Aaron Nola and Alex McFarlane steady the ship, Phillies end August with a 2-1 win over the D Backs
What a month. Seriously, if I sat down and tried to draw up how I wanted August to go, I couldn’t have done it any better than this. The Phillies capped it off with a tight, gritty 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks at Chase Field on Monday night, and it left them with a final August record of 21-7, the best in the entire majors.
After the team sputtered to a miserable 9-15 in July and had everyone questioning whether this thing was cooked, they turned around and put together the best month of any team in baseball. Absolutely remarkable turnaround, sure, but that’s exactly what was expected from this ball club.
We will know what the Phillies are in September…
Heading into the final month, the Phillies are tied with the Cubs for the top NL Wild Card spot and sit just four games behind the first-place Braves in the NL East with 24 to play.
The Phillies and Braves square off SEVEN times over the next two weeks, starting with a four-game series Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. That division is very much in reach, and the Phillies control a huge chunk of their own destiny.
While the goal is chasing down Atlanta, this team has stayed locked in on the step right in front of it, and Monday that meant handling a Diamondbacks club that’s right in the thick of the Wild Card race. Job done.
Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper
The offense didn’t do a ton, but it did exactly enough. Bryson Stott absolutely obliterated a 464-foot homer in the second inning, the longest of his career and the eighth-longest in the majors this entire season.
Stotty – RING IT
That’s a genuine no-doubter, and it’s another reminder of just how good Stott has been all year. The guy keeps doing everything.
Then Bryce Harper kept his ridiculous run going, extending his career-best on-base streak to 33 games with an RBI double in the third. That was the extent of the Phillies’ scoring, just two runs, but the way this pitching staff is throwing, that’s all they needed.
Aaron Nola and Alex McFarlane
Aaron Nola picked up the win with five innings of one-run ball, and he just keeps quietly dominating, now sporting a 2.50 ERA over his last seven starts. The resurrection of Aaron Nola has been one of the most important stories of this whole run, and he’s pitching like a guy you can absolutely trust in October.
The real story of the night was the bullpen, and specifically rookie Alex McFarlane, who continues to blow me away. After Nola gave up a single and a walk to start the sixth with a one-run lead, Mattingly went to the 25-year-old in a genuine pressure cooker, and the kid delivered three outs to preserve the lead. The most impressive part? He came back from a 3-1 count to strike out Nolan Arenado on a 99-mph fastball and a sweeper.
That’s ice in the veins.
McFarlane’s numbers are eye-popping. He’s allowed just one earned run in his first 10 1/3 major-league innings. On this road trip alone, he’s pitched four times in seven games and thrown four scoreless innings without allowing a single hit, walking two and striking out five. As the games get bigger and the leverage ramps up, McFarlane is shaping up to be a serious weapon for this bullpen. What a find at exactly the right time.
The Rest of the Pen Slammed the Door
After McFarlane, the bullpen chain held beautifully. Orion Kerkering and Brooks Raley combined for a scoreless seventh. Jose Alvarado walked a tightrope but put up a zero in the eighth.
Jhoan Duran survived two infield hits in the ninth to lock down his 29th save, getting the final out with the potential tying run standing on third. That’s the kind of white-knuckle, hold-the-line bullpen work that wins games in September and October. The bridge to Duran that was such a mess a month ago is looking a whole lot more solid now.
The Roster Gets Reinforcements
With rosters expanding to 28 on Tuesday, the Phillies are adding two players: catcher Rafael Marchan and right-handed reliever Grant Holman. Marchan, who’d been on the IL since late July with left knee tendinitis, is back after a rehab assignment at Triple-A, giving the team some catching depth.
Holman, 26, was claimed off waivers from Detroit back in May and posted a 3.12 ERA with 25 strikeouts and just five walks in 26 innings at Lehigh Valley.
September Phillies are Here. Hold On For Dear Life/
The Phillies have now won 14 of their last 16, they just wrapped the best month in baseball, and they’re rolling into the most important stretch of the season with all the momentum in the world.
Jesus Luzardo gets the ball Tuesday night to keep it going in Arizona.
August was a masterpiece. The best record in the majors, a complete turnaround from July, the offense clicking, the rotation stabilizing, and the bullpen rounding into form at the perfect time. Now it’s September, the Braves are looming, and this team is playing exactly the kind of baseball that wins in the fall.
Couldn’t have scripted it better. Now let’s finish the job.
Join The Chase
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If I may, I’ll like to remind you and readers that all good things eventually come to an end. A new month starts today as well a new round of Philly’s misery. August was a month to remember, but mark my words and heed my warning, tonight will mark the start of disastrous month for the Phillies as they will play against actual talent. Lazy Lizardo, fittingly so, will herald in this era and all that I’ve been preaching about will come to pass. You have been warned.