Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies' imperfections finally appear at an inopportune time

PHILADELPHIA − Maybe we should have seen this coming.

The Phillies are an imperfect team at a time where the postseason demands perfection.

That's not a knock on the Phillies. After all, their ride through the postseason has been nothing short of magical, with their rollicking fans dancing and cheering and loving every minute of it.

Until Game 6 of the NLCS on Monday. That's when all of it reared its ugly head in the Phillies' 5-1 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, forcing a Game 7 on Tuesday night. It's the first time the Phillies will have ever played in a Game 7.

But with every Schwarbomb and every amazing Bryce Harper accomplishment, whether it was Harper stealing home, then swatting a home run in Game 5, or Kyle Schwarber hitting moon shot after moon shot, there were things underneath the surface that were lurking.

All of it explains how the law of averages has caught up with them.

That doesn't mean it's gone forever. You should like the Phillies’ chances in a Game 7 at home, after an entire postseason's worth of experience last year.

"It’s going to be exciting," Schwarber said. "This is what you play for. Obviously, (Monday) sucks. You wish you got it done, absolutely. But it’s an exciting thing, and we’re embracing it."

Let's start at the beginning, with starting pitcher Aaron Nola. For three postseason starts, when Nola was brilliant, pitching to an ERA of 0.96, it was easy to forget how inconsistent he had been all season.

You could even extend his run of dominance over his final two regular-season starts. So Nola had a 1.44 ERA in five starts, striking out 35 and walking two in 35⅓ innings.

But it wasn't like that all season. Nola allowed 4 earned runs or more in 14 of his 32 regular-season starts this season. So, yes, a clunker was bound to happen.

And it sure did Monday as Nola gave up four earned runs in 4⅓ innings.

"Obviously, tonight wasn’t a great night for me," Nola said.

Meanwhile, Merrill Kelly was keeping the Phillies off balance all night. He struck out eight through five innings, giving up only three hits. Kelly only gave up three hits in Game 2 also, but each one was a home run.

This time, he kept the Phillies in the ballpark. And the Phillies didn't have many aggressive swings.

"He was getting ahead," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "A lot of first pitch strikes. He did get us to chase a little bit, so we just have to get back in the zone (Tuesday) and hit it like we can."

They certainly didn’t against Kelly, who was visibly upset after getting pulled after 5 innings.

A lineup that scored 15 runs in the first two games, then rebounded with six more in Game 5, mostly on the backs of Schwarber and Harper, went silent.

Alec Bohm, the cleanup hitter, has one extra base hit in his last 19 at-bats. Sure, you can move Bohm out of the cleanup spot, but to where? No. 7 hitter Nick Castellanos, who went 0-for-4 on Tuesday, is 0-for-19 since his Game 1 homer.

That's hardly cleanup protection.

What can Castellanos do to turn it around in a winner-take-all game?

"Just continue to take good swings," he said. "From the first game that we were in (Arizona), I would get my ‘A’ swing off, and I’d just foul pitches straight back over and over again. And then also sinkers down and in, I'd take good swings and fouling it off my foot.

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"It’s a game of inches."

And those inches open up chasms in the postseason.

But the Phillies do have one thing working in their favor: the home crowd. It intimidated the upstart Marlins in the wildcard round, the powerful Braves in the NLDS and the plucky Diamondbacks in Games 1 and 2.

They’ll try it again against rookie Brandon Pfaadt in Game 7, Judy like they did in Game 6.

When Nola gave up back-to-back homers to Tommy Pham and Lourdes Gurriel to start the second inning, falling behind 2-0, the fans stood and cheered.

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It was almost like a Trea Turner-Standing-Ovation Revival from early August that turned his season around.

It didn't work.

Nola then surrendered a walk and a run-scoring double. The fans kept cheering anyway. Nola heard all of it, and he also heard the ovation he got in the fifth, after giving up one more run, upon being taken out.

"That was awesome," Nola said. "They were definitely picking me up right there. I fell behind a couple of hitters. I walked (Alek) Thomas right after those homers. I was just trying to get back in the zone. That’s what I was focused on. But yeah, I heard it and it was great."

It continued into the seventh, with perhaps one more throaty roar to implore the Phillies back into the game trailing by four runs. That's when Brandon Marsh led off with a single. One out later, Schwarber forced him out at second.

Then with two outs, Schwarber was thrown out trying to steal second. The Phillies won games in these postseason with daring base running. But it also cost them a game against the Braves in the NLDS.

And while Schwarber's caught stealing wasn't game-changing, it was an unnecessary risk.

Then Craig Kimbrel came onto pitch the eight, entering to "Welcome to the Jungle." He got booed.

So that brings us back to Nola. He had the chance to send the Phillies to the World Series. He couldn't do it. And now, that could have been Nola's last ever game as a Phillie.

He's a free agent after the season. And well, are the Phillies going to spend upwards of $200 million on a pitcher who had a 4.46 ERA? Who was up and down for most of the season?

Nola said he hasn't thought about that possibility yet.

"I’m kind of too caught up in the moment right now, and for (Game 7). (Tuesday) is obviously big. So I’m kind of worried about that."

Just like everyone else should be worried about a Game 7.

Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl.

This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: Aaron Nola, Philadelphia Phillies falter at the worst time in Game 6 loss to Arizona