Aaron Nola finished his first half with a stellar performance, suppressing the powerful Dodgers lineup in one of the most impressive starts of the season, helping the Phillies sweep the National League team closest to them in the standings.
Nola struck out nine in six innings, including a killer lineup of Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddy Freeman in the fifth that allowed Gavin Lux to score his only run of the night on a CBP special that barely reached left field. Had found. The wall is 329 feet away.
The first two innings were a struggle, but after retiring Ohtani and Smith, Nola found a rhythm and loaded the bases in the top of the second. He struck out 14 of the last 15 hitters he faced, all but Lux.
The Phillies won 5–1, and are 61–32 after the sweep, 6½ games ahead of the Dodgers and 7½ games ahead of the Brewers for the best record in the National League. This is of obvious importance as the team with the top record gets home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We don’t care who’s coming, we don’t care who we’re playing, we’ll just beat them,” said Johan Rojas, who drove in a run with a single and a key late Webb gem. “Anyone can come here and they will lose the game or the series. True to our goal of the World Series, we will go ahead and win it. “We’re hungry to win, that’s what we’re here for and that’s what we’re going to do.”
strong words. Strong team-wide reaction to the series loss over the weekend in Atlanta.
“Amazing. Mr. Consistency, that’s who he is,” manager Rob Thomson said of Nola. “You watch tonight’s game and he was in trouble the first two innings. He just keeps grinding and battling In the second inning, he struck out Ohtani, took a ground ball from Smith and then I thought he got better as the game went on. He’s been dynamite all year.
The Phillies took a quick lead in the bottom of the first on Thursday on Trey Turner’s opposite field solo home run. The Dodgers used an opener, lefty Anthony Banda, to counter Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, and Turner made them pay down the middle.
Turner has been dominant these past 10 games, hitting .452 with six home runs and 17 RBI.
Brandon Marsh took two strong swings, drilling a homer to right in the second inning and tripled to score Nick Castellanos in the sixth inning, where the Phillies extended their lead from one to three.
Rojas saved a run and potentially more over the next half-inning by running into the gap in left-center and raising his glove to rob Kike Hernandez of an extra base. Matt Stramm broke Ohtani’s bat a few pitches later and finished the seventh.
Harper opened the door to a potential Dodgers rally by dropping Jeff Hoffman’s routine throw with one out and nobody on in the eighth. Hoffman loaded the bases with a walk and a single but saved second baseman Bryson Stotts on a line-drive double play.
The Phillies had tremendous performances in the series against Ohtani, Freeman and Smith. The Dodgers’ three most dangerous hitters combined to go 5 for 28 with 10 strikeouts and no extra-base hits.
“I know they’re missing Mookie (Bates), but I thought our pitchers took care of the top of their order, which was important because those guys can really put up big numbers,” Thompson said. ” “It’s important to keep those guys in the ballpark. I think our guys executed at the right time.”
Nola broke 11-4 with a 3.38 ERA. The only pitcher with more wins in the majors is Chris Sale, who has 12. Starting pitching continues to be a major separator for the Phillies. The difference between their rotation and that of their competitors is visible in almost every homestand. Most teams, even good ones like the Dodgers and Brewers, cannot be successful in a series at Citizens Bank Park without using an opener or an unconventional starting pitching option. Phillies fans are wondering about the No. 5 spot while most teams don’t even have a solid No. 3. Granted, the Dodgers are without injured Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but health and durability are also a factor.
The Phils will face Ranger Suarez and Tyler Phillips on Friday and Saturday in their final series of the first half against the Oakland Athletics, who have lost 25 of their last 29 road games. Back spasms will keep Zack Wheeler from starting the finale on Sunday — it will likely be a bullpen game — but the Phillies think he will be ready to go by the All-Star break.
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