Nola knocked out in seventh, but not thrown off course

PHILADELPHIA >> It’s not that Aaron Nola isn’t trying to sustain what lately has been an almost every-fiveday dose of success. Going from 60 to 0, or any sub-par semblance of that in starting pitching terms, isn’t exactly what he game-plans.

“I always want to throw a complete game,” Nola said Sunday after helping the Phillies salvage the last of a three-game set against the division-leading Atlanta Braves, a 9-4 sigh of relief. “I know I haven’t yet, but I try to focus inning by inning . ... You saw today, I felt really good through the first six and then in the seventh inning they got to me. I made a couple of mistakes and they popped me out of there.

“But I always try to strive to go nine. Even if it doesn’t happen, I try to go as long as I possibly can.”

For Nola, that always seems to be six or seven innings, even on a good day. But the staff ace who for the past six weeks has consistently been pitching like one had an extra sharp edge in the finale with a Braves team that had scored 24 runs in two blowout wins.

Nola was coming off three no-decision outings, but over his previous five starts was 2-0 with a 1.79 ERA. He was in the process of pitching a three-hit shutout with seven strikeouts and a pitch count only in the 70s when the Braves came to bat in the seventh inning trailing 6-0 ... and the landscape changed.

Nola walked Josh Donaldson to start the seventh, then gave up a single to Brian McCann as the Braves mounted their first scoring challenge. Nola promptly got Adam Duvall swinging for an eighth strikeout of the day, but Ender Inciarte didn’t miss a mistake pitch, driving it into the right-field seats to halve the Phillies’ lead.

Perhaps still shaken, Nola gave up a second straight homer on the first pitch to Johan Camargo and suddenly was staring at only a tworun lead.

“It sucks,” Nola said. “I felt good all day. I made a mistake to (give up) a three-run homer. Just (went) over the plate. Camargo’s as well, he didn’t hit it too well, but it still went out.”

One out later, Nola put even that two-run lead in danger, giving up a single to Ronald Acuna Jr. and a walk to Ozzie Albies as his pitch count soared to 102.

That was all Gabe Kapler had to see. In came lefty reliever Adam Morgan, who had the tall challenge of retiring Freddy Freeman. He half-swung on a ball and drove it almost to the warning track in leftcenter but it was hauled in to end the inning.

That spot relief assistance, coupled with a Rhys Hoskins insurance home run, would enable Nola to improve to 9-2 on the season. But he’s still looking for the first complete game of his career.

Nola has gone eight innings twice this season and went at least seven innings in only five of his 23 starts. That’s due at least in part to his habit of lengthening pitch counts by working so many strikeouts.

But Nola is more concerned with the outcome of each of his starts as opposed to the length.

“I want to get to the 200-plus inning mark. I want to be healthy for 33 or 34 starts. That’s my goal every year,” Nola said. “If we lose the game before or win the game before it doesn’t really change my mentality. I try to just pitch my game and not try to do too much just because we (previously) lost.”

He may not look at that, but certainly Nola’s teammates look to him to cease any and all bloodletting. This series against Atlanta only proved how much better the Braves had become as they stretched their lead in the National League East. The Phillies needed a fast turnaround and Nola helped provide it.

“It makes us feel pretty confident anytime he goes out on the mound,” Kapler said. “Obviously, the outing didn’t end the way Aaron Nola wanted it to end. But, at one point, I didn’t know if anybody else was going to pitch in this game besides Aaron. That’s how good he was going. That’s how strong his stuff was.”

That’s how strong his stuff has been for some time. But with each outing that he can’t get out of a seventh inning, Nola’s durability and ability to finish remains a bit of an issue.

“I’m feeling great,” he said. “I really put a lot of emphasis on taking care of my body and maintaining it and keeping it healthy; doing extra work to keep it loose. What are we, 20-something starts in right now? I have to stay healthy for however many more I have.”