One Nola brother performed well at Petco Park on Wednesday afternoon in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series, but unfortunately for Philadelphia, it wasn't Aaron.
The San Diego Padres scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to secure an 8-5 win over the Phillies. The best-of-seven series is now even, with Game 3 scheduled for Friday night in Philadelphia.
The Padres hammered Aaron Nola for six runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings.
Austin Nola played a pivotal role in chasing his younger brother from the contest, lifting an 0-2 sinker from Aaron to right field to score Ha-Seong Kim to trim the Phillies' lead to 4-3. Things then crumbled as Jurickson Profar followed with a single before Juan Soto lashed an RBI double to right field to even the contest.
Brad Hand struggled in relief, failing to record an out while surrendering two runs on a pair of hits and a hit batter.
The Padres put up five runs in the frame, proving to be the difference.
"It’s frustrating,” Nola told reporters afterward. "I want to go out, put up zeros and go deep into the game as I can for these guys. The good thing is this is a seven-game series, and we’re headed back home.”
The Phillies opened the contest with a four-run second inning and appeared primed to return to Philadelphia with a commanding 2-0 series lead. The club benefited from some luck early, taking advantage of a ball lost in the sun, a pair of bloop hits, and a broken bat single.
The Padres answered with back-to-back solo homers in the second as Brandon Drury and Josh Bell took Nola deep.
“They were hitting the fastball pretty well,” Nola said. “A couple of missed locations, a couple of them were decent pitches they were just on them.”
Rhys Hoskins homered for the Phillies in the eighth, while Bryce Harper finished with a pair of hits. The Padres bullpen collected seven strikeouts over four innings.
“We went into Atlanta (in the National League Division Series), won the first one, lost the second one,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "Disappointing game. We had a day off and came back home in front of 46,000 raucous people and played really well.”
Ranger Suarez will start for the Phillies in Game 3. The left-hander stumbled a bit at the end of the regular season, posting a 4.58 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP over his final seven starts. He lasted just 3 1/3 innings in his lone NLDS start against Atlanta, surrendering three hits and a run on 86 pitches.
The Padres will counter in Game 3 with Joe Musgrove who has been outstanding this postseason, posting a 1.38 ERA over two starts. He has 13 strikeouts over 13 innings and is carrying a 0.85 WHIP.
