PHILADELPHIA _ Suppose you recently returned from an early summer vacation and need to get caught up on how the Phillies are playing.
A check of Nick Pivetta's stats would be a good place to start.
It's mostly coincidental, but Pivetta's performance has paralleled the team's overall ups and downs. On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, when the Phillies were in surprise possession of the division lead in the National League East, Pivetta had a 3.23 ERA through 10 starts, completing at least five innings in eight of them.
Since then, though, the Phillies have a 5-11 record, including Wednesday night's 7-2 pounding by the Colorado Rockies. And Pivetta? He has allowed 15 earned runs in 19 innings over his last four starts, all losses. He was on the mound for this latest defeat, too, giving up six runs in five innings, five of which came in a fourth-inning knockout punch before an announced crowd of only 20,075 at Citizens Bank Park.
Pivetta was equal parts dominant and hittable against the Rockies. He struck out the side in the second inning and five batters in a row, including Rockies leadoff man D.J. Lemahieu in the third inning. But the first six batters reached base against him in the fourth, and the game unraveled from there.
It began with a leadoff walk to Nolan Arenado and a bunt single by Carlos Gonzalez. Then, the Rockies teed off. Trevor Story doubled off the scoreboard in right field. Gerardo Parra singled through the right side. And by the time Ian Desmond belted a two-run homer in the bleachers in right-center, the lead had grown to 6-0.
Jesmuel Valentin accounted for most of the Phillies offense. In addition to hitting his first major-league home run in the ninth inning, the switch-hitting rookie added a pair of doubles. It was a rare start _ and in right field, no less _ for Valentin, a natural infielder. But manager Gabe Kapler wanted an extra righty bat in the lineup against Rockies left-hander Tyler Anderson.
To a large degree, the Phillies' success was built on the backs of their starting pitching. They figured they would get mostly strong outings from young ace Aaron Nola and former Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta. But the emergence of Pivetta and fellow right-handers Vince Velasquez and Zach Eflin were pleasant developments along the way to spending a day in first place.
Pivetta's last four starts have represented a backslide. He gave up two runs in five innings of a hard-luck loss to the Toronto Blue Jays on May 27 but lasted only four innings five days later in San Francisco. Last week, the Cubs got to him for four runs in five innings, after which he said he had mixed feelings about the way he pitched and didn't elaborate much.
This start was Pivetta's worst since he gave up six runs in the first inning May 4 in Washington. The fact that it came at home, where Pivetta had allowed two earned runs in his previous 17 innings, made it all the more unexpected.
But the Phillies still have a chance to win the series. Velasquez, coming off his worst start of the season last week against the Milwaukee Brewers, will take his turn in a Thursday matinee.
