Phillies drop sixth in a row, 2-1, to Braves

ATLANTA - Before the Phillies packed their bags at Citizens Bank Park and prepared for the final road trip of what's been a historically futile season, Pete Mackanin volunteered an astute observation that would end up being a ominous prediction of what was to follow over the weekend in Atlanta.

"You look up and down the lineup, all of these guys haven't played this deep into a season," Mackanin said. "A lot of slow bats. We're not hitting the fastball like we're capable of doing."

The reality four days later: the Phillies scored as many runs on that night against Washington as they did in a three-game series in Atlanta until they were down to their very last out of Sunday's game at Turner Field.

Andres Blanco drilled a two-out, run-scoring single in the top of the ninth off Peter Moylan to tie the game and prevent his team from being shut out for the 13th time this season, but in the bottom half of the inning, Cody Asche made a throwing error and A.J. Pierzynski knifed a single through a six-infielder defense to give the Braves a 2-1 walk-off win.

Atlanta dominated the first eight innings of the game thanks to a sterling effort by Julio Teheran. The former All-Star took a perfect game into the seventh inning and the Braves made the most of their only real chance against Aaron Nola.

In their three-game series with Atlanta, the only other team in baseball that has reached 90 losses this season, the Phillies (56-94) received strong enough starting pitching from a trio of rookies: Nola, Jerad Eickhoff and Adam Morgan. But they failed to support their starters - or pitchers, period - in any of the three games and were swept in a series for the 13th time this season.

"We've been concerned about our starting pitchers all season and now we get three outstanding performances and we can't score," Mackanin said. "It's unfortunate, but we had chances to win all three of these games obviously if we had any kind of offense at all. Now the offense is a concern. You could say everyone is getting tired, but that doesn't cut it here. You have to learn to play when you're tired."

The Phillies dropped a three-straight 2-1 games in their latest sweep. They have scored one run or fewer in 32 of their 150 games this season (which calculates to 21.33 percent of their games in 2015.).

But, hey, at least they didn't become the first team in the 133-year history of the franchise to have a perfect game thrown against them.

After Teheran retired 18 straight batters to begin the day, including six on strikeouts, Freddy Galvis ripped his 68th pitch right back through the middle for a single to begin the seventh inning.

"Teheran pitched very well," Mackanin said. "He can be tough when he's on. But I'm tired of giving credit to the other pitchers."

Galvis, the Phillies first base runner and one of just seven on the day, also figured into the Braves getting their own first base runner six innings earlier. Former Phillie Michael Bourn led off the bottom half of the first inning with a light tapper toward second, where Galvis was starting for the second straight game.

But as Galvis charged in an attempt to make a play against the speedy Bourn, the ball squirted under his glove. Initially, it was ruled an error. For some unknown reason - perhaps the official scorer was related to Bourn? - it was changed to a double a few innings later.

Regardless, Bourn became the game's only run two batters later, when Freddie Freeman singled to center.

After that, however, Nola was also close to perfect. He induced a pair of ground ball outs to escape further trouble in the first inning and went on to retire 16 of 18 batters entering the seventh inning. The only two Braves that reached base during that stretch did so on an infield single and a walk.

"The guy was on cruise control," Mackanin said of his 22-year-old rookie righthander. "The guy throws strikes, quality strikes, and that's what makes him so good."

Nola was deemed done after 91 pitches and seven innings. The one "earned" run was the only he'd allow.

Nola has pitched at least seven innings and allowed one run or fewer in four of his last six starts. He's also at a grand total of 182 innings pitched between the minor and major leagues this season.

Phillies management said earlier this season that they'd like to keep their Nola, in his first full season as a pro pitcher, between 170-190 innings this year. But more recently, they've suggested there's a possibility he could finish out the season.

"I feel good, man, I feel good," Nola said. "As of right now, I'm planning on staying on my routine."

If Nola remains in the rotation for the season's final two weeks, he's likely to pitch this weekend in Washington and then at Citizens Bank Park in the final homestand of the season. But Mackanin said he and the front office personnel on the trip - interim general manager Scott Proefrock and incoming president Andy MacPhail - would speak with Nola about it on the way to Miami on Sunday night.

Mackanin's best guess on whether Nola would pitch this weekend at Nationals Park?

"I think he will," he said. "But that remains to be seen.We're going to discuss it and see, talk to him."