Nola silences Braves to narrow NL East race

ATLANTA -- This is how the Phillies hoped to open their July.

Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola pitched eight scoreless innings in a 2-0 victory over the Braves on Tuesday night at SunTrust Park, an encouraging performance that has at least the manager feeling better about the future. Nola commanded his fastball to both sides of the plate, arguably better than he had at any point this season. His fastball touched 96 mph and averaged 93.8 mph, making it his second-best average fastball velocity in 110 career starts. Nola seized the moment in the series opener as the Phillies improved to 45-40 and moved 4 1/2 games behind the Braves in the National League East.

“It feels like we have our ace back,” Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said.

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If that is true, it would mean good things for the Phillies in the second half. Nola has been inconsistent since the beginning of the season, making the Phillies’ overall starting pitching problems a bigger concern. But since Nola allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings against the Braves on June 15 at SunTrust Park, he has allowed one earned run in 23 innings in three starts since.

He has struck out 28 and walked five in that span.

“Getting my command back,” Nola said about his turnaround. “I think my fastball command was the biggest part of that. Tonight, it felt really good on both sides of the plate, and I think it opened up some other pitches.”

"I didn’t see the curveball until my last at-bat,” Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman said. “Before that, it was fastball and changeup. He mixed it really well tonight. When he did throw his heater, it was perfectly placed in the spot where he was setting up his offspeed. A good pitcher can shut down a good offense sometimes.”

Exactly.

The Phillies need better starting pitching in the second half, and if Nola has recaptured the form that helped him finish third in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2018, it would go a long way. While it is nice to have three or four solid, reliable starters in the rotation, the ‘08 Phillies leaned heavily on Cole Hamels. He carried them to the World Series.

“He's looking really easy on the mound,” Kapler said. “Like, it's pretty effortless. I mean, there's a lot of energy going toward the plate. That's a key to his delivery. But, in addition to that, it looks like it's coming pretty easily.”

Easy call, Kapler said.

“As we decided whether to send him out there for the eighth inning, it was really about performance to that point,” Kapler said. “One of the questions I always ask myself is, 'Who is best suited to get the next two or three outs?' And it felt like the answer was clearly Nola at that point.”

Nola rewarded his manager for his faith. He struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. swinging on a 95-mph fastball, got Dansby Swanson to fly out and struck out Freeman looking on a 93-mph fastball on the inside corner to cap his night.

The Phillies scored their two runs in the fourth against Braves left-hander Dallas Keuchel, whom Atlanta signed last month to bolster its rotation. (The Phillies expressed little interest in Keuchel.) Jean Segura singled to start the fourth inning, and J.T. Realmuto walked with two outs. Jay Bruce followed with a double down the right-field line to score both runners.

The Phillies don’t win Tuesday without the hit. But that hit wouldn’t have been nearly enough without Nola’s mastery.

“It was pretty classic Nola,” Bruce said. “He was awesome. He really set the tone for us. He had a nice tempo. He was attacking the zone and not letting us stay out there too long, which is huge. That was as hard as I’ve seen him throw.”

Nola will pitch again Sunday afternoon against the Mets at Citi Field, the Phillies’ final game before the All-Star break. The Phillies shuffled their rotation to give Nola that extra opportunity.

“I was excited they switched the rotation up a little bit so I can get one extra start,” he said. “I want to get out there as much as I can and give us an opportunity to win.”