PHILADELPHIA--San Diego's team came to South Philadelphia Tuesday night with revenge on their minds. After being swept by the Phillies (31-29) in their house just a week ago, the Padres (32-27) hoped to put a stop to their rough skid as they were losers in six of their last seven games. They even scored first, getting out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the third.
But it was not meant to be. Aaron Nola had one of his best starts of the year, continuing to build on recent success. The offense scattered nine hits, tying their most in game since May 15 (that other nine hit affair happened to be against the Padres last week). As is apropos with their struggling offense, despite a Bryce Harper home run and their most hits in three-and-a-half weeks, they took their lead on an Alec Bohm grounder that resulted in a double play.
Bohm does not get an RBI, Nola does not get a win, but Jhoan Duran does get the save to shut the door and secure a victory after his teammates did just enough to get him the ball with a lead. Let’s break it down.
If I told you going into tonight that Nola would last only five innings, threw 95 pitches and surrender another home run, you would likely not be ready for the next sentence:
This was one of, if not the best start of Nola’s season. It is easily one of his bestsince the start of last year. After two quicker frames (26 pitches through 2 IP), the next three were all 20-plus pitch battles for the right hander - battles that he (mostly) won.
Aaron did allow what seems like his customary home run per start, once again coming with two outs for the second start in a row. While no fielder bobbled a ball this time, the single from Fernando Tatis Jr. just prior to the Gavin Sheets bomb was hit on the ground hard enough to sneak past a diving Bryson Stott.
Five pitches later, Sheets gave the Padres a short-lived lead. Bryce Harper clobered a two-run shot of his own an inning later to tie things up.
That was the only blemish on Nola’s line. He allowed just four hits with no walks, striking out eight Padres. Of the 19 batters he faced, 13 saw a first pitch strike. That’s the second-most plate appearances he started with a strike this season, but the best percentage as 19 is the least numbers of hitters he has faced in an outing in 2026.
Tonight was the third straight start without a walk, the fifth time he has done so in his career and the first since July of 2024. His manager was impressed and feels he is moving in the right direction.
“You’ve really seen a mix with his stuff, thought he really located tonight,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said after the game. “Maybe the lefties [Nola] had a little more trouble [with], but the righties he really located the ball. Being able to use that 2-[seamer] on the outside half, 2-[seamer] in - a few 4s, not too many, but I think location’s huge for him and not giving any free passes.”
Nola had his stuff working, keeping hitters off balance all evening. As Mattingly stated, his location was key, keeping his pitches close to the zone and letting his always-impressive movement do the work. Aaron recorded season highs in both chase rate (43.1%) and swing-and-miss rate (33.3%).
The veteran’s movement and mix were great, forcing Padres hitters to look at strikes and swing at balls. That chase rate is elite level, and he pumped 22 called strikes - the most he has recorded in a game this year.
If Nola can continue to pitch close to how he has recently and limit his walks, we could be looking at his numbers and be shocked how much they change by the All-Star break.
Brandon Marsh saw his batting average peak at .353 back on May 10. From that point through the Dodgers series, he hit .232 with 18 strikeouts and just three walks. After going hitless in the last two games, he broke out tonight recording four hits. It is the second four-hit game he has this year, matching his total from 2025.
After a scorching first two weeks in the majors, Justin Crawford has almost been frozen solid at the plate, that’s how cold he has been. Over his last 39 games coming into Tuesday, he hit just .195 with an on-base percentage of .256. Coaches have been working with him tirelessly on everything from lifting the ball to just continuing to get the ball in play and use his speed to his advantage.
Tonight, he laid down a beautiful bunt for his lone hit on the evening - something he worked on earlier in the day. I asked Mattingly if that was a call from the dugout.
“No, that comes from him. I was glad to see it,” the manager told me. “He worked on it a little bit before the game. We talked to him kind of about location, where that thing needs to be, and pace. So I thought that was the perfect bunt tonight.”
Alec Bohm grounded into two double plays tonight, one of which forced the go-ahead run across the plate. He became the third Phillies hitter to record 2 GIDP in the same game. They are now one of three teams to record that many games, an infamous feat.
The Phillies are back at it tomorrow night at 6:40 p.m. They send their ace, Cristopher Sánchez (6-2, 1.47 ERA) to the mound. He will be opposed by their old friend, Walker Buehler (3-3, 4.88 ERA) with a chance to secure the series win.
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