Phils lose to Giants in ninth as Nola struggles again

SAN FRANCISCO - Aaron Nola handed the ball to Pete Mackanin, and the young pitcher took 34 steps from the mound at AT&T Park to the Phillies dugout, where more doubt awaited him.

Nola, in an 8-7 loss Sunday to the Giants, could not complete four innings for the fourth straight start. He once was considered the steadiest presence at the onset of this rebuilding process, so Nola's sudden downfall is jarring.

"He's a little confused right now," Mackanin said. "He's approaching his first full year in the big leagues. So he's going to have some adversity. He probably hasn't had any in quite a while, if at all. You can see his confidence is shaken a bit. But he's smart and a competitor."

That is why Nola will make his next start, Saturday against Kansas City. The Phillies want to see how their young players respond to the challenges of the majors. On Sunday, his teammates lingered in a wild game only to lose it in the ninth.

Nola, in a way, helped spark the comeback. Johnny Cueto cruised until he plunked Maikel Franco in the stomach with two outs in the fourth inning. Both benches were warned. Rather than serve as apparent retaliation for Nola unintentionally hitting three Giants, it motivated the Phillies.

"That brought us energy," Franco said.

"I didn't like it," Mackanin said. "But I'm not going to accuse him of throwing at anybody."

Cueto said he did not purposely throw at Franco. But after that commotion, the Phillies scored four runs combined - all with two outs - in the fourth and fifth innings. They dinged Cueto, who had allowed a total of six earned runs in his last seven starts, for six runs in six innings. Three times, the Giants blew a lead.

Then, in the ninth, they won it on a walk-off double to right by Conor Gillaspie.

Nola, in the larger picture of this rebuilding franchise, is one of the most important players this season. The Phillies do not have delusions about him being an ace later, but they hope he becomes a reliable force. And, for his first 25 starts, he was.

But Nola is the first Phillies pitcher with four straight starts of fewer than four innings pitched since Marty Bystrom in 1982. He could not command the ball Sunday. He hit three Giants batters, two of them on wayward curveballs. He allowed 10 hits in 31/3 innings. His ERA in his last four starts is 15.23.

Nola said he felt better about his chances between starts, as he analyzed video and applied some mechanical adjustments. It did not translate; Nola's problem remains the same.

"I felt today I wasn't finishing my pitches," Nola said. "I was pulling off balls, which I feel like is unusual."

Nola surrendered yet another first-inning run, raising his total to 15 in 16 starts. The Giants batted around in the third inning; Nola hit one batter to load the bases and struck Gillaspie to force home a run.

When he allowed two one-out singles in the fourth, Mackanin came with the hook. The manager wants Nola on the mound Saturday at Citizens Bank Park.

"As far as I'm concerned, he is" making his next start, Mackanin said. "That's one of those things: You have to battle through adversity. At this level, especially, you see what a guy is made of. I think he has pretty good makeup."

Both team and pitcher insist there is no injury. The Phillies could sent Nola to triple-A Lehigh Valley to fix whatever mental or mechanical issue betrays him. They could skip one of his starts. Instead, they will permit him to keep pitching every fifth day in an attempt to shake the funk.

"I know his confidence is shaken. It has to be," Mackanin said. "He'll sleep on it. He'll get up tomorrow and he'll go to work."

mgelb@philly.com

@MattGelb