Trea Turner and Aaron Nola have bounceback performances in Phillies’ 4-3 win over the Padres
Nola allowed two runs on three hits across six innings. Turner, who was dropped from leadoff to the second spot, hit a solo homer in the third inning and later singled to break from his slump.
SAN DIEGO — Trea Turner conceded he probably shouldn’t have swung at it.
The sinker from Padres starter Randy Vásquez didn’t have much sink, and it stayed well above the strike zone. But Turner was still able to get the barrel on the pitch, stay through the ball, and drive it 434 feet for a no-doubt home run.
The solo shot snapped an 0-for-18 skid for Turner. And in the Phillies’ 4-3 win over San Diego on Tuesday, he wasn’t the only player to leave the ballpark with some encouraging results. J.T. Realmuto bashed his first homer since April 1, and Aaron Nola turned in one of his strongest starts of the season.
“It feels good,” Nola said. “Good win. A lot of guys came out and hit some good homers today, and the bullpen was nasty. Shut the door tonight.”
» READ MORE: Kyle Schwarber continues to thrive at Petco Park, which is known to be unkind for hitters
The Phillies were dealt a blow when Brandon Marsh left the game in the bottom of the fourth inning with a sprained middle finger on his right hand. He hyperextended it while getting tagged out diving back to first base.
Interim manager Don Mattingly said Marsh was “day-to-day.” He will be reevaluated on Wednesday morning.
Marsh, whose .326 batting average ranks second in baseball this year, initially remained in the game. He was able to swing and singled in the third inning, but he was concerned that attempting to throw in the outfield could aggravate the injury and was lifted for Adolis García.
“I felt like the decision putting Doli out there and finishing the game was more beneficial for the team, and I think so did everyone else,” Marsh said.
The Phillies built an early lead with solo home runs in each of the first three innings, courtesy of Bryce Harper, Realmuto, and Turner. They nearly added another in the fourth, but Jackson Merrill made a jumping catch at the center field wall to rob Edmundo Sosa.
Turner said he focused on staying through the ball in batting practice on Tuesday, and it paid off.
“It feels like I’m just not kind of releasing the barrel, I guess you can say,” he said. “So I’m just working on that and kind of staying through the ball and finishing the swing a little better, because the start of the swing I think looks really good, or has looked really good for a while.”
Alec Bohm drove in another run in the third inning with an RBI single. It gave Nola a 4-0 cushion to work with.
Though Nola lugged a 6.04 ERA into his start, he held the Padres to two runs on three hits — including a pair of infield singles — over six innings.
“The underlying numbers of his last outing was really good, when talking to [pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham] after that outing, location-wise, stuff-wise,” Mattingly said. “So we were feeling good about where he’s been going. So to me, he just kept them off balance all night.”
Nola retired the first 11 batters he faced, carrying a perfect game into the fourth inning. It was broken up on a ground ball hit up the middle that Turner wasn’t able to field cleanly, which was ruled a single.
» READ MORE: Nick Castellanos holds ‘no hard feelings’ toward the Phillies after being released
Turner cut in toward the grounder from Gavin Sheets and knocked it down, but couldn’t come up with the ball in time. He said in hindsight, going back and playing it off the hop may have made it an easier play, though a harder throw.
“He kind of backspun it, so I was going to try to go toward it,” Turner said. “If he would have topspun it, I would’ve went back. Me and [infield coach] Bobby [Dickerson] talked about it, and just with his speed, I probably could have still went back anyways. I don’t feel like I made the wrong decision, but it was a tough play.”
Manny Machado homered on a first-pitch sinker in the next at-bat to cut the Phillies’ lead to 4-2.
The only other hit Nola allowed was an infield single from Xander Bogaerts in the sixth that was too soft for Bohm to make a play on. Nola did not issue a walk, and struck out five. The three hits were the fewest he has allowed in a start this season.
“All the stuff felt pretty good,” Nola said. “All the pitches. Cutter felt OK, I got some swing and misses on it. … Felt like I got ahead pretty well.”
Orion Kerkering took over in the seventh and rebounded from a leadoff walk to Machado to strike out the side.
The Phillies loaded the bases in the top of the eighth with the chance to add some insurance against the Padres bullpen, but Justin Crawford grounded out to end the threat. Crawford is hitless since May 18.
Ramón Laureano hit a leadoff homer off Brad Keller in the eighth to bring San Diego within a run. Keller allowed a single and a walk to put the go-ahead run aboard, but he escaped the jam after Bohm made a big play on a soft grounder at third.
» READ MORE: Baseball’s biggest stars to walk red carpet at Independence Hall before the All-Star Game
Closer Jhoan Duran earned his 10th save of the season on Monday night and was initially unavailable on Tuesday, according to Mattingly.
“He felt better today than he did [Monday]. Came back in feeling good,” Mattingly said. “He’s the one [who] pushed for, ‘Hey, I’m ready, I’m good to go.’”
Duran pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal it to pick up save No. 11. The Phillies improved their record to 28-27, pulling back above the .500 mark.
As the Phillies continue to seek more production out of the cleanup spot, Rhys Hoskins was back in town with the Cleveland Guardians. Hoskins sat down with "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss his role with the first-place Guardians, his legacy with the Phillies, and more. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Terry Francona | Aaron Rowand | Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola | Justin Crawford | Garrett Stubbs