The Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Milwaukee Brewers Tuesday night behind a solid start from pitcher Aaron Nola.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday Sun
One of the biggest second half of the season concerns for the Philadelphia Phillies was whether they would see a more consistent effort from starter Aaron Nola.
While Nola has had his share of ups and downs throughout the season, his first post-All Star Break game was a 4-3 win over the National League Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers. He allowed three runs (two earned) with six strikeouts and zero walks in seven and one-third innings in a solid effort on the mound Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
“I thought his command was really good tonight,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “His breaking ball got a lot of swings and misses. He was really good.”
Performances like the ones that Phillies starters have been giving since before the All-Star break are going to be important if the Phillies hope to make their way back into the postseason, Thomson said.
“Nola is a huge piece, just like all of them,” Thomson said. “You saw in our play run last year him and (Zack) Wheeler and Ranger (Suarez) and how important they were. Now we’ve added Taijuan (Walker) and Cristopher Sanchez is throwing really well. We have to keep going.”
Nola, who picked up his ninth win against six losses, didn’t allow a hit in the game until the fifth inning. He credited the eight-day break with giving him a chance to refocus his delivery.
“I felt like I needed it. I felt the whole staff needed it,” he said. “I just slowed my delivery and focused on a pitch by pitch and not try to get ahead of myself and focus on strike one and get that lead-off guy and I did that for the most part.”
Meanwhile, the Phillies offense got it going early with a lead-off home run by Kyle Schwarber over Milwaukee starter Julio Teheran in the first inning. By the end of the third inning, the Phillies jumped out a 3-0 lead on an RBI groundout by third baseman Alec Bohm that scored catcher J.T. Realmuto from third and an RBI single by Nick Castellanos that scored shortstop Trea Turner, who reached on a triple to left center field.
Nola struggled a bit in the fifth inning after getting the first two outs of the inning that included a deep fly ball hit by first baseman Owen Miller that needed a spectacular catch by Schwarber who snatched a ball off the left field fence that could have gone for extra-bases.
“Everybody’s shocked that I can play left field,” said Schwarber with a smile in reference to some of his struggles throughout the season. “It was nice to make the play. Those are plays that you look forward to making. Happy that I was able to make the catch.”
As it turned out, it was a huge play because the Brewers scored two runs in the inning on an RBI double by Milwaukee third baseman Andruw Monasterio that scored right fielder Raimel Tapia, who scored from second base after reaching on a single and stealing second. That cut the Phillies lead to 3-2.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Phillies increased the lead to 4-2 on an RBI single by second baseman Bryson Stout that scored Turner. The Brewers would add another in the top of the eighth on an RBI groundout by left fielder Christian Yelich that scored Monasterio from third. Milwaukee would come no closer.
Phillies closer Craig Kimbrell shut the door on the Brewers and picked up his 16th save of the season for the Phillies.
The win put the Phillies a half-game up on the Miami Marlins for the third Wild Card playoff spot in the National League. To see if the team continues its winning ways, you can catch game two of their series against the Brewers on NBC Sports Philadelphia, starting at 6:40 pm.
Leave a Comment