Nola Dominates as Phillies Tighten NL Playoff Race
Nola Shines as Phillies Close Gap in NL Playoff Race
Philadelphia — Aaron Nola delivered his best outing of the season at the perfect time, striking out nine and allowing just one run across eight innings as the Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. The win pushed Philadelphia (95-65) within a game of Milwaukee (96-64) for the top spot in the National League playoffs, after the Brewers dropped a 3-1 decision to the Cincinnati Reds.
Nola (5-10) was nearly flawless in his final postseason tune-up, giving up only two hits and walking none. He retired the first 17 batters he faced before Christian Vázquez broke up his perfect game bid with a solo home run in the sixth. The right-hander bounced back immediately, striking out Byron Buxton to close the inning and finishing his night with a rousing ovation from the home crowd.
The Phillies’ offense backed him early. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper opened the first with singles before Alec Bohm’s sacrifice fly gave Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. In the fifth, Edmundo Sosa launched a solo homer to make it 2-0. Bohm added an infield single in the sixth, followed by a run-scoring double from Brandon Marsh to push the lead to 3-1.
Nola worked around trouble in the seventh, stranding a leadoff triple from former Phillie Kody Clemens by striking out two in the inning. He then breezed through the eighth before handing things over to closer Jhoan Duran.
Duran gave up two singles in the ninth but shut the door for his 32nd save of the year — split evenly between the Twins and Phillies after a midseason trade.
For Minnesota (69-91), Joe Ryan (13-10) struck out nine over five innings but surrendered two runs and five hits, ending his season with a 3.47 ERA. The Twins, who had won three of their last four, couldn’t muster much against NOLA’s command and poise.
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