OOTP 6/4: Phillies 7, Marlins 1

Aces are for when you need to stop a streak.

Aces are for pitching those games that helps give the bullpen a rest.

Aaron Nola is an ace.

The first inning passed by uneventfully, but in the second, the action began. Logan Forsythe hit a two-out single that seemed harmless at the time, but when Andrew Knapp stepped to the plate after him, it was uneventful no more. Knapp crushed a first pitch fastball from Sandy Alcantara into the right field seats for a 2-0 lead. In the bottom half, Isan Diaz hit a solo shot that cut the lead in half, but that would end up being it for Miami.

Andrew McCutchen tacked on two more with a two-run home run in the fifth inning, making the score 4-1. Jay Bruce made it 7-1 in the seventh when he hit his 18th home run in the top of the seventh inning, effectively ending the game.

The story tonight though was Nola. He was superb. The home run he gave up to Diaz was the only run he allowed all evening. He did scatter eight more hits throughout his 7 ¹⁄₃ innings, but a combination of double plays and when those hits were timed (mostly with two outs) meant that the Marlins weren’t really able to mount much of anything.

In his last 15 ¹⁄₃ innings, Nola has only given up two runs, 13 hits, and has struck out 18. He is in the groove that he usually gets into at some point during a season.

The Phillies, having avoided a sweep to the lowly Marlins, face a test when they continue northward to Atlanta to face the Braves.