Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Aaron Nola Gets Shelled Worse Than Any Philadelphia Phillies Pitcher in Past Decade

Originally posted on Fastball on SI | By Sam Connon | Last updated May 15, 2025 7:30 AM ET

The Philadelphia Phillies outlasted the St. Louis Cardinals in the game one of their split doubleheader Wednesday, snatching a 2-1 win in the pitchers' duel.

Game two went the complete opposite direction.

Not only did the Phillies lose, but they lost in blowout fashion. The capper was anything but a pitchers' duel, as the Cardinals won 14-7.

That all went down with veterans Sonny Gray and Aaron Nola on the bump. Gray gave up eight hits and seven earned runs in 3.2 innings, which is exactly as long as Nola's night lasted. He allowed 12 hits and nine earned runs, marking one of the worst outings of his career.

Per Underdog Fantasy's Justin Havens, Nola became the first Phillies starting pitcher to allow 12-plus hits and nine-plus runs in fewer than 4.0 innings since Cole Hamels achieved the lowly feat on July 10, 2015.

Aaron Nola is the first Phillies pitcher to allow 12+ hits and 9+ runs in a start of fewer than 4 IP since Cole Hamels on July 10, 2015.
— nugget chef (@jayhaykid) May 15, 2025

Nola dropped to 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA and 1.510 WHIP on the season. That is a sharp decline from his 2024 campaign, when he finished 11th in NL Cy Young voting after going 14-8 with a 3.57 ERA, 1.199 WHIP and a 3.7 WAR. The 32-year-old is on pace for his least productive season since he joined the Phillies in 2015.

Philadelphia is still 25-18 on the season, though, thanks to Zack Wheeler, Jesús Luzardo, Cristopher Sánchez and Taijuan Walker all picking up the slack in the rest of the rotation.

The Phillies will take Thursday off, then start a series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. Ranger Suárez is projected to take the mound in the opener.

This article first appeared on Fastball on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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