The Philadelphia Phillies are the closest to stealing the National League’s top seed from the Milwaukee Brewers. However, after Wednesday night’s setback, they trailed the Brewers by 5 1/2 games. The Phillies won the first game against the Brewers on Monday and had Aaron Nola on the mound Wednesday night. This has not been Nola’s best year, and he allowed six earned runs in the loss.
The Brewers tagged him for five earned runs in the first inning. Nola has a 6.78 ERA after 13 starts this season. Despite dealing with injuries, manager Rob Thomson remains optimistic in the former All-Star. He believes Nola is still adjusting to his injury.
“Well, I think he was still getting his feet underneath him the first couple of (starts),” Thomson told The Athletic’s Charlotte Varnes. “The final couple were actually pretty good, aside from the first inning. It’s similar to what happened on Wednesday. So, we need to work out the first inning. Nola’s first-inning difficulties have harmed his numbers significantly, but he has a long track record of success. The Phillies’ rotation is looking for answers following Zack Wheeler’s injury, and it’s difficult to picture Nola not being a part of the solution.
The Phillies entered Thursday with a two-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers for the National League’s second spot. Securing one of the top two seeds would keep the Phillies out of the wild card series.