PHILADELPHIA – As their season enters its second month, the Nationals have established an ability to be far more competitive against top competition than they had been the previous three seasons as they embarked on their roster rebuild. They’ve stood toe-to-toe with the Mets, Phillies, Dodgers and Diamondbacks in a manner not seen around here in a while.

But that doesn’t mean they’ve looked competitive against that caliber of competition every night. Sometimes, they’ve still looked like the inferior ballclub, as was the case tonight during a 7-2 drubbing at the hands of the Phillies.

Jake Irvin labored through his worst start of the young season, putting his team in an early hole and allowing runs in four of the six innings he pitched. The lineup didn’t have a rousing rally in it this time, unable to duplicate its impressive feat from Tuesday’s series opener, instead going down quietly against the Philadelphia pitching staff.

“The last week, 10 days, it seems like anybody coming out of the bullpen, we’ve been all over,” designated hitter Josh Bell said. “But they definitely had our number tonight.”

As such, the Nats lost their third straight game, falling to 13-18. They’ll need a win in Thursday’s finale here to avoid a disheartening series sweep before heading to Cincinnati for the weekend.

“The big thing is, we’re playing catch-up a lot,” manager Davey Martinez said. “We’ve got to come out tomorrow, score some early runs and put the pressure on them.”

Much of Irvin’s troubles have come early in his starts, and that was certainly the case tonight. Four batters into his evening, he and the Nationals trailed 3-0, thanks to Bryston Stott’s leadoff single, Trea Turner’s follow-up walk and then the inevitable Kyle Schwarber home run.

Schwarber’s three-run blast, off an 0-2 curveball down in the zone, was merely the latest by the former Nats slugger. Since signing with the Phillies in 2022, he has launched 21 homers in only 49 head-to-head games. That includes four in his first five games against them this year.

“The pitch that Schwarber hit out was one that wasn’t necessarily a hitter’s pitch,” Irvin said. “Would I like it back? Absolutely. Nothing I can pinpoint to, but I would love to stop putting myself in those jams.”

Irvin’s first-inning ERA now stands at an unsightly 10.29, easily his worst of any frame pitched. He had been able to brush off those early struggles in his previous starts, never allowing more than four runs total. That changed tonight.

The Phillies got to him for solo runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. They got back-to-back, two-out hits from Johan Rojas and Stott in the fourth, a Harper double and a Nick Castellanos RBI single in the fifth and then Max Kepler’s homer to open the sixth on an 89 mph fastball.

“That’s a product of flying open,” Martinez said, “not staying in his legs.”

Irvin did complete the sixth inning before departing with a pitch count of 90, but he departed with his team trailing by four runs after suffering through his least-effective start of the season.

“Six innings is great,” he said. “Six runs in six innings isn’t. I’ve got to find a way to be better than that.”

The Nats had far less success against Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez, despite a few opportunities for big innings versus the lefty. They managed only one run apiece in the top of the third and top of the fifth, with Jacob Young scoring in each case (via a Nathaniel Lowe double and an Amed Rosario fielder’s choice).

The opportunities for something more twice fell to Bell, who continues to fall short when presented with such opportunities. The struggling DH came up with two on and two out in the third and sent a fly ball to the warning track in right to end the inning. He came up again with two on and two out in the fifth and proceeded to strike out with some very awkward swings against Sánchez.

Another strikeout later against Tanner Banks left Bell a dismal 2-for-25 this season vs. left-handers. He’s been only marginally better against righties (12-for-77, four homers), unable to date to find the consistent power stroke he and the Nationals hoped he would provide when they signed him for $6 million this winter.

“I haven’t had the results I’ve been looking for this year,” said Bell, now batting .137 with a .503 OPS. “But I’m just going to keep grinding and hoping that things take a turn for the better.”

* Nationals batting practice pitcher James Frisbie is coherent and “feeling better” after collapsing near the mound during pregame warmups this afternoon, Martinez said. The incident prompted the team to cancel the remainder of BP and head back to the clubhouse to await word on Frisbie's condition.

According to Martinez, Frisbie was transported to a local hospital, where doctors have performed a number of tests. The Nats had not yet heard the results of those tests shortly after tonight’s game, but they appeared to be generally optimistic about the 52-year-old staffer’s condition.

“It was a scary moment,” Martinez said. “You see him go down like that, and you don’t know what to think. We’re just waiting on results, and we’ll see what they are. Hopefully, everything’s OK.”

Frisbie was about to throw BP to Keibert Ruiz when he collapsed in front of the mound at Citizens Bank Park shortly after 5 p.m. Nationals trainers immediately rushed to tend to him while others called for stadium paramedics. He was treated for several minutes before being strapped onto a stretcher and placed on a motorized cart to be driven off the field, with a member of the Nats training staff by his side.

Players and coaches gathered around the mound and near home plate to watch as Frisbie was being tended to, then all departed back to the clubhouse once the incident was over, bringing a conclusion to BP long before it normally would have ended.

“A scary moment for all of us,” Martinez said. “He’s a big part of our Nats family here.”

Frisbie is in his third season as one of three batting practice pitchers employed by the Nationals. A left-handed thrower, he typically pitches to one of three batting groups during pregame warmups, then is stationed in the batting cage behind the dugout keeping hitters warm during games.