Aaron Nola punctuates strong WBC run for Italy with four solid innings in loss to Venezuela
Italy ultimately lost to Venezuela, 4-2, in the World Baseball Classic semifinal. But Nola will return to the Phillies with a fastball that has more life and a curveball with more bite.
MIAMI — As a way of summarizing Aaron Nola’s two-week guest spot with Italy’s national baseball team, let’s borrow a phrase that fans in his adopted country can appreciate.
Venit, vidit, vicit.
Because Nola came from Phillies camp. He saw two lineups filled with major-league stars. And he did his part to help Italy conquer, leaving with a one-run lead after four innings in World Baseball Classic semifinal here Monday night.
But this wasn’t Julius Caesar at the Battle of Zela. Fueled by a potent, relentless, and zestful offense, Venezuela ran down Italy’s Cinderella run, scoring three times in the seventh inning for a 4-2 victory that thrilled a partisan — and deafeningly loud — crowd in South Florida.
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Next up for the Venezuelans: Team USA for the gold medal — yes, they actually do receive medals — at 8 p.m. Tuesday night.
Say this for Italy: It was the darling of the tournament.
With a roster comprised mostly of Italian Americans (three players were born in Italy) who didn’t draw interest from the American dream team, and powered by an espresso machine in the dugout, they went undefeated in pool play and upset Puerto Rico in the quarterfinals.
And with Nola, who dominated Mexico last week to clinch the top seed in Pool B, they had the pitcher they wanted against high-powered Venezuela.
Initially, manager Francisco Cervelli planned to roll with Michael Lorenzen against Venezuela and Nola in the final, if Italy got there. But with a taxed bullpen, he went with Nola on regular (four days) rest and brought in Lorenzen in relief.
“My reason was my gut,” Cervelli said before the game. “It was me. Everyone is available. But I think Nola is the right person. That’s my opinion, and I’m taking responsibility for my decisions.”
The gambit almost worked.
With a fastball that crackled at 94.1 mph and a biting curveball, Nola held Venezuela to an Eugenio Suárez solo homer over four innings. He struck out three batters, including Suárez on a 10-pitch duel and Ezequiel Tovar on a sweeping curveball. He got longtime nemesis Ronald Acuña Jr. (16-for-52 with four homers and a 1.025 OPS in his career against Nola) looking at a curveball in the third inning.
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But Nola threw only 59 pitches, 10 fewer than his previous start against Mexico, and yielded to Lorenzen after four innings with a 2-1 lead in tow. Lorenzen held Venezuela off the board for two innings before breaking in the seventh on a leadoff walk and consecutive singles by Jackson Chourio, Acuña, Maikel Garcia, and Luis Arraez.
The rally nearly blew the roof off loanDepot Park, home of the Marlins, with a sellout crowd of 35,382 roaring louder with each successive hit.
So, Italy fell short of reaching the championship game. But from a personal standpoint, Nola got precisely what he wanted from the arrangement.
Coming off an injury-interrupted season that produced a career-worst 6.01 ERA, he reinstated a rigorous long-toss training program designed to improve the run, carry, cut, and sink of his pitches. And he wanted a more intense proving ground for whether it all worked.
The WBC seemed perfect. Nola’s great-grandparents on his father’s side were from Italy (the Campania region in the south, to be exact), so he and his brother, Austin, qualified to play. Austin, a catcher, withdrew before the tournament because he got a coaching job with the Mariners.
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But Nola went ahead with his plans. And sure enough, he got confirmation that his offseason program worked. His fastball had more life; his curveball had more bite.
He looked, well, eccelente.
And now, Nola will rejoin the Phillies for likely one more spring-training start with the knowledge that his adjustments held up in an intense environment and against a star-laden lineup.