The Philadelphia Phillies have been pushed to the brink.
After a 5-1 loss in Game 6 of the NLCS to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the defending National League champions are now on the precipice of having to hand over their crown. The Phillies once had command of this NLCS, winning the first two games at home before dropping two of three at Chase Field.
They had a chance to close out the D-Backs on Monday night with Aaron Nola on the mound, but failed to complete the task.
After the game, both Nola and manager Rob Thomson broke down everything that went wrong for them in Game 6.
Everything Nola, Thomson said after Game 6 loss
Nola, who is soon to be a free agent, gave the Phillies just 4.1 innings and also allowed four runs against the young D-Backs on Monday night. As a result, the veteran right-hander earned his first loss of the postseason. The second inning was the inning that sunk him.
"Just a bad inning right there. They (the D-Backs) didn't miss too many balls over the plate," said the right-hander. "I threw too many balls over the plate tonight and they didn't miss them."
There was a brief moment where Nola believed he had turned the corner after allowing three second-inning runs. However, it was fleeting.
"I felt good after that. I felt good body wise all game," Nola said. "I really wanted to try to get ahead of the guys right after that inning right there. I felt like I was falling behind and getting in bad counts, but I felt like I got ahead for the most part right after that."
Manager Rob Thomson chimed in as well after Nola's disappointing performance.
"It was a little strange because the first inning he comes out and he really executed everything, and even in the fourth inning, I thought it was a good inning," Thomson said. The second inning, the breaking ball to Pham was maybe a little bit of a hanger. The home run to Gurriel, they wanted to go up a little bit higher and he couldn't get it there."
Thomson acknowledged that Nola wasn't himself, but also stated that it wasn't the only reason the team lost.
"He didn't execute some pitches and he paid for it," said the Phillies skipper. "But we didn't score any runs."
