Nightmare Two Innings From Aaron Nola Leads To Phillies Series-Opening Loss To Pirates
Philadelphia Phillies' Aaron Nola pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates Monday, June 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Aaron Nola disappoints again.
It’s the final matchup against the cross-state rivals, and the final home series before the All-Star break for the Philadelphia Phillies, who came into the series off a 5-2 road trip and a 9-4 record over their 13 games in a row against all division opponents.
In their first game against a non-division opponent in over two weeks, things started great with the offense bursting out to an early five-run lead thanks to three home runs. However, while he started the game off on a solid note, Nola’s effectiveness did not last.
A two-run fourth inning and a six-run fifth from the Pirates gave them a lead midway through the game, and despite the Phillies cutting it to a one-run game late, a three-run bomb in the ninth was the nail in the coffin as Pittsburgh snagged a 11-7 win to open the series.
It was another depressing performance from Nola, who managed to blow a five-run lead, allowing seven earned runs, the most in a single start this year for the right-hander. His season ERA increased to a season-high 6.04, and he has not thrown a pitch in the sixth inning in over a month.
While the Nola implosion came later on, the Pirates’ offense was giving the right-hander gifts in the first inning, with Nola needing just eight pitches to pick up the first three outs of the game.
Following the quick inning from Nola, the Phillies offense got to work right away thanks to a couple of solo shots. The first came from the Phillies leadoff man, Trea Turner, who smoked a long 1-2 hanging curveball 424 feet into the second deck in left field.
The solo shot was Turner’s first home run since May 27 and continued his hot streak over the past 12 games wheres he’s batted .348 with 16 hits, four of them being extra-base hits, and an .866 OPS.
Following a strikeout from Kyle Schwarber and a hard-hit groundout from Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh dug in for his first at-bat of the night and lined a slider into the left-center field gap that made it over the wall, doubling the Phillies’ lead to two.
Nola continued to dice through Pittsburgh’s lineup the first time through, allowing just a hit in each inning, but working around it. In the bottom of the third, the Phillies offense added to their two-run lead thanks to a couple of clutch hits.
Justin Crawford led the inning off with a single back up the middle, and Turner followed suit with a single to left pitting runners on the corners. Schwarber smoked a deep fly ball to center, deep enough for Crawford to score on a sac fly for a 3-0 lead, but Harper decided to pick up Schwarber by smoking a heater into the right field seat for a five-run lead.
However, following the Harper bomb in the third, the tide began to change for Nola and the Phillies. Pittsburgh started the fourth with a leadoff double from Bryan Reynolds, and two batters later, Esmerlyn Valdez smoked a two-run bomb into the seats for his fourth consecutive game with a home run.
Two runs were all Nola gave up, but following a 1-2-3 bottom half from the Phillies, Nola’s rough four rolled into a nightmare fifth inning. Jared Triolo led off the fifth with a solo bomb to make it a 5-3 game, and following a Jake Mangum double and a bunt single from Konnor Griffin, Brandon Lowe made it a one-run game thanks to a sac fly.
Reynolds continued the attack with a walk, and Ryan O’Hearn made Nola pay with a single to left, bringing in Griffin to tie the game. With two runners on and his pitch count for the inning in the 30s, Nola walked Valdez, and Don Mattingly went out to end his night, with all three runners his responsibility.
Seth Johnson came on to clean up Nola’s mess, but he added fuel to the fire with a walk forcing in a run, and an error by Turner trying to turn a double play brought in two more for the Pirates, giving them an 8-5 lead. Triolo, who led off the inning with a bomb, dug in for his second at-bat of the inning, but Johnson struck him out to end the bloodbath of a fifth.
The Phillies followed up the Pirates’ runfest with another 1-2-3 inning in their half of the fifth. Both teams went down in order in the sixth, with Johnson striking out the side, and the Pirates failed to add on in the seventh. Still trailing by three, J.T. Realmuto was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Crawford legged out an infield single, putting runners on the corners.
Turner struck out for the second out of the inning, and Schwarber blasted a ball deep to right, but just hooked foul into the seats. A pitch later, he spun a groundball to short and just missed beating out the throw to first, with the Pirates ending the inning unscathed.
An inning later, Marsh decided to put the team on his back with his second bomb of the night, cutting the deficit to two.
For Marsh, it was his ninth home run in the month of June, the most the left fielder has ever hit in a single month and just two less than his home run total from last season. The line kept moving following the Marsh homer, as Bryson Stott singled to center, moved up to second on a wild pitch, and came home to score on an RBI single from Realmuto, making it a one-run game.
Two runs in the eighth were all the Phillies could get, so heading into the ninth, Chase Shugart came on to hold the one-run deficit. After getting two quick outs to kick off the inning, O’Hearn blooped a single to center, Valdez worked a walk, and Endy Rodriguez put the nail in the coffin for the Phillies, smoking a sweeper to right field for a three-run bomb, extending the Pirates’ lead to four.
In the bottom of the ninth, Turner struck out, Schwarber grounded out, and despite a walk from Harper, Marsh couldn’t extend the game, striking out to end the ballgame, with the Phillies losing 11-7.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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