Baseball, they say, has no clock.
Maybe that’s why the Phillies sometimes need all night to find a way to win.
But Sunday night at Wrigley, the clock wouldn’t have mattered anyway — because they kept swinging until something clicked.
And finally, in the 10th inning, it did.
The Phillies outlasted the Cubs, 3-1, on a cool Chicago night, taking two of three from the North Siders and flying back home sitting at 15-13, very much alive in the early NL East picture as they get ready for a series against the Nationals.
Aaron Nola, in desperate need of a lift — for himself and his team — delivered his best outing of the season, going seven innings while allowing just a run on three hits. He struck out six and threw 73 of his 99 pitches for strikes, mixing his four-seamer, two-seamer, and cutter better than he had all year. His reward? A no-decision, of course, because Phillies.
Bryson Stott rolled a triple down the right-field line in the third inning, scored moments later on a Trea Turner single, and then the offense went quiet again, stuck in that all-too-familiar runners-in-scoring-position rut. Jameson Taillon matched Nola nearly pitch for pitch, keeping the Phillies off-balance with just five hits allowed over his own seven innings.
But in the 10th, the Phillies finally broke through.
Turner reached first safely on a slow grounder with a heady hustle play, giving the Phillies just enough life to push a run across. Alec Bohm went 3-for-5 and drove in two of the Phillies’ three runs, including the critical RBI infield single that gave Jordan Romano an extra bit of breathing room.
Romano, shaky at times this season, found a groove and closed it down with a clean 1-2-3 10th inning to preserve the win — and snap a streak of three straight series losses away from Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies are off Monday before welcoming the Nationals to town Tuesday. For now, they’ll take a breath, take the series win, and try again to string together what’s been elusive so far this season: momentum.
Quotable
“That was vintage Noles. He's had some tough luck with the weather and the games he's pitched in. Today was slightly better, and just that little window and he was back to his old self. He's going to be good for us. I'm not worried about him at all.” - Trea Turner, per MLB.com.
