Aaron Nola lasted 38 pitches in the biggest start of the Phillies season.
Interim manager Don Mattingly pulled him with two outs in the second inning Thursday night, with Philadelphia down 3-0 to the Atlanta Braves in the deciding Game 3 of their National League wild card series. Nola allowed three runs on two hits, with two walks and one strikeout.
All of the damage came on 13 pitches in the first inning. With one out Nola walked Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson, then Michael Harris II hit a sinker 387 feet for a three-run homer.
Nola threw harder than usual, which is normal for pitchers amped up for a big start, but he could not find the strike zone. His four-seam fastball averaged nearly two miles per hour above his season average but only 32%
of his pitches were in the zone. He threw his sinker 37% of the time, about double his season rate. His knuckle curve, which held hitters to a .177 average this season, was barely a quarter of his pitches.
He was chased after a single by Dominic Smith, who was in the lineup because of his past success against Nola. Left-hander Tim Mayza replaced him with Zack Wheeler in the bullpen.
Nola, 33, is the longest-tenured player on the Phillies. He went 7-12 with a 4.67 ERA this season, though he had a 2.45 ERA over 11 starts from late July to late September. He has four years and about $98 million left on the seven-year, $172 million deal he signed in November 2023.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why the Phillies pulled Aaron Nola in the second inning vs. Braves
