Aaron Nola earns first win as Phillies beat Arizona, 7-2, with HRs by J.T. Realmuto and Max Kepler
Kepler homered for a second straight game while Brandon Marsh, fresh off the injured list, got his first hit in over a month.
About 45 minutes before Aaron Nola’s start against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night, he felt his neck lock up.
“Felt like it needed to pop and it wouldn’t pop,” Nola said. “Just a little tight on a couple of certain movements.”
The Phillies were worried. They immediately reinstated Ranger Suárez — who is scheduled to start Sunday — from the injured list, in case he was needed a day early in an emergency situation. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham and catching instructor Dusty Wathan informed J.T. Realmuto of the situation, and was on high alert during their pregame bullpen session.
Fortunately for Nola, the tightness was confined to the right side of his neck, so he could look over his left shoulder toward the plate without issue. He pitched through it for six shutout innings, and turned in his best start of the season in the Phillies’ 7-2 win.
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“It says a lot for sure,” said Realmuto, who also hit a three-run homer. “He’s a competitor. If there’s a way for him go out there and pitch, he’s going to do it.”
Nola struck out Corbin Carroll looking with a 94.4 mph four-seam fastball to start the game, the fastest pitch he has thrown all season. The velocity on all his pitches trended up as Nola struck out eight Diamondbacks.
“He missed bats. He got a lot of ground balls. He did a lot of good things,” said manager Rob Thomson. “I thought his curveball was really good. Got a lot of swings and misses on it.”
The offense did its part, through intermittent rain and lightning flashing in the distance. Across his first six starts of the year, Nola received six runs total in support from the Phillies offense. But by the end of the third inning, they had already scored six more.
A parade of five straight hits — a single, a two-run homer, a double, another single, and another double — scored three runs in the second before the Diamondbacks recorded a single out.
The home run belonged to Max Kepler, marking his second in the series and third in his last four games. Brandon Marsh, making his return from the injured list, drove in the third run with an RBI double for his first major league hit in over a month.
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Marsh fell behind in the count to Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt, but sent a curveball at the bottom of the zone down the right field line. He also later hit an infield single.
“I think the double down the line let him breathe a little bit,” Thomson said. “Then he had really good at-bats. He hit the ball hard all night long. Our offense was really good.”
The Phillies scored three more runs in the third. Pfaadt hit Kyle Schwarber with a pitch to start the rally, extending his on-base streak to 39 games. Kepler singled, before Realmuto crushed a sweeper for a three-run shot.
“My swing feels good,” Realmuto said. “Feels like I’m in a good spot right now. Just over time, I’ve gradually started to feel more and more like myself.”
They tacked on another in the fourth. Trea Turner doubled and advanced to third on a groundout from Bryce Harper, before the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Schwarber. Nick Castellanos hit a grounder to third base, but a throwing error allowed Turner to score.
Arizona got a few back in the seventh, with Carlos Hernández in to pitch for Nola. Hernández gave up a leadoff single to Gabriel Moreno before hanging a slider to Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The Diamondbacks outfielder, who also had three hits in the series opener, sent it 393 feet to cut into the Phillies’ lead.
It marked the first runs the Phillies’ bullpen has allowed since April 29. Tanner Banks pitched a 1-2-3 eighth, and Joe Ross rebounded from a two-out double with a strikeout to seal it in the ninth.
The Phillies secured their third straight series victory, and Nola earned his first win of the season. The right-hander is confident that the neck tightness won’t be a lingering issue.
“I feel pretty good,” Nola said. “All my pitches feel pretty good right now. I’m getting ahead of the hitters better than I was the first few starts, and putting them away when I need to.”