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Gabe Kapler always says that he wants to use his best pitcher in the highest leverage situation late in the game. Aaron Nola was still Kapler's best pitcher on Wednesday, even at 100 runs early in the seventh in a sultry afternoon.
But in case Kapler tried to get him out, Nola was ready to expose his case. That was his game. He could have tapped into his Louisiana roots and become an alligator wrestler if Kapler had tried to get him out.
It turned out that Kapler and Nola were on the same length of wave. Kapler only made his trip to the mound to give Nola a break and defensive strategy. The riders in the turns, two outs, a head in advance with the always dangerous Manny Machado at the marble …
"At that time, I knew we were going to let him have Machado", said Kapler. "It was his game." He had earned that right. We had expected that we might go elsewhere, but when we got there, we knew it was our best option to go through the teeth of their alignment. "
With the game on the line, Nola retired Machado, the Baltimore slugger who is now an opponent but could someday be a teammate (see article) [19659008]. Nola allowed Machado to lift a soft pop into the right field and second baseman Cesar Hernandez had a good run in front of right fielder Nick Williams, who had played deep. No player called the ball, which could have been a recipe for disaster, but Hernandez made the crucial play and Williams crushed a two-point run (after Carlos Santana turned a 0- 2 in an advance) The Phillies got three hits on that day, so they needed a good pitch and they got it from Nola, who gave seven innings a day. shot, nine barred bullets, and Victor Arano, whose first career save was a six-outer.
Nola is 8-0 at home this season and 11-2 with a 2.41 ERA in 18 starts overall. He will make the All-Star team of the National League. And after that, he will be participating for the first time in a pennies race because these young Phillies now have a 10-game season in excess of .500 – this is the first time they've been there since 2011 , their last playoff season – and just 1 ½ game behind the leader of East End, Atlanta, as they embark on a 11-game sweep that will take them to the all-star break.
"I hope so," said Nola. . "We still have a lot of baseball, we play baseball right now, we're getting closer and closer, I feel, the more we win, the more we find ways to win, the more I think it's cool to see everyone improve.The guys that you do not really think about coming clutch, they come in clutch.This makes it a team. "
The Phillies have made the progress of the 39, quick start team, to the surprise team and now they have the appearance of being in reality, a team that, with the help of the front office, will remain in power in the division race.
"We have never really doubted ourselves," said Nola. "We've made some good additions to the team, we have veterans who have been in the playoffs, who have been winning teams, who have won championships, they know what it takes to win. I think we follow them. "
In fact, Nola is the leader of this starting pitchers team. He made two starts on this circuit, he won both and he lost only two points by scoring 17 and walking four times in 14 innings and 2/3.
The starting camp started with two defeats against the powerful Yankees. These losses, by a combined score of 10-2, were reminders that, even though the Phils seem to have a length ahead in the NL East race, October could be a different story without some upgrades. Nevertheless, the Phils rebounded well after both defeats and won six of the remaining seven games, including the last four. It took an expensive mistake from Chris Davis, Baltimore's first baseman, in the fifth inning, to allow the Phillies to start Wednesday, but they were opportunistic enough (and of course, they had Nola) to win the victory.
The crowd of 30,943 was energetic
With a good road trip, this number will increase when the Phils return home on July 20th.
"The fans came from far and supported us through this homestand," said Kapler. "I do not think it's an accident that we have the best home record in the National League at this point, I think we get a lot of support and we're energized in the dugout by days like today." hui. "
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