Nola goes 7 innings, but finishes what he started
PHILADELPHIA >> The sinking ship Phillies was listing toward a 10-game losing streak Saturday night with no possibility of an autumn bailout. That didn’t prevent Aaron Nola from providing one last look at what could have been a memorable summer, and one indelible reminder of better days ahead.
Nola capped his breakout, All-Star season with one last gem, tossing seven shutout innings, allowing only two hits while striking out eight Atlanta Braves to lay the groundwork for a 3-0 victory at Citizens Bank Park.
Alert the oddsmakers, the Phillies (79-82) finally ended their nine-game losing streak, an out-of-control skid during which they were outgored by a cumulative 70-21. To end it against Atlanta, the team that started the nine-game streak and took the time to put the final sword through the Phillies’ playoff hopes a week ago ... perhaps a little bittersweet, at best.
“It certainly feels much better to have a win under our belt after a little bit of a layoff in that category,” manager Gabe Kapler said with more than a dose of irony. “Look, we need things to provide momentum going into the offseason right now. We need things to keep us especially positive, so that we can take some of the great things that happened this year and build on them.”
To that end, Kapler began this long-awaited victory speech with a fullscale declaration of pitching sainthood for a guy who at least deserved everyone’s bow of gratitude. Kapler tends to do that with a little more hyperbole than most.
“When I told Nola he was going to be done for the game, I looked at him and I said, ‘That’s maybe the best season I’ve ever seen a pitcher have up close,’” Kapler said. “And I (played) with Pedro Martinez, and arguably in his prime. I think (Nola’s) season is right up there with Roy Halladay’s best and Cliff Lee’s best and Steve Carlton’s best.”
Oh.
When new Phillie Carlton won 27 of the fabulous Phils’ 59 victories in 1972, Kapler was three years from being born. But hey, given the occasion...
“It was a jaw-dropping season,” Kapler continued, “and I remember having a conversation with Nola in the bullpen in spring training and I think at that point he was already visualizing being this good. You look at last year, he was excellent. So it should come as no surprise. But certainly the movement of the changeup has been a difference-maker. I think the command of the fastball inside to hitters has been a difference-maker. I think his ability to sense when a hitter is thinking fastball and go to that changeup, that has been a differencemaker. And finally, I just think the curveball just keeps getting better. I really do.
“And now we know what we have in Aaron Nola for
2019.”
As for 2018, Nola could or even should finish among the top three Cy Young candidates in the National League. He should allow his record of
17-6 with a 2.37 ERA settle in for a while, too. It might erase the pain of how this season ended for his team. The Phillies’ plunge of 33 losses in 47 games from Aug. 8 through Friday night took Nola with it, but to a much lesser degree than everyone else in the clubhouse.
Not him.
“Feels good,” he said. “I think it felt better for us as a team to get a win. To be 0-9, go on the road, losing two series like that. I think this was a big win for us just to try to finish the season strong.
“I mean, really, in the season I don’t look at the numbers. I just try to win ball games for this club. That’s kind of my main focus and I try to go deep in a ball game, try to give these guys a chance to win every time. Try to give the bullpen the least amount of outs as possible.”
Nola was only 88 pitches into this game when he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning. This time the move worked, as pinch-hitter Wilson Ramos was intentionally walked to load the bases with one out. And Cesar Hernandez followed with a tworun single to snap what had been to that point a scoreless tie, courtesy of Nola and the Braves’ Anibal that it matters to Sanchez (6 innings, no runs, 3 hits).
Carlos Santana then walked to re-load the bases, and Odubel Herrera would knock in a third Phillies run with a ground out. That was enough to make a loser of Braves reliever Johnny Venters, because Hector Neris would pitch a perfect eighth inning and Seranthony Dominguez would survive the ninth to get his 15th save.
Aside from his superb numbers, Nola said the most important thing he’d take out of this season was, “I stayed healthy all year. I made all (33) starts. That was one of my goals.”
Moments earlier, Kapler has semi-speculated that as an encore, he wouldn’t be shocked if Nola developed another pitch in the offseason. That too seems kind of optimistic, but then again all the optimism that can be mustered seemed appropriate on this night.
“Probably down the road,” Nola said. “A new pitch down the road, maybe. But I just want to keep trying to stay consistent with my pitches and try to make each one better.
“I think there’s always room for improvement. I think there’s always room to learn every year. I’ll just try to come out next year and keep doing my job.”
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NOTES >> Nola finished the season with 224 strikeouts, the fourth right-hander to get that many in Phils history . ... The overdue final game of the season Sunday pits lefty minor-leaguer Ranger Suarez vs. Braves right-hander Kevin Gausman in a 3 o’clock start.