Game one of the Phillies’ doubleheader against the St. Louis Cardinals saw them earn a win behind an excellent performance by starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo. In game two, Aaron Nola attempted to duplicate Luzardo’s effort. He came up a bit short in that regard. The Cardinals teed off on him, to the tune of 12 hits, including three home runs in 3.2 innings. The Phillies’ offense was unable to keep up, leading to a 14-7 loss.

If this wasn’t the worst start of Nola’s career, it’s very near the top of that list. He gave up singles to the first two batters he faced, and while he was able to limit the damage to one run, it was a precursor of things to come.

In addition to the inconsistency he’s shown on the mound, the offense hasn’t always been great about the run support they’ve provided Nola. But Cardinals starting pitcher Sonny Gray was almost as ineffective. The Phillies – highlighted by a J.T. Realmuto home run – scored five runs in the bottom of the first to stake Nola to an early lead.

Nola got through the second inning without incident, but things fell apart in the third. Lars Nootbar started things off with a home run to cut the lead to three. Nola allowed a walk and double to the next two batters to make it 5-3. Groundouts by the next two batters made it 5-4, but it looked like Nola might end the damage there. Instead, an Ivan Herrera single and Alec Burleson home run put the Cardinals on top 6-5.

After his on-base streak ended in the first day, Kyle Schwarber started a new streak when he tied the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the third.

But Nola was unable to keep the Cardinals off the board. In the fourth, Masyn Winn put the Cardinals back on top with a solo home run, and with one out, three straight singles mercifully ended Nola’s evening. Tanner Banks came on in relief and gave up an RBI single, but the Phillies were able to limit the damage by throwing the runner out at third base.

Trailing by three, Alec Bohm got one back with a solo home run. But with two outs and one runner aboard in the fourth, the Cardinals went to their bullpen, and the Phillies offense went cold. They failed to score over the last five innings of the game.

The Cardinals didn’t have such problems. Taijuan Walker pitched two scoreless innings, but in his third inning of work, he seemed to tire. Thanks to two singles, a walk, a wild pitch, and a fly ball that center fielder Brandon Marsh simply missed, the Cardinals added three more in the eighth. Carlos Hernandez gave up two more runs in the ninth, but the game was well out of hand by that point.

Earlier this month, Nola turned in two consecutive strong starts, and it looked like he had put a shaky start to the season behind him. But he’s given up 13 runs in 8.2 innings over his last two starts. Whatever his problem is, hopefully he can figure out how to fix it over the next four days.