If a pitcher sticks around long enough, you start to have some idea of what a typical start from them looks like. They won’t all be the same, of course, but certain trends and patterns emerge. A vintage Aaron Nola start is likely to be solid, with a roadbump or two, probably in the form of homers, causing some degree of anguish among the more tense among us. That is what we got tonight. Nola pitched well, with a pair of gopher balls briefly spiking cortisol levels among the fans. Yes, it would have been
nicer if those homers hadn’t happened. But the Aaron Nola we saw tonight looked a lot like the Aaron Nola from the past, not the ersatz Aaron who crumbled in the early part of the season and in his first start back from injury. That’s a deeply encouraging sign, for both Nola and the team.
Nola looked smooth early. He battled against James Wood over seven pitches, eventually putting him down with a called third strike placed just on the outside of the plate. He got CJ Abrams swinging on a low knuckle curve. Josh Bell made contact, but only produced a flyout. His second inning had a small sign for concern in the form of a leadoff single, though the subsequent trio of Nationals produced no further trouble.
The Phillies, fielding an unusual lineup (Bryce Harper at DH, Kyle Schwarber at LF, Weston Wilson at 1st) put their first baserunner on with two outs in the bottom of the second. That runner came in the form of Nick Castellanos who outdueled Nats starter Mitchell Parker with enough patience and foul-ability (there must be a better word to describe the capacity to foul off pitches somewhere) to earn a nine pitch walk; he was stranded as Harrison Bader took a K.
Nola continued sailing smoothly, facing the minimum in the third and fourth: James Wood reached on a single in the latter frame, but was put out by a caught stealing (and caught by a mile at that). Meanwhile, Nola’s teammates broke through in the bottom fourth. Bryce Harper singled to right, and J.T. Realmuto doubled to center; the ball bounced around enough to score the former. Then Alec Bohm continued the trend, doubling to left, scoring Realmuto. A bingle from Bader bid Bohm break for third. Then Edmundo Sosa, never one to pass up an opportunity to make a difference, took a fastball to left for a three-run roundtripper. The Phillies lead was 5 to none.
The Nationals, stubbornly refusing to hang their heads, put Dylan Crews on first with a single, then put runners on the corners when Weston Wilson tried to get the lead runner on a subsequent ground ball; his throw hit Crews and bounced into the outfield. A productive putout then scored Crews. Nola, unperturbed, put down the next two Washingtons with swinging strikeouts on knuckle curves, ensuring his lone run to that point was recorded as unearned.
A lone run that did go down as earned came soon after, as Trea Turner hit a leadoff solo shot in the Philly half of the fifth. And then another came soon after that, as CJ Abrams hit a leadoff homer of his own, which plunked off the pole; no need this time for an irritated fan to toss it back. After inducing Bell to line out, Nola tossed a knuckle curve, reliable all night, to Luis García, Jr., who sent it over the center field fence. The Phillies lead was thus cut to three.
After that, Nola’s day was done: 6 innings, 3 runs (two earned) from five hits, with 6 Ks to just a single walk. A quality start, and a glimpse of a more familiar Nola. David Robertson came in to replace him, then struck out the side, two looking, one swinging. Matt Strahm took the eighth, and proved somewhat less successful: a pair of doubles narrowed the Phillies lead to two. After a two-out HBP, he was pulled for Orion Kerkering, who quickly ended the inning with a groundout.
The Phillies almost got it back: Bohm walked in the eighth and Bader doubled, sending Bohm home. But a 7-6-2 play put Bohm out at the plate. There was some consolation to the narrowing of what had once been a five run lead for the fans in attendance: they got to see Jhoan Duran pitch.
Looking for a better result after a rare blown save last night, Duran faced the bottom of the Nats’ lineup. Even the most unreasonable of Nationals partisans would describe that as a mismatch. He put out the first National easily, but the second, Brady House, hit grounder right up the right base line for a double. In a showing of dreadful symmetry, Robert Hassell III then hit one right up the third base line. Runners were on the corners with one away. Duran made Wood chop at a fastball outside for a K. CJ Abrams was both the potential go-ahead run and the last hope for the Nationals.
Duran ensured that hope was in vain. A fly ball to shallow, unthreatening left ended the game. Duran was hardly in need of redemption; nevertheless, it’s nice to have a reminder that yesterday’s blown save was hardly typical. Hopefully, Nola’s performance today will also prove to be more typical of his outings going forward.
The Phillies are 75-54. The rubber match against the Nationals is tomorrow at 1:35.
