MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Aaron Nola was the ace of Philadelphia's rotation just two weeks ago.
The 22-year-old right-hander has fallen hard in his last three starts.
Kurt Suzuki went 4 for 5 with a career-high six RBIs to lead the Minnesota Twins to a 14-10 victory Tuesday over Nola and the Phillies, who were handed their eighth straight defeat.
"I'm trying to figure something out, trying to get back where I'm used to being, but you know I'm going to keep working at it," said Nola (5-7), who has allowed 20 runs over his last three turns, logging only 9 2/3 innings.
Trevor Plouffe hit a two-run triple in a four-run first inning, Brian Dozier went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and the Twins beat their season scoring high by five runs.
Mikael Franco drove in four runs for the Phillies, including a three-run homer in a four-run eighth against Michael Tonkin that pulled them within 11-10. But the Twins roared back with a three-run bottom of the inning, capped by Suzuki's two-run double into the left-field corner that left him one base short of the cycle.
Buddy Boshers (2-0) relieved Tyler Duffey and pitched two innings for the win, moving into a seven-way tie for second place on the staff with two.
The Phillies homered four times, with Peter Bourjos, Tommy Joseph and Cameron Rupp taking Duffey deep, and tallied a season-high 14 hits. They even topped the nine runs they totaled on that horrendous six-game homestand they just finished, their first winless stretch in Philadelphia of six or more games since 1964.
"We just couldn't hold on," manager Pete Mackanin said. "The bullpen let us down."
Brett Oberholtzer gave up three runs over the fifth and sixth innings, and David Hernandez was in for the three-run eighth.
Mackanin, desperate to find a spark for his hitters, kept veteran utility infielder Andres Blanco in the lineup for the fourth straight game for continuity and stuck struggling regular second baseman Cesar Hernandez on the bench.
The offense sure woke up, but the pitching, fielding and baserunning combined to form an unconquerable foe for the Phillies, who fell 12 games below .500. They're 4-21 in their last 25 games, with losses in 12 of their last 13 contests.
Nola has been on the mound for three of those. His ERA has risen from 2.65 to 4.11.
"It gets frustrating after the third one," Nola said. "It doesn't matter how even keel you are."
MINNESOTA MEMORY
Mackanin wrapped up a 548-game major league career with the Twins, for whom he held a utility infielder role during the 1980-81 seasons. Those were the last two for the team at suburban Metropolitan Stadium before moving to the downtown Metrodome, and he hit the last Twins home run at the Met on Sept. 30, 1981.
Mackanin was also the last player to wear No. 14 before Kent Hrbek took it the following year. The uniform was retired in 1995, and Mackanin joked before the game that should count as his honor, too.
"If we don't start winning," he said, "I might be retired."
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: RHP Vince Velasquez (strained right biceps) will throw up to 75 pitches Wednesday for Double-A Reading on a rehab assignment. Mackanin wouldn't commit to him returning to the rotation after only one start.
Twins: RF Miguel Sano (strained left hamstring) will start a rehab assignment this weekend with Triple-A Rochester, but the team hasn't yet decided whether he should be a RF, 3B, 1B or DH when he's back. Sano will likely play all of the above for Rochester, but general manager Terry Ryan said he was more concerned about Sano getting his swing in a groove than his position in the lineup.
UP NEXT
Phillies: LHP Adam Morgan (1-6, 6.49 ERA) will take the mound for the middle game of this interleague series, on a seven-start winless streak during which he has allowed eight or more hits five times. His role is tenuous with the pending return of Velasquez.
Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (0-5, 6.06 ERA), who won 25 games over the previous two seasons, will try Wednesday for the seventh time this year to record his first victory. He has never faced the Phillies in the regular season.
