Aaron Nola looked to forget his last start in Boston, facing the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.
The first inning looked promising for Nola. He threw a 1-2-3 inning, recording Jake Cronenworth as his first strikeout victim.
Michael King got the ball for the Padres. The 29-year-old righty came into the game with 95 strikeouts. He showed his punchout ability early, getting Trea Turner swinging and Alec Bohm looking in the 1st.
Settling In
Nola matched King in the 2nd with 2 more Ks of his own. He got Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill swinging.
The Phillies threatened in the bottom of the inning thanks to back-to-back 1-out singles from Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh. Both runners advanced on King’s first wild pitch of the season. Castellanos was thrown out at the plate, trying to score on a weak grounder to short. King got Stubbs swinging to end the inning.
In the 3rd, Nola continued his streak of 1-2-3 innings. He added David Peralta as his 4th strikeout. He needed just 36 pitches to get through the Padres’ lineup the 1st time through.
Kyle Schwarber became King’s 100th strikeout of the season in the bottom of the inning. Alec Bohm almost gave the Phillies the lead but lined out to deep left field, just missing an RBI double.
Aaron Nola continued to mow down Padres in the 4th. Jake Cronenworth became his 5th K of the day. To his credit, he worked the 1st 3-ball count of the day.
Castellanos lined a double with 1 out to give the Phillies a RiSP in the 4th. It turned into the 1st run of the game thanks to an RBI single by Brandon Marsh. Cristian Pache walked to move Marsh into scoring position. King hit Schwarber with a pitch to load the bases with 2 out. Turner grounded out to end the inning.
In the 5th, Donavan Solano got the 1st hit off of Nola with a single up the middle. A strike-em-out throw-em-out double play ended the inning. Nola had still only faced the minimum.
The Phillies chased King out of the game in the 5th. A Bryson Stott walk and another Castellanos hit forced lefty Yuki Matsui into the game to face Marsh. Matsui did his job and got the K.
Phillies lose the momentum
Aaron Nola was suddenly on the losing end of things in the 6th. David Peralta walked and Luis Campusano hit a homer just over Pache’s glove in centerfield. Tyler Wade continued the offense with a single up the middle. It advanced to 2nd on a deep fly ball to left. The Padres made it 3-1 on a Jurickson Profar single.
The Phillies had another opportunity in the 6th. Pache worked a leadoff walk. The Padres brought in Adrian Morejon when Schwarber was announced. Schwarber singled. Turner and Harper hit line drives but both found gloves.
Orion Kerkering relieved Nola in the 7th. He threw a clean inning, recording a strikeout.
Matt Strahm did the same in the 8th, lowering his season ERA to 0.93.
Jeremiah Estrada pitched the 8th for the Padres. After getting the first 2 outs, Estrada ran into June Schwarber. He deposited an 0-1 pitch into the rightfield seats, cutting the deficit to one. Robert Suarez entered for the Padres after the homer.
The Fightins
Jeff Hoffman entered the 9th inning looking to keep the score at 3-2. Like Kerkering and Strahm before him, Hoffman sat down the Padres in order.
Bryce Harper led off the bottom of the 9th with a single. Alec Bohm followed suit with a single of his own. Harper went 1st to 3rd on the play. Bryson Stott played copycat with another single to tie things up for the Phillies. Nick Castellanos, who was 3/4 on the day, came up next. He too found a spot down the rightfield line and placed a double, scoring Bohm and walking things off for the Phillies.
“These guys never quit,” said manager Rob Thomson “They just keep going.”
Photo Credit: AP Photo/Laurence Kesterson
