PHILADELPHIA _ Juan Soto spiked his helmet and slammed his bat. And as he walked away from home plate after striking out to end the top of the sixth inning Tuesday night, the young Washington Nationals slugger looked back over his right shoulder at Aaron Nola, who was more than halfway to the Phillies' dugout.
For a moment, it felt like last season again.
Six days earlier, Nola got knocked around by the Nationals in his worst start in over a year. Six days before that, on Opening Day, he walked a career-high five batters. If there was reason for angst amid this uplifting start to the Phillies' season, it was that the homegrown ace around whom an arduous rebuild was centered looked merely ordinary. And it wasn't a particularly good look.
But then came that five-pitch whiff of Soto and an apparent return to normalcy. At least until Nola gave up homers to Yan Gomes and pinch-hitter Howie Kendrick in the seventh inning and started the Phillies on their way to blowing a five-run lead in a 10-6, 10-inning gut punch at Citizens Bank Park.
One strike from becoming only the ninth Phillies team in the franchise's 137-year history to begin a season with at least eight wins in its first 10 games, reliever Edubray Ramos gave up a game-tying solo homer to Victor Robles before Soto crushed a towering three-run homer over the right-field foul pole against lefty Jose Alvarez in the 10th inning.
As losses go, it was as bad as it gets.
But it never should've come to that. Not with Nola on the mound and the Phillies holding a 6-2 lead through six innings on Bryce Harper's three-run homer against Stephen Strasburg, a solo shot by Maikel Franco, and a two-run triple by Jean Segura, whose scorching start at the plate is the most underrated element of these first 10 games.
Lights out, right? Maybe if this had been last season. But Nola has allowed 11 earned runs on 14 hits in his three starts this year. He has not yet completed a seventh inning. His ERA is 6.46, the worst it has been through three starts in any of his five major league seasons.
A Cy Young Award finalist last season, Nola is producing only sighs.
Nola's undoing was sudden. Entering the seventh inning, he retired 16 of 21 batters after Adam Eaton's bloop double to open the game. Never mind that trusted relievers David Robertson, Pat Neshek and Adam Morgan were unavailable because of recently heavy workloads. Nola looked poised to give the bullpen an easy night.
Even after Franco's throwing error enabled Ryan Zimmerman to reach base to open the seventh inning, Nola seemed to be in control until he wasn't. He got ahead in the count to both Gomes and Kendrick, but left an 89 mph fastball over the plate to the former and elevated a curveball to the latter. Both pitches wound up in the left-field seats to cut the lead to 6-5.
Not very Nola-like.
The Phillies tattooed Strasburg. Franco continued his torrid start in the No. 8 spot in the order with a solo homer in the third inning. After Nola and Segura drew walks, Harper sat on a third consecutive change-up from Strasburg and hit his fourth Phillies homer to open a 4-1 lead.
In the fourth inning, Franco singled and Andrew McCutchen walked before Segura tripled to right field. Segura is batting .333 and has reached base in every game.
But the lead wasn't big enough for Nola. And rather than joining the 1897, 1911, 1915, 1918, 1953, 1964, 1993 and 2010 Phillies as the only teams in franchise history to start 8-2 or better, the Phillies lost for the third time and will need to win Wednesday night to avoid dropping their first series of the season.
