PHILADELPHIA — On a night when the Phillies received some unfortunate pitching news, Aaron Nola gave them his best start of the season — a five-hit complete game — en route to a 4-0 Phillies win and a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds. Earlier that day, the Phillies announced that Zack Wheeler would be placed on the 15-day injured list with right forearm tendinitis. It was the latest blow in a series of pitching injuries that have hit the Phillies over the past few weeks, including the loss of reliever Seranthony Domínguez and starter Zach Eflin to the 15-day injured list and reliever Corey Knebel to the 60-day injured list.
But Nola was cruising against the Reds as if both he and his team didn’t have a care in the world. The right-handed pitcher went nine innings allowing just five hits and racking up 11 strikeouts. He threw only 101 pitches, 77 of which were strikes. It was his fifth complete game of his career and his first since April 18, 2021, against St. Louis.
In the top of the eighth inning, Nola allowed two singles to Aristides Aquino and Alejo Lopez. But he promptly struck out his next three batters to end the inning. In the top of the ninth inning, he allowed a single to Nick Senzel, struck out the next two batters he faced, and then gave up a double to TJ Friedl. Nola induced a groundout by Aquino to win the game.
Interim manager Rob Thomson didn’t need to use any of his relievers, which was big, given how the injuries have piled up lately.
Thomson has preached the importance of not underestimating any team, and Thursday’s was a masterclass in that. The Reds aren’t a tough lineup to face, but Nola remained locked in until the very end, refusing to give them even the slightest chance to build momentum. The offense, meanwhile, manufactured enough runs to make things comfortable for their starter. Aside from Schwarber’s mammoth solo home run in the bottom of the third, Edmundo Sosa accounted for the Phillies’ three other RBIs with a sac fly that scored Garrett Stubbs in the fifth and a two-RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
With this win, the Phillies are 70-55. On Friday, they start a three game set against the Pirates at home — another series against a team below .500 on which they will have to capitalize.
Schwarber hits No. 35
Schwarber entered Thursday’s game with only one hit over his previous 12 at-bats but showed a promising sign of life in the bottom of the third inning, when he crushed a solo home run 451 feet to center field. It was Schwarber’s first home run since Aug. 5. Schwarber’s home run was the farthest hit by any player at Citizens Bank Park this season and was his second-farthest of the year (he hit one that went 468 feet on April 20 in Colorado).
