Nola beats Ohtani and Dodgers, Phillies sweep to distance themselves from rest of NL originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
Aaron Nola finished his first half with a bang, stifling a powerful Dodgers lineup in one of their most impressive starts to the season to help the Phillies finish off a sweep of the National League team closest to them in the standings.
Nola struck out nine in six innings, including the killer line of Shohei Ohtani, Will Smith and Freddie Freeman in order in the fifth, after allowing his only run of the night on a CBP special to Gavin Lux that barely made it past the left field wall at .329. distance feet.
The first two innings were grueling, but Nola found a rhythm after retiring Ohtani and Smith with the bases loaded to end the top of the second. He struck out 14 of the final 15 batters he faced, all except Lux.
The Phillies won 5-1 and are 61-32 after the sweep, 6½ games ahead of the Dodgers and 7½ ahead of the Brewers for the best record in the National League. This has obvious importance, as the team with the better record receives home field advantage during the playoffs.
It’s a great way to respond to a weekend series loss in Atlanta.
The Phillies took a quick lead Thursday on Trea Turner’s opposite-field solo home run in the bottom of the first. The Dodgers used an opener, left-hander Anthony Banda, to combat Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper and Turner made them pay in the middle.
Turner has been possessed over the last 10 games, hitting .452 with six home runs and 17 RBI.
Brandon Marsh threw two hard hits, drilling a home run to right in the second inning and triple to score Nick Castellanos in the sixth inning, where the Phillies extended their lead from one to three.
Johan Rojas saved a run and potentially more in the next half inning, racing into the gap in left center and extending his glove to steal extra bases from Kiké Hernandez. Matt Strahm broke Ohtani’s bat a few pitches later to end the seventh.
Bryce Harper opened the door for a potential Dodgers rally by throwing a routine pitch from Jeff Hoffman with one out and no one on in the eighth. Hoffman loaded the bases with a walk and a single, but escaped with a line-drive double play to second baseman Bryson Stott.
The Phillies did an excellent job in the series against Ohtani, Freeman and Smith. The Dodgers’ three most dangerous hitters combined for 5-for-28 with 10 strikeouts and no extra-base hits.
Starting pitching continues to be a huge separator for the Phillies. The difference between its rotation and that of its competitors stands out in almost every land. Most teams, even good ones like the Dodgers and Brewers, can’t seem to get through a series at Citizens Bank Park without using an opener or an unconventional starting pitching pick. Phillies fans wonder about fifth place, while most teams don’t even have a solid third place finish. It’s true that the Dodgers are without Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto injured, but health and durability are also part of all of this.
The Phils will start Ranger Suarez and Tyler Phillips on Friday and Saturday in their final first-half series against the Oakland Athletics, who have lost 25 of their last 29 road games. Back spasms will keep Zack Wheeler from starting Sunday’s Finals — it will likely be a bullpen game — but the Phillies think he’ll be ready to come out of the All-Star break.
