MILWAUKEE -- The biggest obstacle for Aaron Nola as he works toward putting his slow start to the season behind him has been ... well, slow starts.

Nola was knocked around in the first inning for a second straight outing in Wednesday night's 6-3 loss to the Brewers at American Family Field. He conceded five runs before recording an out on his way to allowing six runs over five innings.

The Phillies (80-59) remain 5 1/2 games ahead of the Mets (75-65) atop the National League East , though they now sit 5 1/2 back of the Brewers (86-54) for the top seed in the NL. The good news for Philadelphia is it stayed two games ahead of the Dodgers (78-61) -- who lost a second straight game to the Pirates -- for the second and final bye in the NL.

That's an important race to watch down the str

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