Aaron Nola posts quality start and Phillies hold off late rally in 6-4 win over Nationals
Nola held the Nationals to two earned runs over six innings for his first quality start since May 3. On offense, Edmundo Sosa broke the game open with a three-run home run in the fourth inning.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson didn’t call a formal team meeting, but the news had spread quickly throughout the clubhouse. Zack Wheeler would undergo season-ending surgery, and the Phillies would have to continue their quest toward a World Series title without him.
During the 2023 playoffs, Bryce Harper had nicknamed Wheeler and Aaron Nola “Ace one and Ace two.” (Since then, Cristopher Sánchez has become a cornerstone of the Phillies rotation, and is likely deserving of a nickname of his own.) But if the Phillies are to succeed without Ace one, they will need to lean on Ace two.
Nola has struggled with command and execution this season, which was interrupted by an ankle and rib injury. But when he took the mound against the Washington Nationals on Saturday — a few hours after the Phillies announced Wheeler’s diagnosis — he showed encouraging results in the 6-4 win.
“I felt good. Body felt good,” Nola said. “Ankle and rib felt normal today. Ball felt like it was coming out better than it has been.”
» READ MORE: Zack Wheeler will undergo season-ending surgery: ‘You’re never going to replace an individual like that’
Nola posted his first quality start since May 3, holding the Nationals to two earned runs over six innings. He touched 94.1 mph with his four-seam fastball as he struck out six, after topping out at 93 in his last outing.
“I just need to step up in general,” Nola said. “I need throw some more good games. We pretty much have one month left for the regular season, and I’m going to do everything I can to give it all out there, hopefully put the guys in a good position to win every time I’m out there, and and hopefully keep feeling good.”
When Nola’s fastball velocity ticks up like it did on Saturday, it makes his offspeed more effective as well. Nola generated 11 swings-and-misses on his curveball.
Home runs continued to be an issue, as Nola allowed two solo shots in the sixth inning. But he induced a flyout and a strikeout to end the frame, preventing things from snowballing.
One unearned run scored on Nola in the fifth after a throwing error from first baseman Weston Wilson put two runners in scoring position with no outs. Dylan Crews scored on an RBI groundout from Brady House. Nola then struck out the next two batters swinging to escape the jam.
“I always believe in him, because I know how hard he works,” Thomson said. “He’s always prepared, he always competes, he’s got really good stuff. Just this year’s been a little bit different, just because the ankle and the side, but you always think that Nols is going to go out there and give you a good outing. You really do. Just because he’s done it for so long.”
Meanwhile, Nationals starter Mitchell Parker held the Phillies without a hit through the first three innings. But when Harper finally broke through with a single to right field in the fourth, the floodgates opened.
It took no time for the Phillies to get four more hits. Back-to-back doubles from J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm scored two runs, and then Harrison Bader won an eight-pitch at-bat with a single to move Bohm to third. Edmundo Sosa broke the game open with a three-run homer to put the Phillies ahead, 5-0.
» READ MORE: Trea Turner and Bryson Stott giving the Phillies a jolt at the top and bottom of the lineup in August
Sosa, who typically only starts against left-handed pitchers, had not played since Monday while Bryson Stott was swinging a hot bat. During his extended time on the bench, Sosa had been working with the Phillies’ hitting coaches on an adjustment to his stance that allows him to use his legs more. The change immediately paid dividends when he launched a fastball into the left-field seats.
“We just focused on staying in a more athletic position to hit with my body,” Sosa said through a team interpreter. “We were working every day on that adjustment, I feel stronger with my legs and and I feel like now I’m in a good position to hit.”
Trea Turner tacked on another run in the fifth with a solo shot to left field that stayed just inside the foul pole.
David Robertson struck out the side in the seventh. He has a 1.59 ERA through five appearances with the Phillies.
“[Robertson is] throwing strikes. Cutter’s got good action to it. Breaking ball’s really good,” Thomson said.
Matt Strahm ran into some trouble in the eighth after allowing a pair of doubles to score a run. After Strahm hit Daylen Lile with a pitch, Orion Kerkering entered to face the right-handed-hitting Crews and induced a groundout to limit the damage.
Jhoan Duran entered for the ninth, looking to rebound after his first blown save in a Phillies uniform on Friday. Danger loomed when Duran gave up a double and a single to bring the winning run to the plate, but he struck out James Wood and induced a lineout from CJ Abrams to seal it.