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Nola Leads Phillies to Series Split With Braves
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The Philadelphia Phillies wrapped up a four-game series on Thursday night in Atlanta as they visited the Braves. And what a weird, so very Phillies series it was.
Fortunately, Philadelphia was able to split the series with the Braves and maintain a virtual tie for second place in the NL East on Thursday. That performance was propelled by a stellar outing by Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola.
The LSU-product led the way by tossing 8.1 innings of just one-run ball while striking out 10 to help lead Philadelphia to a 4-1 victory. He was able to complete the feat with 109 pitches, his longest outing of the season so far in 10 starts.
On the other side of the ball, it took a few innings for the Phillies offense to get going. But when it did, it was off the bat of catcher J.T. Realmuto in the third inning when he launched a solo home run to make it 1-0. It was a good sign from the catcher as he has been mired in a slump.
On the flip side, Philadelphia loaded the bases following the home run with no outs. However, Alec Bohm struck out swinging for the first out of the inning and was followed by Bryce Harper who grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Odubel Herrera continued to produce at the plate in which he notched two hits on the evening while also plating two runners. It was a nice bounce back after an astonishing blunder defensively in center field on Wednesday night.
To wrap things up, closer Corey Knebel was brought in with one out in the ninth in a no-save situation. Braves first baseman Matt Olson scored off of a wild pitch from Knebel, but that run was charged to Nola's line.
It was a good sign to see the Phillies bounce back after losing two in a row to the Braves after taking the first of four. Losing on a walk-off on Tuesday following an epic performance from Harper, and then losing on Wednesday due to defensive blunders can be hard to fight back from. Yet, they did.
Thursday night is why there should be belief in this team that they can right the ship as they start to enter a less rigorous part of their schedule in June.
But before that, they must now travel to New York to take on the divisional leaders in the Mets. Philadelphia is slated to play a three-game series over the weekend at Citi Field.
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