Nola tosses shutout on heels of Wheeler injury news

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies lost Zack Wheeler, but they still have Aaron Nola.

Nola pitched the third shutout and the fifth complete game of his career in Thursday night’s 4-0 victory over the Reds at Citizens Bank Park. It was a dominant performance from the first pitch through the 101st pitch that ended the game.

“I felt like he was getting better as the night went on,” Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs said. “I actually said that to J.T. [Realmuto] as we were walking off the field. I think his curveball, really as it was coming in, felt like it was even better than the first, and that’s tough to say for a guy like that. Going into the ninth and still having that kind of stuff, it’s not an easy thing to do.”

Nola’s gem helped the Phillies sweep the Reds in a four-game series. It is the first time they have swept four four-game series in a season since 1953, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Phils are a season-high 15 games over .500 at 70-55. They have a 2 1/2-game lead over the Padres for the second National League Wild Card. They have a four-game lead over the Brewers, who are chasing both teams for a Wild Card berth. Keep in mind, Philadelphia owns the tiebreaker against both San Diego and Milwaukee.

Kyle Schwarber hit a towering homer to center in the third inning to put the Phillies on the board. It was Schwarber’s NL-leading 35th homer of the season.

It was a fun week against the Reds. It could be even better Friday night, when Bryce Harper will be back in the lineup for the first time since he fractured his left thumb June 25.

“It’s always a lot of fun in this ballpark when it’s electric and there’s a lot of people here,” Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said.

But the Phillies also announced before the game that Wheeler had been placed on the 15-day injured list because of tendinitis in his right forearm. President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said they expect Wheeler to miss only two starts before he rejoins the rotation Sept. 6 against Miami.

TIme will tell.

“It’s great getting Bryce back,” Nola said. “We got pretty much everybody healthy right now. We got Seggy [Jean Segura] back from that broken finger, too. But Wheels, hopefully it’s something really minor and he’ll be back soon.

“We’ve got the team to make a good stretch run. We’ve got Harper coming back. We’re playing good right now.”

Nola allowed five hits and struck out 11. He retired 21 of the first 23 batters he faced. He allowed back-to-back singles to Aristides Aquino and Alejo Lopez to start the eighth, but he struck out Jose Barrero, Austin Romine and Jake Fraley swinging on two curveballs and a changeup to end the inning.

“So much fun, man,” Stubbs said. “So much fun. I was fired up, especially in the eighth when they had runners in scoring position. He punches three guys out in a row. I mean, that’s incredible. To come in that situation and punch the next three guys out and get out of the inning, pretty cool stuff. Aaron Nola, we’ve been watching it for years. I was just glad to be a part of it tonight.”

Nola started the ninth inning with only 91 pitches. He allowed a leadoff single to Nick Senzel before striking out Kyle Farmer and Donovan Solano swinging on curveballs. TJ Friedl doubled to put runners on second and third.

Nola got Aquino to ground out back to the mound to end the game.

Nola is 9-10 with a 3.08 ERA. He entered the game with a 4.4 WAR, which ranked sixth among all pitchers in the Majors, according to FanGraphs. He ranked first with a 8.41 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

“Nola had it all working,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Four-seam, two-seam, threw some changeups, but really dominated with his breaking ball. His curveball is really good, we knew that coming in. He just pitched a great game. Had it all working against us and made it really tough for the hitters.”

“Complete control,” Thomson said.