Not much has gone right for Aaron Nola over his last two starts.

Janson Junk, however, couldn’t have pitched much better over his last two trips to the mound.

Nola (1-3, 6.03 ERA) will look to alter his current fortunes on Monday as the Philadelphia Phillies complete a four-game series against fellow right-hander Junk (2-2, 3.00) and the host Marlins.

The Phillies have won two of the first three games of the series, with Bryson Stott belting a three-run homer in both Friday’s 6-5 victory and Sunday’s 7-2 triumph. Before these blasts, Stott last went deep on Sept. 24 of last season.

Philadelphia has won five of its last six games since the team fired Rob Thomson and tabbed Don Mattingly as interim manager. Nola has been idle through all of that, as he last pitched on April 26.

“Eight days is a lot,” Nola said of the time off, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’m not going to lie.”

The numbers don’t lie either, and they leave plenty to be desired. He has allowed 11 runs on 13 hits — including three homers — and seven walks over his last two starts (nine innings).

Nola has struggled to paint the corners of the plate this season, and let’s not even get him started on the ABS challenge system.

“Yeah, I’ve got to be me and pitch how I usually pitch,” Nola said. “I think all our guys are like that. That’s just kind of how we’ve been programmed to pitch. I don’t throw in the upper-90s where I can live in the middle. I can’t do that.

“I’ve got to focus on throwing to the quadrants. Yeah, it does make you come in the zone a little bit more when somebody challenges one and it kind of changes the count. We just have to adjust a little bit to the ABS and not completely adjust to it. We have to stay with our strengths and then adjust to it, rather than adjusting to it and then going back to our strengths.”

Nola, 32, also has struggled in his career against the Marlins, posting a 5-12 record with a 3.72 ERA in 25 appearances (all starts).

He’d be wise to pitch carefully to Otto Lopez, who is 7-for-14 with three RBIs and three runs in the series. Lopez is carrying a six-game hitting streak into the series finale.

Junk has yielded a total of four hits over 11 scoreless innings over his last two starts. He scattered three hits — all singles — with four strikeouts in a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Tuesday.

“He set the tone on the mound,” manager Clayton McCullough said of that start. “He was fantastic. They know he’s going to pound the strike zone. They came out aggressive, and he really mixed things up. He moved the ball around, executed. He was able to get through six innings very efficiently.”

Junk, 30, is 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his lone career appearance against the Phillies.

–Field Level Media

Tarik Skubal racked up a season-high 10 strikeouts against Boston last month. The Red Sox have the misfortune of facing the two-time Cy Young Award winner in the opener of a three-game series in Detroit on Monday night.

Skubal held the Red Sox to one run and four hits in six innings on April 18 while recording his most recent victory. Skubal (3-2, 2.70 ERA) deserved a better fate in his last outing when he gave up just two runs in seven innings at Atlanta. The Braves pulled out a 4-3 win when Tigers closer Kenley Jansen gave up a walk-off home run.

In the seventh, Skubal gave his team a big scare when he took off his glove and rubbed his forearm after throwing a fastball. Following a mound visit by manager A.J. Hinch and a trainer, Skubal remained in the game and struck out the side.

“I don’t really know how to explain it,” Skubal said. “I just needed a little bit of time. Whatever happened, I just needed a little bit of time and the symptoms I experienced on that one throw went away. Obviously, I felt better after that.”

There were no lingering effects since that start.

“It’s all systems go for tomorrow,” Hinch said on Sunday.

Both runs Skubal allowed last week came in the first inning.

“It looked like he got better as the game went on,” Hinch said. “It looked like his stuff got a little better and his execution got a little better and we really played good defense. It’s what you need to do behind Tarik. (Atlanta) is a high-contact team and you’ve got to make plays and we did. He put us in a position to win.”

Skubal is 3-2 with a 4.33 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox.

Left-hander Payton Tolle (0-1, 3.38 ERA) will be making his third start of the season for Boston. The 23-year-old appeared in seven games last season.

Tolle sparkled in his season debut on April 23, holding the New York Yankees to one run in six innings while piling up 11 strikeouts. He wound up with a no-decision.

In his second start, Tolle gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings to Toronto on Tuesday. He had control problems in that contest, issuing four walks.

“Just didn’t feel myself,” Tolle said. “Really thought I was pressing a little too hard on myself. Even (fellow starting pitcher) Connelly (Early) came in here and said, ‘Hey, you look like you’re beating yourself up.’ So, definitely felt like I got in my own way (Tuesday).”

Tolle relied heavily on fastballs against the Blue Jays and his velocity dropped toward the end of his outing.

“It wasn’t like he was soft-tossing, but it was something we were aware of going into the game,” interim manager Chad Tracy said.

Tolle pitched an inning of scoreless relief against the Tigers last season.

The reeling Red Sox have lost four of their last five games. Boston left 13 runners on base in a 3-1, 10-inning loss to Houston at home Sunday.

Detroit has won all five of its home series. It took two of three from Texas this weekend.

–Field Level Media

The New York Yankees are experiencing virtually no difficulties making contact and piling up big numbers against the Baltimore Orioles.

After a trio of blowout wins, the Yankees seek another productive showing at the plate Monday night when they host the Orioles in the finale of a four-game series.

The Yankees are 13-2 in their past 15 games after pulling away for an 11-3 rout on Sunday afternoon. New York has outscored the Orioles 27-9 in the series, has won the past eight meetings, is 11-1 over the past 12 encounters, and is attempting to complete a four-game sweep of Baltimore at home for the first time since Sept. 11-13, 2020.

During this series, the Yankees have collected 37 hits, 16 walks and gone 12-for-28 with runners in scoring position. New York blasted three more homers Sunday as Ben Rice homered in the first inning, Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer in the third and Jasson Dominguez started a seven-run eighth with a two-run homer.

Rice exited Sunday’s game with a bruised left hand after fielding a pickoff throw at first base from Max Fried in the third inning. Rice is day-to-day after X-rays were negative, and if he gets the game off, Paul Goldschmidt would start at first base after getting a two-run single in the big inning.

“We still got to finish the job tomorrow,” Rice said. “So, the team’s in a good spot. So, we just got to stay with it. Stay with it, it’s super early but of course we like where we’re at.”

The Orioles are getting outscored 38-14 during a four-game losing streak since hitting two grand slams in a 10-3 win over the Houston Astros in the first game of a doubleheader on Thursday. Baltimore has dropped 12 of its past 18 games after its relievers conceded eight runs on Sunday.

After getting seven hits in the first two games, the Orioles finished with nine Sunday but eight of those hits were singles. Baltimore has 22 hits during its four-game skid while striking out 43 times in that span.

Gunnar Henderson was not in the Orioles’ lineup for the first time this season but is expected to return after being available as a pinch hitter Sunday. Pete Alonso went 2-for-4 on Sunday but Adley Rutschman is hitless in his past 12 at-bats.

“For me it’s at a crucial point where what team do you want to be?” Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said. “We can fold up and just think everything will turn around just by itself or we’re going to put the work in and really make this happen. I feel like with those guys in the clubhouse, it’ll be the latter. These guys will put the work in.”

Cam Schlittler (4-1, 1.51 ERA), who is holding hitters to a .168 batting average, closes the series for the Yankees.

Schlittler is attempting to produce consecutive scoreless starts for the second time this season and third time since debuting July 9. Schlittler has allowed one earned run in his past 20 innings over his last three starts since allowing three runs apiece against the A’s and Tampa Bay on April 7 and 12.

Schlittler last pitched Tuesday when he outdueled Jacob deGrom by allowing three hits in six scoreless innings of a 3-2 win at Texas.

The right-hander is 1-0 with a 0.73 ERA in two starts against Baltimore.

Shane Baz (1-2, 4.50) pitches for the Orioles and is coming off his first win for his new team. Baz last pitched in Tuesday’s 5-3 win over the Houston Astros and allowed one run on six hits in 5 2/3 innings after allowing 11 runs over his previous three starts.

Baz is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA in six career starts against the Yankees.

–Field Level Media