For eight hitters, Aaron Nola looked like the pitcher the Phillies needed him to be.
He moved quickly, worked ahead and kept the Dodgers from creating the sort of prolonged innings that can overwhelm a pitching staff. Alec Bohm gave him an early lead with a two-run homer, Citizens Bank Park came alive and the Phillies appeared positioned to answer a difficult stretch with one of their cleaner victories of the season.
Then the lineup turned over.
That was all the opening Los Angeles needed.
The Dodgers gradually dismantled Nola’s early command, punished the Phillies’ bullpen late and pulled away for a 9-5 victory Wednesday night, handing Philadelphia a second consecutive series loss since the All-Star break.
The Phillies did not spend the entire night chasing the game. They led early, responded after falling behind and remained within two runs entering the eighth. But they never regained control once the Dodgers began forcing Nola into the middle of the plate.
That distinction mattered. Nola was not ineffective from the beginning. He was effective until he suddenly was not, and against a lineup with this much depth, the decline did not need to be dramatic to become costly.
Dalton Rushing produced the Dodgers’ first warning with two outs in the third inning, driving a solo homer to center after Nola had retired the first eight batters. Freddie Freeman doubled and Max Muncy singled an inning later, but Nola escaped without allowing the tying run.
The reprieve did not last.
Teoscar Hernández and Tommy Edman opened the fifth with consecutive singles, bringing Rushing to the plate with Nola under pressure for the first time all night. Rushing delivered again, lining a two-run double that erased Philadelphia’s early advantage and gave Los Angeles a 3-2 lead.
The Phillies answered with one of the night’s most encouraging developments. Bryan De La Cruz, making his club debut, attacked Eric Lauer’s first pitch of the fifth inning and drove it over the wall in center field. His first major-league homer since September 2024 tied the game and gave Philadelphia the immediate jolt it had hoped to receive from its newest addition.
For a moment, the Phillies had reset the night.
The Dodgers took it back almost immediately.
Freeman opened the sixth with his second double, and Muncy followed by driving a high changeup into the seats in left-center. Two batters into the inning, Los Angeles had regained a 5-3 lead and Nola’s promising start had become another outing defined by what happened after the opposing lineup adjusted.
Nola left after 5 1/3 innings, charged with five runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one, but the damage came from the Dodgers’ ability to capitalize once his execution began to waver.
That has become one of the most frustrating elements of Nola’s uneven season. He can still show the command and rhythm that have made him one of the Phillies’ most trusted starters. The problem is sustaining it through a lineup’s second and third looks.
Against lesser opponents, a handful of misplaced pitches can remain manageable. Against Los Angeles, they become extra-base hits before the inning has time to settle.
The Phillies did not help themselves on the bases, either. Bryson Stott doubled in the fifth but was erased trying to advance during a fielder’s-choice sequence. It came one night after another damaging baserunning mistake helped end a one-run loss.
The two plays were not identical, but they fit the same troubling pattern. Philadelphia is not playing well enough to donate outs, particularly against teams capable of turning small mistakes into large deficits.
The Dodgers finally broke the game open in the eighth.
Tim Mayza allowed two runners to reach before Orion Kerkering entered without an out. Kyle Tucker lifted a sacrifice fly, and after the bases were loaded again, Edman drove a three-run triple into the gap. A two-run game had become a six-run game, and whatever chance the Phillies had of producing a late response disappeared with it.
Bohm added an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, giving him three RBIs, and J.T. Realmuto drove in another run in the ninth. Those swings softened the final margin without changing the night’s direction.
There was one late bright spot. Alex McFarlane made his major-league debut after jumping directly from Double-A and retired Shohei Ohtani on his first pitch. He worked around a Freeman single to complete a scoreless inning, offering the Phillies a glimpse of a young arm that could become part of their bullpen solution.
Rafael Marchán left during the inning with an injury, forcing Realmuto into the game and adding another concern to a night already filled with them.
The Phillies fell to 56-47 with the Yankees scheduled to arrive Friday. The schedule is not offering them time to ease back into the second half, and the margin for uneven performances is narrowing.
For eight hitters Wednesday, Nola looked ready to give the Phillies exactly what they needed.
Against the Dodgers, eight hitters were nowhere near enough.
Loading Phillies schedule...
Loading NL East standings...
