Phillies' ace Nola loses no-hitter in seventh, wins game over Tigers
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola's strikeout total was up — the Phillies' ace would tie his career-high with 12 — and so was his pitch count. As Nola delivered with two outs in the seventh inning, and a shot at baseball history still on the line, manager Rob Thomson wasn't sure just how much longer he would let the right-hander go.
“I wouldn't have chanced his health just for that,” Thomson said.
Nick Maton took care of Thomson's no-no call when the Tigers' third baseman put one into the second deck for their first hit of the game.
No worries. Trea Turner's best game with the Phillies and a shutdown effort from the bullpen kept the game in control and preserved Nola's finest outing of the season.
Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh inning, Turner homered twice for the first time with the Phillies among his four hits to lead Philadelphia to its third straight win, 8-3 over the Detroit Tigers on Monday night.
Nola (5-4) fanned 10 and had faced the minimum through six as he tried to pitch the Phillies’ first no-hitter since 2015. The ace right-hander ran into trouble in the seventh when two batters reached on a walk and a fielding error. Nola still had two outs when he hung an 0-2 breaking ball to Maton and the former Phillie crushed one into right to make it a 5-3 game.
Maton's bat-flip homer was the only hit allowed by Nola. He walked three over seven innings.
“That was a dagger,” Nola said, before adding with a smile, "especially since Maton did it."
Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Vasquez each tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
Nola walked Jake Marisnick with two outs in the third inning but the outfielder was out at first base on a caught stealing by catcher J.T. Realmuto. Nola walked Maton with one out in the fifth but the baserunner was erased after Eric Haase hit into an inning-ending double play.
Nola threw 68 of 108 pitches for strikes in front of 33,196 fans. Nola, who recorded two strikeouts on automatic strike three calls, has now pitched at least six innings in each of hit last 10 starts.
“We didn't handle his fastball, we didn't handle his breaking ball,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “As the momentum grew, he was dominating the night. Anything he threw tonight seemed to kind of elude us.”
He improved to 83-66 in a career spent all with the Phillies since his debut in 2015. The right-handed ace is a free agent at the end of the season. Nola and the Phillies tabled contract talks in spring training, with no plans to resume until the offseason.
Nola’s no-no stalled, too.
There have been no no-hitters in the majors this season, the first since Major League Baseball introduced a pitch clock. There were a record nine in 2021 and four last year.
The Phillies returned home from a 4-6 road trip in search of some last season’s June success that squashed a miserable start and led them to the NL championship. So far, so good. The Phillies won the last two games in Washington and kept the wins coming at home. They scored one run in each of the first three innings on Turner’s RBI single, Nick Castellanos’ run-scoring double, and Turner’s solo shot in the third.
Bryce Harper added an RBI single in the fifth. Turner connected the same inning off Tigers starter Joey Wentz (1-6) for his seventh homer of the season and first multi-homer game with the Phillies.
Turner has slumped in the first season of an 11-year, $300 million deal. He hit just .143 on the road trip but now has three homers in his last two home games.
“I think my swing wasn't where it needed to be,” Turner said.
VETERAN MOVE
Tigers DH Miguel Cabrera, who has said he will retire at the end of the season, is the last active player who played at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies last played in their now-razed former stadium in 2003. He played six games at the Vet in 2003 with the Florida Marlins. The Phillies will honor Cabrera before Wednesday's game.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Phillies: LHP José Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) is set to make a rehab appearance in Double-A Reading. ... CF Cristian Pache (right meniscus tear) is “swinging and missing quite a bit,” according to Thomson, in his minor league rehab games.
PUT A RING ON IT
Maton and Matt Vierling, traded by the Phillies to the Tigers in the offseason, received their NL championship rings before the game.
UP NEXT
The Phillies send RHP Taijuan Walker (4-3, 5.65 ERA) to the mound. The Tigers did not name a starter.
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