Aaron Nola hits wall, offense cools down as Phillies take first loss of season
WASHINGTON — Aaron Nola was cruising on Sunday afternoon, until he wasn’t.
The right-hander was excellent for three frames before hitting a fourth-inning wall that derailed his day and led the Phillies to their first loss of the 2025 season. Nola allowed five runs on two homers, including a three-run blast by Phillie killer Josh Bell in the bottom of the fourth, in 5 1/3 innings as Philadelphia fell to the Nationals, 5-1, in the finale of a three-game opening series at Nationals Park.
Nola, the 11th-year Phillies starter, allowed just one hit through three innings in his first outing of the year and swiftly retired the first two batters he faced in the fourth. He had some bite on his curveball and was working efficiently. Then he hit Keibert Ruiz with a pitch. Nathaniel Lowe followed with a single.
Bell, the designated hitter, stepped into the box next and punished a belt-high fastball over the middle of the plate from Nola for his 16th career home run against the Phillies in the regular season to go along with another one in the playoffs. The shot to center field opened up the scoring and put Washington ahead, 3-0.
Nola pitched into the sixth inning, only getting one out before running into more trouble. He surrendered another home run, a two-run drive by Lowe, on his 95th and final pitch of the game.
The Phillies (2-1) could not muster much offense against left-hander Mitchell Parker and the Nationals after exploding for 11 runs on Saturday. They hit into two big double plays to erase scoring threats. Philadelphia put pressure on Parker with two runners on base in the second before a Rafael Marchan double play ended the top of the inning, and Alec Bohm grounded into another double play with the bases loaded to finish off the top of the seventh.
Marchan grounded out to second base to scratch home a run in the top of the ninth, but it wasn’t enough to make a comeback attempt.
While they couldn’t finish off a sweep of the Nats, the Phillies still secured a series win in the nation’s capital. The club returns home on Monday for its first game at Citizens Bank Park of the season against the Rockies at 3:05 p.m.