Philadelphia Phillies Two Aces Deliver Series Win Over Braves

The Philadelphia Phillies were able to close out their final series against the Atlanta Braves with a victory on Wednesday.

The more important factor for the Phillies now that they've been eliminated from NL East contention is to stay on top of the Wild Card standings and get their two aces to start pitching better.

That was accomplished in this series.

Philadelphia was able to throw both Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola at the NL best Braves for a three-game road series that could preview things to come in the postseason.

After getting shelled for six earned runs on Sept. 12 against Atlanta, Wheeler was able to turn around and deliver a win six days later.

He threw six innings, allowing only one earned run and striking out five batters in the opener.

Wheeler has turned his season around for the Phillies in the back half of the year, lowering his ERA to 3.63 after being above 4.00 in mid-July. His strong outings have put himself into the National League Cy Young conversation based on advanced metrics.

Who Philadelphia really needs to get going is Nola.

In his previous three starts he didn't make it out of the fifth inning, giving up seven, four and two earned runs respectively. He hadn't recorded a win since Aug. 27, when he thew seven scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals.

That start was viewed as the potential turnaround of his season, before the following three starts saw him struggle again.

Maybe Wednesday will be the outing that actually is the turnaround.

Nola went six innings, allowing only two earned runs and striking out eight batters in a no-decision that would have resulted in a win if not for a late inning bullpen collapse.

"Hopefully it's a step in the right direction. These guys are always tough on me. They foul a lot of balls off. They spoil a lot of pitches. To get a win in this game, definitely big moving forward," the right hander told Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

The Phillies need Nola to be the ace that he's been for this pitching staff.

With questions still surrounding the viability of the bullpen and options behind their two aces, seeing Wheeler and Nola on the mound for two wins against Atlanta is a good sign heading into the playoffs.