Aaron Nola flirts with no-hitter, still helps Phillies to 8-3 win over Tigers

Aaron Nola has always struggled with allowing home runs. It’s the price of being a pitcher who tries to throw strikes. Keeping his pitches in the zone allows him to pitch deeper into games, but it also makes him susceptible to the long ball. On Monday night, in the Phillies’ 8-3 win over the Detroit Tigers, that was what ended his bid for history.

Nola had a no-hitter going through six innings. In the seventh, he allowed a walk, and the next batter reached on an error by third baseman Edmundo Sosa. With runners on first and second, Nola struck out Akil Baddoo. He induced a groundout by Spencer Torkelson, which moved the runners to third and second.

And then, former Phillie Nick Maton stepped up to the plate. Maton took three pitches and crushed the fourth, a hanging curveball, to the right field seats. Nola wouldn’t be charged with the earned runs, but that didn’t matter much. Losing a no-hitter is never fun; losing it to an ex-teammate is particularly cruel.

“That was kind of a dagger, right? Especially because Maton hit it,” he said with a laugh. “[I’ll hear about it] for the rest of my life.”

Nola struck out Eric Haase to end the inning. It was his 12th strikeout of the night, which tied a career high. As he walked off the mound after 108 pitches, the fans gave him a standing ovation. The night didn’t end the way Nola wanted it to, but it was the first glimpse he’s shown this year of his 2022 form. And that deserved to be commended.

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Nola has not looked like an ace this season. He’s walked batters at a higher rate than he has in recent years. He’s struck them out at a lower rate. He’s allowed more home runs than he did last season. Through his first 12 starts, he’s pitched deep into games, but often at a cost; allowing at least three earned runs in eight of those outings.

Monday night was different. Nola pitched with the confidence of an ace. A starter who has struggled with the pitch clock controlled the rhythm of the game. He retired the first eight batters he saw, and didn’t allow a baserunner until he walked Jake Marisnick in the third. He didn’t allow another after that until he walked Maton in the fifth.

Nola’s velocity was up on all of his pitches, especially his four-seam fastball. He maxed out at 95.4 mph, 2.1 mph above his 2023 average of 91.9 mph on that pitch, and sustained that higher velocity throughout the later innings.

He said his fastball command felt better than it had in his last outing. His curveball felt sharper. It was the best he’d physically felt all season — despite a pitch clock operator who appeared to be working quicker than usual.

“I thought he was good all night,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He lost the zone a couple of times, but I thought his stuff was really good. The velocity was good. The curveball was good — except the one to Maton. But I thought he was really good.”

It was a masterful outing, the kind that Nola needed. No player has embodied the inconsistent season more than he has. Nola has had some solid starts, like April 28 in Houston, when he allowed one earned run through eight innings with no walks, and May 20 in Chicago, when he allowed two earned runs through seven innings with 10 strikeouts. But those quality starts have been followed by some of his worst.

There’s no telling whether Nola will build off of Monday’s start, but it was an encouraging sign. He wasn’t alone in that regard. Trea Turner, who, behind Nola, may be the second-most emblematic player of this disappointing Phillies season, went 4-for-5 with two solo home runs.

These weren’t cheap shots. His first, in the third inning, traveled 420 feet to left-center field. His second, in the fifth inning, went 424 feet to left field.

Turner said after the game that hitting coach Kevin Long and the Phillies’ analytics team had identified a mechanical change that he’s used over his past three days. The results have been promising. Turner said it is “something to do with this back hip and knee.”

“It feels like the right adjustment,” Turner said. “When you get the results it’s nice. You can buy into it. When the mechanics are good, you see the ball well. You make good decisions. You don’t miss pitches. A lot of things go right when the mechanics are good.”

It was Turner’s first multi-home run game since last July 16, and the Phillies’ second straight multi-home run game. Kyle Schwarber and Drew Ellis each hit two homers against the Nationals in Washington on Sunday. The Phillies’ lineup has not shown the titanic power that was expected from a team that was built to slug, so Schwarber and Turner heating up at the same time would be a welcome development.

“I think it’s kind of that ‘finally’ feeling,” Turner said. “I know I can do it. It’s just a matter of getting the job done. Keep putting in the work. I’ve been working like crazy, swinging too much, probably, but I know it’s in there. And I know there’s answers in there. So to come out and get some pitches to hit and not miss them and hit them how I want to hit them is a good sign for me.”

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