Long ball, error cost Phils in loss to Braves

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies had already blown a one-run lead in the eighth inning Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park, but right-hander Sam Coonrod still had an opportunity to keep the deficit at one.

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Braves center fielder Guillermo Heredia bounced a ball back to the mound with runners on first and second and one out. Coonrod fielded the ball cleanly, spun toward second and threw. A good throw possibly turns an inning-ending double play and gives the offense some semblance of hope as they bat in the bottom of the inning. Instead, Coonrod’s throw came nowhere near Phillies second baseman Jean Segura and sailed into the outfield.

“It looked like he threw a changeup,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said.

It allowed another run to score to hand Atlanta a two-run lead. Coonrod then allowed two more runs before the inning ended.

A one-run lead turned into a 9-5 Phillies loss just like that.

It was a disappointing beginning to an important three-game series against the Braves. The Phillies just won two of three against the Nationals and they would like to build some momentum before they play the Yankees this weekend, then fly to California to play a six-game road trip against the Dodgers and Giants.

Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola pitched on six days of rest (or two more days than normal), but his struggles continued. He allowed four runs in five innings. He allowed first-pitch home runs to Ronald Acu?a Jr. -- a 460-foot blast that sailed into the second-to-last row in the second deck in left field -- and William Contreras. A first-pitch double to Acu?a in the fifth led to another Braves run as they took a 4-2 lead.

“It’s just another tough outing for me,” Nola said. “Tough game. I’ve got to put this one behind me and focus on the next one.”

Nola has a 4.06 ERA after 13 starts and a 4.97 ERA in nine starts since he threw a shutout against the Cardinals in April. It is his worst start since 2019, when he had a 4.63 ERA after 13 starts.

He finished that season with a 3.47 ERA in his final 21 games. The Phillies would love Nola to experience a similar turnaround.

They would love right-hander Archie Bradley to continue to pitch well, too. He joined the team in the offseason as a setup man to closer Héctor Neris. But Bradley had a 6.75 ERA in his first nine appearances -- broken up by a stint on the injured list -- which was why Girardi started using him in lower leverage situations. Bradley pitched the sixth on Tuesday with the Braves holding a 4-3 lead.

After J.T. Realmuto hit a game-tying opposite field homer and Brad Miller singled to score the go-ahead run, the Phillies turned to José Alvarado in the seventh and Connor Brogdon in the eighth. Brogdon allowed a game-tying homer to Austin Riley, then put a couple of more baserunners on before Coonrod entered the game.

“If Archie continues to pitch better, obviously, yeah, we’ll move him back because that’s why we got him,” Girardi said. “Archie is more familiar in that area than these younger guys, obviously.”

The Phillies have lost six games this season when leading after seven innings. No team in baseball has lost more. The Astros and Marlins rank second with five.

The Padres and Cubs have not lost a single game when leading after seven.

“I thought we did a good job of fighting back and coming back and doing some little things really well,” Girardi said. “Then Alvarado gets through the seventh. And we can't get through the eighth. It's frustrating.”