PHILADELPHIA _ Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola began his latest gem Saturday at Citizens Bank Park by giving up a titanic opposite-field home run to Pittsburgh Pirates leadoff man Sean Rodriguez on the second pitch of the game. He ended it by striking out Jordy Mercer on a wicked changeup 101 pitches later to complete the seventh inning.
In between, Nola kept the Pirates' hitters guessing with a three-pitch mix and the deficit small enough for Rhys Hoskins to win the game with one swing. Hoskins' three-run homer in the sixth inning _ on yet another two-strike count _ made the difference in a 5-2 victory, the Phillies' third straight overall and eighth in nine home games this season.
Once again, though, the Phils were led by their starting pitching. And just as he has been in every fifth game since the middle of last September, their 24-year-old ace was masterful.
Nola allowed two runs on seven innings pitched and racked up nine strikeouts over seven walk-free innings. It marked the eighth consecutive start in which he gave up no more than a pair of runs and a half-dozen hits, matching Roy Oswalt for the longest such streak by a Phillies pitcher since 1908. Nola is 4-2 with a 2.28 ERA during that stretch. Oswalt was 5-0 with a 1.06 mark in his eight-start run from Sept. 12, 2010 through April 21, 2011.
Things didn't start particularly well for Nola. Rodriguez smoked his second pitch of the game, a 94-mph fastball, off the scoreboard on the facade of the second deck in right field, only the second homer allowed by Nola in 31-1/3 innings this season.
But Nola settled in thereafter. He retired 15 of the next 17 batters until his defense let him down in the sixth inning. Third baseman Maikel Franco couldn't glove a chopper by Rodriguez, who scored two batters later when Starling Marte's pop fly fell between center fielder Odubel Herrera and backpedaling second baseman Cesar Hernandez.
Given how quiet the Phillies' bats had been for five innings against Pirates starter Steven Brault, a two-run lead felt relatively insurmountable. And when manager Gabe Kapler contended that Brault nicked Carlos Santana's jersey with a pitch with one out in the sixth, it seemed unlikely the call would be overturned considering Santana didn't so much as flinch or make a move toward first base.
But a video review confirmed Kapler was right. Santana took his base, then went to third on Herrera's single. Up stepped Hoskins, who took two strikes and hit a long foul ball to left field against reliever hard-throwing Michael Feliz.
Hoskins, though, is perfectly comfortable in two-strike counts. He entered the game batting .308 (12-for-39) with three doubles, two homers and a .976 OPS with two strikes against him. He fouled off two more pitches, and on the seventh pitch of the at-bat, cranked a 97-mph fastball over the left-field fence for a 3-2 lead.
Nola made sure it held up in the seventh inning. As his pitch count climbed, and with less oomph than usual on his heater, he turned to his curveball and changeup to win a seven-pitch duel with Mercer.
It was the stuff of aces, the likes of which Nola is quickly becoming.
