Aaron Nola Tosses Gem, Phillies Split Series With Braves 4-1
Aaron Nola tossed 8.1 innings of shutout baseball, propelling the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Braves and a series split.
Beat Phillies (21-24) Beat Braves (21-24)
- Winning Pitcher: Aaron Nola (2-4, 3.56)
- Losing Pitcher: Kyle Wright (4-3, 2.68)
- Save: n/a
Aaron Nola was outstanding tonight in a game that the Phillies desperately needed to avoid losing three straight to a division rival. The Phillies had lost eight straight games that Nola started before reversing the trend with the win. Nola tossed 8.1 innings, struck out 10 Braves hitters and maneuvered beautifully without giving up a walk. Nola is now tied for the league lead with 74 strikeouts on the year.
Following a brief discussion with manager Joe Girardi after Nola finished the 8th inning, he was given the green light to go ahead and try for the complete game shutout. However, it wasn’t meant to be as Nola allowed a double to Matt Olson with one out and was removed in favor of Corey Knebel who allowed the only run to score on a wild pitch. Knebel easily work through the final two outs of the inning, but you gotta feel for Nola who deserved to finish off the game.
I know pitchers these days in baseball are on a strict pitch limit and are rarely allowed to surpass 100 pitches in an outing, but I would have liked Joe Girardi to leave his horse out there with the ball in his hand. Yes, Nola was at 109 pitches after giving up the double, but he had cruised through the majority of frames and had only allowed five hits all night. More and more these days it seems I disagree with the decisions Girardi is making. I don’t think i’m alone in that opinion.
JT Realmuto homered in the 3rd inning to put the Phillies up 1-0 in what hopefully is the beginning of the end of the catchers struggles this season.
Odubel Herrera had a fantastic series at the plate this week against Atlanta. Herrera finished the night 2-4 with 2 RBI. In his two starts in center El Torito was 4-8 with 4 RBI.
Nick Castellanos added an insurance run in the 8th inning with a deep double that went off Guillermo Heredia’s glove allowing Bryce Harper to score and increasing the lead to 4-0.
Tonight was a good night. Any night that we don’t have to endure five innings of the Phillies bullpen is a great night. Enjoy this. Thank you Aaron.
The Phillies open up a huge three game series against the Mets in Flushing tomorrow night. The Mets are without three members of their starting rotation and most importantly Jacob DeGrom and Max Scherzer. Scherzer exited his start last week with discomfort and now looks like he will be out until after the all-star break. This is the series the Phillies could propel themselves back into the NL East conversation.
JT Realmuto hits a solo shot to put the Phillies on the board. Thats gotta feel good for JT, who has been struggling for most of the season.
1-0 Phils
The Phillies had the bases loaded with nobody out, but Alec Bohm was unable to move the runners and Bryce Harper then grounded into a double play.
Odubel Herrera hits a two run RBI double off Will Smith in what was his first pitch of the night.
3-0 Phils
Nick Castellanos with an RBI double on a ball that probably should have been caught by the Braves centerfielder.
4-0 Phils
Thats 10 strikeouts for Aaron Nola.
Up Next
The Phillies open up a three game series against the division leading New York Mets in Flushing on Friday night.
Zach Eflin (1-3, 3.65) will toe the rubber facing off against Carlos Carrasco (4-1, 3.50), with the first pitch scheduled for 7:10 pm.
NBC Sports will carry the broadcast of the game.
Mandatory Image Credit: Philadelphia Phillies
