Nola beats Ohtani and Dodgers, Phillies sweep and distance themselves from rest of NL originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Aaron Nola closed his first half with a rousing win, holding off a strong Dodgers lineup in one of his most impressive starts of the season and helping the Phillies beat the closest National League team to them in the standings.
Nola struck out nine batters in six innings, including a killer row of Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman in the fifth inning after allowing his only run of the night on a CBP special to Gavin Lux that narrowly cleared the left-field wall 300 feet away.
The first two innings were a rut, but Nola found a rhythm after retiring Ohtani and Smith with the bases loaded to end the top of the second inning. He retired 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, all but Lux.
The Phillies won 5-1 and are 61-32 after the sweep, 6½ games ahead of the Dodgers and 7½ games ahead of the Brewers for the best record in the National League. This is clearly significant, as the team with the best record has home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
“We don’t care who comes, we don’t care who we play, we’re just going to beat them,” said Johan Rojas, who drove in a run with a single and made a key late web gem. “Anyone can come here and they’re going to end up losing the games or the series. Same thing with the goal we have for the World Series, we’re going to go out there and win. We’re hungry to win, that’s what we’re here for and that’s what we’re going to do.”
Strong words. Strong team-wide reaction to a series loss last weekend in Atlanta.
“He’s great. Mr. Consistency, that’s what he’s been,” manager Rob Thomson said of Nola. “You watch tonight’s game and the first two innings he struggled. He just keeps grinding and keeps fighting. In the second inning he throws out Ohtani, gets a ground ball from Smith and then he just settles down and I thought he got better as the game went on. He’s been dynamite all year.”
The Phillies took an early lead on Thursday on Trea Turner’s solo home run to the opposite field in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers used an opener, left-hander Anthony Banda, to combat Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, and Turner made them pay in the interim.
Turner has been obsessed over the last 10 games, hitting .452 with six home runs and 17 RBI.
Brandon Marsh hit two hard hits. In the second inning, he homered to right field, and in the sixth inning, he tripled to score Nick Castellanos, increasing the Phillies’ lead from one to three.
Rojas saved one run and possibly more in the next half-inning by running into the left-center field gap and sticking out his glove to rob Kiké Hernandez of extra bases. Matt Strahm broke Ohtani’s bat a few pitches later to end the top of the seventh inning.
Harper opened the door for a potential Dodgers rally by dropping a routine pitch from Jeff Hoffman with one out and no one on base in the eighth. Hoffman loaded the bases with a walk and a single, but escaped with a line-drive double play to second baseman Bryson Stott.
The Phillies had a great run in the series against Ohtani, Freeman and Smith. The Dodgers’ three most dangerous hitters combined to go 5-for-28 with 10 strikeouts and no extra-base hits.
“I know they’re missing Mookie (Betts), but I thought our pitchers did a good job of taking care of the top of their order, which was important because those guys can really put up big numbers,” Thomson said. “Keeping those guys in the ballpark is important. I just think our guys performed at the right time.”
Nola reaches the break 11-4 with a 3.38 ERA. The only pitcher in the majors with more wins is Chris Sale with 12. Starting pitching remains a major divide for the Phillies. The difference between their rotation and that of their competitors is noticeable almost every home game. Most teams, even good ones like the Dodgers and Brewers, can’t seem to get through a series at Citizens Bank Park without using an opener or an unconventional starting pitching option. Phillies fans have been wondering about the No. 5 spot, when most teams don’t even have a solid No. 3. Granted, the Dodgers are without the injured Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, but health and durability are also parts of the equation.
The Phils will start Ranger Suarez and Tyler Phillips on Friday and Saturday in their final series of the first half against the Oakland Athletics, who have lost 25 of their last 29 road games. Back spasms will prevent Zack Wheeler from starting Sunday’s finale — it will likely be a bullpen game — but the Phillies believe he is ready to go coming out of the All-Star break.