Aaron Nola pitches a gem as Phillies start second half with 6-0 win over Nationals
The Phillies have have a winning record (16-15) for the first time this season and have won seven of their last eight games.
Joe Girardi left his perch Tuesday night in the Phillies dugout, appearing for a moment as if he was preparing to lift Aaron Nola. The pitcher had walked a batter with two outs in the eighth inning of a 6-0 win over the Nationals and his pitch count was at 107. The Phillies had a six-run lead, a reliever was warmed up, and lifting Nola would have been easy to justify.
But Girardi never walked up the dugout steps. He pushed Nola for one more batter, giving his ace the chance to finish another dominant night on his own terms. Nola battled Trea Turner for six pitches, induced a grounder to shortstop, finished the inning, and ended his night with a walk to the dugout where Girardi was still waiting.
“He was great tonight,” Girardi said.
The Phillies started September — and the second half of a 60-game season — with eight shutout innings from Nola and their 14th game this season with six or more runs. Nola was brilliant and the lineup was relentless. They have have a winning record (16-15) for the first time this season and have won seven of their last eight games.
“There’s something to be said for how we’re playing right now,” Nola said. “How we’re throwing the ball and how we’re hitting the ball. You can’t really say enough about our offense. They’re coming out everyday and getting big hits and scoring a lot of runs. It makes it a little bit easier on us.”
The Phils remain tied with Miami for second place in the National League East. If the season ended Tuesday night, the Phillies would be in the postseason.
But there are still 29 games left and the 2020 Phillies will have to do what they failed to do in the last two seasons: finish strong. In 2018, they went 8-20. In 2019, they went 12-16. But this year’s team seems much more equipped to handle a stretch run than those teams did.
Their starting rotation is better, their lineup is deeper, the bullpen has more experienced arms, and the manager knows how to guide teams to the postseason. A September collapse in 2020 would be more shocking than the way the Phillies faded the last two seasons.
“This is a totally different year,” Girardi said. “Knock on wood, but this club is healthy. The last couple of Septembers, it hasn’t been very healthy. We’ve added some pieces. I feel good about these guys.”
Nola struck out nine batters, walked three, and allowed just two hits in eight innings. He threw 113 pitches and recorded 20 swings-and-misses. He used his curveball for five of his strikeouts, none of which looked more impressive than the one Adam Eaton swung through to end the seventh inning. The pitch seemed to float before dropping as Eaton swung. It was Nola’s 93rd pitch of the night, but enough evidence that he had plenty left.
It was the second time in seven days that Nola and Patrick Corbin matched up against each other. Both times, Nola outlasted the pitcher who helped push the Nationals last season to a world championship. Nola had two runners on base just once when Turner walked with two outs after Luis Garcia doubled. But Nola needed two pitches to force Juan Soto to ground out and end the inning. He never seemed threatened.
Corbin lasted just five innings as the Phillies forced him to throw 92 pitches. They scored two runs against Corbin on five hits as they left him on the hook before finally cracking the left-hander in the fifth.
“He’s a really good pitcher,” Corbin said of Nola. “When he’s on his game, he’s one of the best in the game.”
Alec Bohm started the fifth with a leadoff homer on a slider and J.T. Realmuto singled in a run with two outs. It was Realmuto’s 26th RBI in 31 games, which is the most among all catchers. In a 162-game season, Realmuto would be on pace for 135 RBIs, which would be the fourth-highest total by a catcher in baseball history.
General manager Matt Klentak said Monday that the Phillies have spoken to Realmuto’s agent about his looming free agency. But the Phillies are not showing any signs of urgency when it comes to signing Realmuto before the season ends.
If the Phillies let Realmuto reach the open market, keep an eye on the Mets. They need a catcher and are in the process of being sold to billionaire Steve Cohen, who would easily become baseball’s richest owner. Realmuto could be Cohen’s first free-agent splash and it might be hard to match his offer.
After exhausting Corbin, the Phillies teed off against righthanded reliever Kyle Finnegan. A two-run game quickly became a six-run game as five of the six batters Finnegan faced reached base. Bohm drove in another run with a double to center field as he continued to look comfortable at the plate. And Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run homer to left.
McCutchen connected so sharply on Finnegan’s 3-1 sinker that he flicked his bat almost as soon as he made contact, knowing there was little chance the ball was staying in the yard. McCutchen, just like Rhys Hoskins in recent weeks, is coming on strong. He’s hitting .333 with four homers and in his last 16 games and appears ready for September. His homer landed 410 feet away and gave the Phillies a six-run lead that felt like 60 the way Nola was pitching.