate. Mayza then committed a throwing error while fielding a sacrifice bunt that allowed another run, and things continued to unravel after James Outman sent a bases-clearing triple to deep center field. Outman then scored when Mayza was called for a balk.
The Phillies’ left-handed relievers have struggled as a unit this season, but the issues have compounded on their current road trip. Tanner Banks and José Alvarado gave up four runs apiece in a blowout loss to the Reds on Wednesday, and Banks was later placed on the injured list with a forearm strain. And that came after Kyle Backhus was optioned earlier in the week following extended struggles of his own.
That leaves Mayza and Alvarado as the only lefties in the pen. Mayza had overall been the most consistent. He came into Friday’s game with a 2.81 ERA, which surged to 3.59 by the time his night was over.
“The lefties is something that concerns you,” Mattingly said. “You feel like as you get moving, that you need lefties to be able to get the good hitting lefties out. … Mayza’s really been pretty good. We do think Alvy’s going to get going. We’re going to get him going, but obviously it hasn’t been the strength for us so far out there.”
And the trouble didn’t end there for the Phillies bullpen. Max Lazar, who pitched the seventh, gave up a homer on the first pitch he threw to Colt Keith. That was followed by a two-run shot from Spencer Torkelson, which gave the Tigers an eight-run cushion.
It was a big enough lead to allow the Phillies to put a position player on the mound in the eighth, and Garrett Stubbs made his second pitching appearance of the road trip.
Outside of Derek Hill, the Phillies offense didn’t fare much better. Hill accounted for their only two hits against Tigers starter Jack Flaherty, as well as their only runs of the game.
The outfielder found out he was playing about 40 minutes before first pitch, when Justin Crawford was scratched with left knee soreness. He hit a solo shot in the third inning and an RBI single in the fourth that scored Bryce Harper, who drew a walk. Hill hit another single in the seventh for a three-hit game.
“I’m always mentally prepared to go out there and execute anything from the coaching staff, and it doesn’t really matter to me, so I just go out there and be prepared as I can,” Hill said.
Mattingly said that Crawford slipped in the outfield while doing pregame drills. He felt better as the game went on, but the Phillies will be cautious with him and check on him on Saturday.
Brandon Marsh singled in the eighth to bring the Phillies’ total to four hits on the night.
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