Rookie starting pitcher Aaron Nola tossed a gem in the opener of a 3-game weekend series with the visiting San Diego Padres at Citizens Bank Park, leading the Phillies to a 7-1 victory.
Nola continued his outstanding work since being called up from AAA Lehigh Valley in mid-July. He raised his record to 5-1, lowering his ERA to 3.26 and his WHIP to 1.067 on the season over 8 starts.
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“I feel a little bit more comfortable now,” Nola said, per MLB.com insider Todd Zolecki. “I know I can pitch here. But my main goal is to pitch to win and to try and keep the guys in the best position every single time I go out.”
In this one, the 22-year old righty allowed just two hits, with a 6-2 K:BB ratio. One of those hits was Justin Upton‘s 23rd homer of the year. That solo shot by the man highlighted for this series by Tyler DiSalle here at TBOH put the Friars up 1-0.
In the bottom of the 4th, the Phils got the lead as Padres’ starter Ian Kennedy had his only really poor inning. Kennedy (8-12) hit Aaron Altherr to lead things off, then allowed back-to-back singles to Ryan Howard and Andres Blanco to load the bases.
With one out, Cameron Rupp grounded into an RBI force out at first base to tie the game at 1-1. Kennedy then intentionally walked Freddy Galvis to get to Nola, but the move backfired when Kennedy uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Howard to score and put the Phils ahead by 2-1.
Aside from that inning, Kennedy was strong himself, nearly matching Nola’s efforts. Kennedy went 6.2 innings, allowing only the two singles in that 4th inning. However, he did walk 5 batters. After throwing 118 pitches, he was lifted in the 7th.
With the score still 2-1, the Phillies broke the game open, clinching things with a 5-run outburst in the bottom of the 8th. With reliever Marc Rzepczynski on for San Diego, Odubel Herrera began the 8th beating out an infield single to shortstop.
Altherr followed by slashing a triple to right, scoring Herrera to put the Phils up 3-1. It was the 7th straight extra-base hit for Altherr to start his career, the only Phillie rookie to do that going back at least to the year 1900.
“I’m just trying to find a way to get the barrel on the ball and have good things happen,” Altherr said, per Zolecki. “I’m just fortunate they’ve all gone for extra-base hits so far.“
With one out, Rzepczynski hit Howard with a pitch, and when Phillies’ interim skipper Pete Mackanin sent up the hot Jeff Francoeur as a pinch-hitter, Padres’ interim manager Pat Murphy countered with Odrisamer Despaigne.
Francoeur doubled, scoring Altherr to push the Phillies lead out to 4-1, raising his average as a pinch-hitter to a sensational .478 mark.
Francoeur recorded his MLB-leading 11th pinch-RBI tonight. He is now batting .478 (11-23, 3 2B, HR, 11 RBI) as a pinch hitter this season.
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) August 29, 2015
That brought Cameron Rupp to the plate with two runners on base. Despaigne hung a breaking ball, and you could almost see Rupp’s eyes bulge to the size of beach balls as he cocked his bat, waiting for the ill-advised pitch to drop into the hitting zone. As it did, Rupp uncorked his bat and launched a tremendous moon-shot homer into the left center stands, busting the game open to a 7-1 Phillies lead.
On the mound, Mackanin had turned in the 8th to former starter Jerome Williams. Ineffective in that role for most of the season, the Phillies apparently have decided to move him into the pen for the rest of 2015. He responded on this night, tossing two shutout innings to register only the 2nd Save of his career.
The two clubs will go back at it tonight in South Philly, with the Phils throwing their 2nd of 3 consecutive rookie starters as lefty Adam Morgan takes the mound. The Padres will be sending their own impressive rookie to the hill in righty Colin Rea. Game time is 7:05pm.
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