Nationals hammer Phillies again, 8-1

Aaron Nola placed his glove on his hip and turned to his side as an 8-1 loss to Washington on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park continued to unravel.

The Phillies pitcher followed the path of the baseball as it rocketed off Bryce Harper's bat, sneaked inside the right-field foul pole, and crashed into Section 106.

There was not much more for Nola to see as he turned toward home plate and waited for a new baseball. His miserable night was now even worse. The righthander allowed a career-high seven runs, the final two of which scored on Harper's homer in the fifth.

Nola lacked his usual command as he located just 61 percent of his 80 pitches for strikes. It was the fourth-lowest total pitches thrown by Nola in 16 major-league starts.

Before the game, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin told his Nationals, Dusty Baker, about Nola's ability to locate his fastball on both sides of the plate. The scouting report failed Saturday as Nola lacked control of his fastball and was unable to move the pitch outside.

The pitch Harper smacked was intended to be a fastball on the outside corner. Instead, it stayed inside and landed 412 feet in right. It was the third time in Nola's career - and second time against Washington - that he allowed six or more earned runs.

"He relies on command, and if he doesn't have his command, he's vulnerable," Mackanin said. "He just didn't have it tonight. We've seen him much better."

It was a bad night for Nola against an unforgiving offense. The pitcher's poise last season makes it sometimes easy to forget that he is just nine months removed from being called to the majors. Bumps like Saturday's are bound to occur.

"It's going to happen whether you like it or not, whether you want it to happen or not," Nola said. "You've seen it in a lot of guys. It's something we don't want to go through. I guess we hit it every now and then."

The Phillies scored three or fewer runs for the sixth straight game as they average just 2.58 runs per game. They have been outscored by Washington, 17-2, in the first two games of the series. Darin Ruf started in left field for the first time this season as the team hoped to inject offense. Ruf finished 0 for 4 with three strikeouts.

Their only run did not come until the fifth inning, when the team was already in a seven-run hole. Cameron Rupp smacked a homer to deep left off Max Scherzer, who otherwise mastered the Phillies for seven innings. Scherzer struck out seven and walked one. He threw 108 pitches, 72 of which were strikes. The righthander even helped himself with a two-run double in the fourth. That was the "big blow," Mackanin said.

Nola had retired 10 batters in order after allowing three runs in the first. He yielded a two-out double and then intentionally walked the No. 8 hitter to get to Scherzer. Nola grooved a fastball over the plate, and the opposing pitcher lifted it to right field over the drawn-in outfielder.

Scherzer stood on second as the Washington players came to the dugout's top step and raised their hands. Scherzer put his hands on his knees, looked to the dirt, and laughed. Nola's long night was nearing the finish.

mbreen@phillynews.com

@matt_breen www.philly.com/philliesblog