Nola excellent as Phillies split series with Dodgers

By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff

Final: Philadelphia Phillies 2, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 ❖ Attendance: 40,986

LOS ANGELES, Ca. — The Philadelphia Phillies (31-23) and the Los Angeles Dodgers (26-30) ended their four game series with a battle of aces and the Phillies came out on top. Starter Aaron Nola was fantastic, despite relying more heavily on his secondary pitches than normal in the first few innings of the game. Over seven innings, Nola allowed one run on two hits and struck out seven batters. In his six starts in the month of May, the righty had a 4-1 record with a 1.80 ERA. In 40.0 innings pitched, Nola only allowed eight runs and eight walks, while striking out 46 batters. Seranthony Dominguez, who relieved Nola, pitched the final two innings of the game and continued to impress. So far in his Major League career, Dominguez has faced 43 batters and only three have reached base. He has yet to walk a batter.

The Phillies offense didn't do a lot of damage, but some timely hitting helped earn the win. Jorge Alfaro had two hits and knocked in both runs. In his last 26 games, the catcher has a .322 average with ten extra-base hits and ten RBI. He has really started to flourish in his role as an everyday player. Nick Williams picked up two more hits tonight. He will continue to get a good look while left fielder Rhys Hoskins is on the disabled list. If Williams continues to contribute offensively on a consistent basis, there's no reason why the Phillies shouldn't give him more consistent playing time.

WP: Aaron Nola (7-2, 2.18 ERA) ❖ LP: Josh Fields (2-2, 2.36 ERA) ❖ SV: Seranthony Dominguez (2)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2	6	1
LAD	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	2	0

The Phillies took an early lead in the ballgame. With one out in the top of the second, Maikel Franco walked. Left fielder Nick Williams followed with a single to put runners on first and second. After a strikeout by Scott Kingery, catcher Jorge Alfaro singled to center field. Phils third base coach Dusty Wathan opted to send Franco home, as there were two outs and pitcher Aaron Nola was due to bat next. This is where things got interesting. The throw home seemed to beat Franco, but catcher Yasmani Grandal did not have the ball in his glove when he attempted to tag Franco. So, the home plate umpire called Franco safe and a run was put on the board for the Phillies. However, replays showed that Franco did not touch home plate, so technically, he did not score. Fortunately, the play was not reviewed, so the Phillies lucked out. During Nola's at-bat, Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw threw a wild pitch, which allowed Williams and Alfaro to move up to third and second base, respectively. Nola struck out to end the inning, leaving both runners stranded in scoring position.

The Dodgers tied it up in the fifth inning. Yasiel Puig got it started with the first hit of the day for the Dodgers: a double to left field. He advanced to third on a groundout to second by Breyvic Valera. Shortstop Kike Hernandez followed with a single to right field that was deflected off the glove of first baseman Carlos Santana. Puig easily scored from third base. Nola struck out the next two batters to end the inning. Those were the only hits allowed in the ballgame.

The Phils took back the lead for good in the seventh. With two outs, Kingery singled to right field. Alfaro followed with a double to right field. Kingery's speed allowed him to score from first base. Alfaro tried to take advantage of Puig's slow route to the ball and extend the hit into a triple, but was tagged out to end the inning. However, Kingery had crossed the plate before this occurred, so the run counted. That was all the run support that the Phillies' pitchers needed to secure the victory.

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