Sometimes it may just be one decision within a game. But sometimes, that one decision is enough to ultimately affect the final outcome. That was what happened for the Philadelphia Phillies and manager Rob Thomson and his usage of starting pitcher Aaron Nola during the nightcap of their doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.

The Phillies had jumped out to an early 5-1 lead thanks to a five-spot in the bottom half of the first inning, capped off by J.T. Realmuto’s two-out, two-run homer. However, Nola clearly didn’t have it on this night as he promptly gave back five runs to the Cardinals during the top half of the third inning. More significantly, he had already been torched for six runs and eight hits, including two home runs, and had already been through the Cardinals’ the lineup twice. The fact that Thomson actually let Nola complete the third inning was already a shock in itself.

But nothing was more shocking than his miscalculation to send the veteran right-hander back out for the fourth inning after the Phillies had just managed to tie the game at 6-6. And as most probably had expected, Nola was lit up again by promptly giving up a home run to Masyn Winn, and then loading the bases before finally getting the hook. His final line finished with a career-high nine runs on a career-high 12 hits, including three home runs in just 3 2/3 innings pitched.

It had already been a tough start to the year for the Phillies veteran this season, sporting a miserable 1-6 record with a 4.89 ERA and 1.35 WHIP entering Wednesday’s match. Nevertheless, he had been showing signs of turning things around with two quality starts in his past three outings. But nothing could be more demoralizing to his recently-built confidence than to be sent back out to the mound to get shelled even more when he was clearly struggling to locate his pitches. In the end, the Phillies fell 14-7 to the Cardinals to split the doubleheader.

As a result, instead of completing the sweep that would have put Philadelphia that much closer to the National League East-leading New York Mets, they now find themselves just a little further back than expected. It may only be one game at this point in time, but with every game counting at the end of the season, it could be the difference between making the playoffs or winning the division when all is said and done. Thomson may have been already a bit off when it comes to evaluating the team’s performance earlier this season, but he will need to ensure his evaluation within the game is on point for the Phillies to continue having success going forward.