Nola gives reason to start thinking big
PHILADELPHIA >> The hitting, high-priced and talented, had begun to produce runs. The bullpen, challenged and frustrating, had begun to settle. The defense, ever comical, was improving. The manager, ever understanding, was being rewarded for his patience.
By the time the Phillies arrived at Citizens Bank Park Tuesday night, they had all of that going for them, along with an eight-game winning streak and the most comfortable position in sports: First place.
They had survived almost everything in the first 112 games, from the ninth-inning follies of Hector Neris to the eternal vigil for Vince Velasquez to show production to match his skills.
So there they were with 50 games to play, down, really to one question. Aaron Nola: Is he the kind of high-in-the-ro
tation right-hander who can dominate on a steamy South Philadelphia night against the most formidable of opposing pitchers and the sitting world champions?
If so, the Phillies would be capable of creating separation in the NL East and be deep enough in star-level arms win any postseason series.
If not, they would be flawed at exactly the wrong spot.
So it was in front of a nice crowd Tuesday, that the Phillies found that Nola would not flinch in a showdown against presumptive Hall of Famer Max Scherzer and what can be a terrifying Los Angeles batting order.
It took four innings, or until a heavy rain scuttled a captivating pitching duel, for Nola to show that when he is right, he will be the dominating force the Phillies will require to be tucked in the rotation between Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler and All-Star Kyle Gibson.
Matching Scherzer pitch for pitch, Nola was rarely better early Tuesday. He struck out the side in the first inning, tormenting Trea Turner, Max Muncy and Will Smith with a tumbling curve ball. Then after fanning A.J. Pollack in the second, he caught Cody Bellinger, Billy McKinney and Scherzer waving.
In his weather-shortened start, Nola allowed just one hit, a shot off the right field wall that Bryce Harper was quickly able to corral and limit Corey Seager to a long single. So just one game after Wheeler had thrown a Roy Halladay-like two-hitter Sunday, Nola, as he often had, was making like Jim Bunning.
While the elements would prevent Nola and Scherzer from continuing to entertain beyond three-and-a-half scoreless innings, the fundamental question was answered: The Phillies indeed had a capable No. 1-A starter for a pennant race about to turn bitter.
Nola, 28, was the seventh overall pick in the 2014 draft and has had a strong if less-than-legendary career. In 2018, he went 17-6, was an AllStar and won the bronze medal in the Cy Young race. But he has battled injuries and usually exhibits fatigue in September. And as strong as he can look, he often has been inconsistent. That has been particularly true this season, when he has had four doublefigure strikeout games yet only a 7-6 record and, before Tuesday, a 4.49 ERA.
Since May, Nola had only worked past the sixth inning twice. Recently, however, he had begun to unload his curve with more reliability, signaling a readiness to baffle hitters, as he did against the Dodgers.
“It’s my mechanics,” Nola said recently. “I have been trying to stay on the rubber a little longer. That has kept me back on the baseball a little more.”
Nola hardly was the only remarkable pitcher Tuesday. Scherzer allowed only three hits in three innings and was showing the ability to slow what had been a rampaging Phillies offense.
“Scherzer does well against most people,” Joe Girardi said. “That’s the bottom line. I mean, you look over the past decade and if he’s not the best he’s one of the best in the last decade in what he’s done. He has great stuff. And he knows exactly what he wants to do with his stuff.”
That was significant because while the Phillies were active at the deadline, the Dodgers were borderline crazed, acquiring both Scherzer and Turner from the Nationals in an effort to run down the Giants in the NL West. The Dodgers were putting themselves in position to dominate any postseason series with Clayton Kershaw, Scherzer and David Price surrounding leading Cy Young candidate Walker Buehler.
But if the Phils and Dodgers were to meet in the tournament, Wheeler showed Sunday why he can catch and pass Buehler for the Cy Young, and Gibson has been a steadying No. 3 since arriving at the trade deadline.
The hitting was there. The bullpen was better. The defense was becoming less unsightly. The crowds were back. For the Phillies, everything was looking good. By the time Aaron Nola showed why they, too, can have a postseasonready pitching rotation, everything was looking even better.