Aaron Nola Takes the Mound in a Win or Go Home Game

The Philadelphia Phillies finished with 96 wins in the regular season, the second most in baseball. Now it’s the playoffs and if the Phillies don’t win out, they’re going home.

Trailing 0-2 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League Division Series, Philadelphia is handing the ball over to their longest tenure player in Aaron Nola to save their season.

It has been a season unlike any other that Philadelphia’s fan base has seen from Nola. The 11-year veteran’s 2025 campaign has been a disaster. Nola’s dealt with a right ankle sprain, fractured ribcage, and a 6.01 ERA adding salt to the wound. Despite the struggles, Phillies manager Rob Thomson elected to go with Nola to start Game 3 in Los Angeles.

“Nola has never pitched out of the pen,” Thomson said for the reasoning Nola is on the mound. “How long he goes, I don’t know, but I trust him.”

Nola has a 5-4 record, 4.02 ERA, and 1.17 WHIP in 10 career postseason games. However, Nola is 1-2 with a 6.53 ERA on the road come October as he enters Dodger Stadium Wednesday night.

Nola is going to have to ride the momentum from his previous outing to give his team a chance to avoid elimination. Nola’s last game came against the Minnesota Twins, and it was his best performance from his 17 starts this year. He went eight frames allowing one run on two hits while striking out nine. Nola had a perfect game through 5.2 innings. It was the first time in a long time that fans saw shades of vintage Nola. He utilized his trademark knuckle curve, slung his fastball/sinker combo that sat at 92-93mph, and even mixed in an effective changeup.

“Tonight felt good, all the pitches felt really good. I feel like I was getting ahead most of the game. Some early outs that really helped,” Nola said following his outing with the Twins.

Aaron Nola, Painted 93mph Two Seamer. 🖌️🎨 pic.twitter.com/g0IUnqdyct
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 27, 2025

Nola also pitched three scoreless innings during the Phillies intrasquad game last Wednesday.

“I thought he looked good in the intrasquad game. He hit 94mph, curveball was good, changeup was good, sinker was good,” Bryce Harper said.

The concern with Nola starting in Game 3 is that nobody knows what version of Nola they’re going to get. This could go really good or really bad as every outing for Nola is a coin toss. He had six starts this year with five or more earned runs and six starts with two or less earned runs.

Thomson mentioned that Ranger Suárez will backup Nola. The Phillies manager also stated that Suárez was available in the bullpen for both Game 1 and 2, yet the southpaw never showed. It’s unknown if Suárez is hurt, ill, or whatever the case may be but for him not to throw one pitch yet seems odd.

Suárez did take a 106mph comebacker from Ryan Jeffers in his final start of 2025 which knocked him out of the game. Suárez was listed with a left inner thigh contusion although he said he’s fine and it hit ‘all muscle.’ Could that be the reason he’s been sidelined for both games so far in the series?

Ranger Suárez was removed with a left inner thigh contusion. Here’s the video of the play: (🎥:@PhilsTailgate)
pic.twitter.com/dbv62JFASO
— Andrew Coté (@acote_88) September 27, 2025

Suárez's playoff resume speaks for itself. Whether it's pitching on the road in Game 1 of the NLDS or Game 1 of the World Series, he is dependable. He has racked up 25 strikeouts and his 0.52 ERA in 17.1 innings is eye-catching when pitching in the opposition's ballpark during the postseason.

If tonight happens to be the last game for the Phillies and Suárez doesn’t step foot on the rubber, questions will definitely be fired at Thomson. Suárez is a free agent in the offseason and the possibility of his Phillies career ending with drama and uncertainty would be agonizing.

What is certain is that Nola will take the mound and the Phillies will go from there. It’s win or go home for Philadelphia with the first pitch scheduled for 9:08 p.m.

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