Final: Phillies 7, Padres 1
WP: Aaron Nola (5-1, 3.26 ERA) LP: Ian Kennedy (8-12, 3.94 ERA) SV: Jerome Williams (1)
Philadelphia, PA – Making just his eighth career start, Phillies rookie RHP Aaron Nola was dominant in the series opener against the San Diego Padres to snap a four-game losing streak.
Nola yielded just one run on two hits and two walks tonight on 86 pitches, 52 of which were strikes. Over his last two starts, totaling 15.0 innings, the 22-year-old right hander has a 0.60 ERA and a 0.600 WHIP ratio.
The Phillies scored seven runs tonight on six hits, three of which went for extra-bases. They were 3-11 with runners in scoring position, and left five men on base.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Padres | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | X | 7 | 6 | 0 |
The only run that Nola surrendered over seven innings of work was a one-out, line-drive home run to center field by Padres' left fielder Justin Upton in the top of the fourth inning. This was Upton's 11th home run and 30th RBI in his career against the Phillies over 62 games.
The Phillies took a 2-1 lead during the latter-half of the fourth, and didn't look back from there. With the bases loaded, catcher Cameron Rupp grounded out to third to tie the game at one. Two batters later, first baseman Ryan Howard scored from third on a wild pitch by Padres' starter Ian Kennedy.
The next Phillies' threat against Kennedy did not come until the bottom of the seventh. With a runner in scoring position and only one out, Nola was pulled for pinch-hitter Domonic Brown.
Brown popped out to shortstop Jedd Gyorko, however, and right hander Bud Norris subsequently entered in relief. Norris, a longtime Astro and Oriole, recorded the final out of the inning on just two pitches.
Kennedy was effective tonight in allowing just two runs on two hits, however he walked five batters to raise his final pitch count to 118 pitches.
Five insurance runs were added by the Phillies' offense in the bottom of the eighth inning.
Facing Marc Rzepczynski, after center fielder Odubel Herrera reached on an infield single, right fielder Aaron Altherr hit his first-career triple past the diving Travis Jankowski in right.
Altherr now has seven hits this season, all of which have gone for extra-bases (four doubles, one triple, two home runs).
Altherr is also the first #Phillies player to begin his MLB career with seven consecutive XBH since 1900 (since Elias began keeping track).
— Meghan Montemurro (@M_Montemurro) August 29, 2015
Later in the inning, in opposition of right hander Odrisamer Despaigne, pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur laced a RBI-double, his 14th of the season. The next batter, Rupp, hit a three-run blast to left field to give the Phillies a 7-1 lead.
Rupp has now homered in five of Nola's last six starts.
Making his first appearance out of the bullpen with the Phillies, after going 8-12 with a 4.97 ERA over 30 starts in red pinstripes, right hander Jerome Williams recorded the final six outs of tonight's game to earn his second-career save.
Williams threw two perfect innings tonight on 18 pitches (13 strikes).
The only Padres' hit tonight that went in the field of play, excluding Upton's fourth-inning solo home run, was a double by second baseman Cory Spangenberg in the top of the fifth inning.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ian Kennedy | 6.2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 0 | 3.94 |
| Aaron Nola | 7.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 3.26 |
- Kennedy: L; 118 pitches, 71 strikes; 6 groundouts, 1 flyout; 27 faced batters
- Nola: W; 86 pitches, 52 strikes; 8 groundouts, 3 flyouts; 25 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Padres
- Bud Norris (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 6.75 ERA
- Marc Rzepczynski (8th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 6.14 ERA
- Odrisamer Despaigne (8th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 5.12 ERA
Phillies
- Jerome Williams (8th, 9th): 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 6.02 ERA
At the Plate
Padres
- Justin Upton: 1-4, R, HR, RBI, .256 AVG
- Yonder Alonso: 0-2, BB, .271 AVG
- Cory Spangenberg: 1-3, 2B, .259 AVG
Phillies
- Aaron Altherr: 1-3, 2 R, 3B, RBI, .259 AVG
- Jeff Francoeur: 1-1, R, 2B, RBI, .277 AVG
- Cameron Rupp: 1-3, R, 4 RBI, BB, .255 AVG
What's Next:
- Saturday, August 29, 2015: vs. San Diego Padres, 7:05 pm
- RHP Colin Rea (2-1, 5.52 ERA) vs. LHP Adam Morgan (4-4, 4.43 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 98.1 WOGL, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
- Sunday, August 30, 2015: vs. San Diego Padres, 1:35 pm
- RHP James Shields (9-6, 3.89 ERA) vs. RHP Alec Asher (MLB debut)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
