Aaron Nola struggled with his command in a short Game 3 start, allowing three runs in the first inning as the Philadelphia Phillies faced elimination against the Atlanta Braves in the National League Wild Card Series on Thursday night at Truist Park.
Aaron Nola Faces Braves in Game 3
The Philadelphia Phillies turned to veteran right-hander Aaron Nola to start Thursday night in an attempt to push the series back to Los Angeles for a rematch with the Dodgers in the National League Division Series. Thursday night at Truist Park, Nola took the mound to begin the Phillies’ 6-2 defeat against the Braves in Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series. Nola entered the contest with a 4.50 ERA across three starts against Atlanta during the regular season, while finishing his campaign at 7-12 with a 4.67 ERA.
Over an hour following Wednesday’s thrilling, come-from-behind 4-3 victory over the Braves in 10 innings during Game 2, Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, pitching coach Caleb Cotham, and other team officials met to discuss their pitching strategy for Game 3. Mattingly indicated on Monday that Nola was working toward starting Game 3.
Ultimately, Nola was the most rested starter, so that’s why they chose him.
“Obviously it’s another elimination game,” Mattingly said.
Don Mattingly, Phillies interim manager
Mattingly added that he assumed it would be pretty much all hands on deck because the stakes left no room for caution.
Ray Kerr and Grant Holmes Open for Atlanta
The Atlanta Braves utilized left-hander Ray Kerr make his first career postseason appearance as the opener against the Philadelphia Phillies for Thursday night’s decisive Game 3 of the National League Wild Card series. Serving as the opener in Miami on Sept. 25, Kerr pitched three scoreless frames while Holmes gave up one run over four innings in a 3-0 defeat. Kerr, 32, was recalled by Atlanta on Aug. 16 and he made his first major league appearance in more than two years the following day. Kerr posted a 1.47 ERA in nine games with Atlanta.
Nola Exits Early After First-Inning Trouble
Having trouble finding his control right away, Nola gave up a pair of one-out walks in the opening frame before giving up a three-run home run to Michael Harris II.
Nola settled down a bit in the second, quickly notching the first two outs. But after a single from Dominic Smith, Nola was lifted for reliever Tim Mayza. He threw 38 pitches in 1 2/3 innings, 19 of which were strikes.
Bullpen Usage and High Stakes at Truist Park
The Phillies went into Thursday night anticipating that nearly everyone else on their pitching staff would be ready to pitch in relief. Zack Wheeler started Sunday’s regular-season finale, the Phillies’ first of three elimination games this week.
Having thrown 97 pitches on Sunday, Wheeler logged 68 pitches across four innings after coming out of the bullpen in the third inning of Thursday night’s contest. After playing catch on Wednesday afternoon, Duran made a hand gesture indicating he felt questionable, though he mentioned he anticipated feeling better following treatment before the game.
“Yeah, everything on the line,” Painter said. “Luzardo would make fun of me if I didn’t. I’m 23. He says I should be good every day.”
Painter, Phillies
To force a decisive matchup in the best-of-three series, the Phillies defeated the Braves 4-3 in 10 innings on Wednesday.
How the Phillies will manage their rotation moving forward remains open.
