Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola can become the all-time wins leader at Citizens Bank Park when he starts against the visiting Atlanta Braves on Sunday night in the finale of a four-game series.
Nola has 56 wins at Citizens Bank Park, tied with former Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels. The stadium opened in 2004.
Philadelphia (80-56) recorded its second win over the first three contests of the series with a 3-0 victory on Saturday. The National League East-leading Phillies hold a six-game advantage over second-place Atlanta (74-62) in the division.
Nola (12-6, 3.30 ERA) most recently threw seven shutout innings in a 5-0 win against the Houston Astros on Tuesday. That victory moved him past Curt Schilling and into seventh on the franchise’s all-time career wins list with 102.
“It’s pretty cool,” Nola said. “Curt was an unbelievable pitcher. It’s cool to be up there with him and those guys. That’s all good stuff at the end of the day, but I just want to win for the team.”
Nola had gone seven straight starts without recording a win. In five starts in August, he posted a 2.70 ERA.
Nola retired the final nine hitters he faced against the Astros.
Houston manager Joe Espada said Nola did a good job of controlling both sides of the plate.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to give credit to Nola,” Espada said. “We hit some balls hard. We had him on the ropes a few times, but got to give credit. He made some pitches when he needed to.”
Nola faced the Braves on Aug. 21 and did not receive a decision in his team’s 3-2 win. He allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Overall, Nola is 16-11 with a 3.60 ERA in 36 starts against Atlanta.
The Braves plan to start rookie right-hander Spencer Schwellenbach (5-6, 3.72 ERA) in the series finale. He did not allow a run in his most recent outing Tuesday against the Minnesota Twins. Schwellenbach scattered five hits over 4 2/3 shutout innings in the Braves’ 8-6 win in 10 innings. He needed 106 pitches to get 14 outs, partly because he struck out eight and walked three.
“I thought I did a good job mixing the pitches up. Throwing them in different locations, and they kept on putting a bat on the ball and fouling stuff off and made my outing a little bit longer than what I like. I thought I executed well and thought it was fine and did a really good job,” Schwellenbach said. “I trust my stuff. I had three walks tonight. I feel like I can throw the ball in the zone, whatever pitch it is, and be effective enough to get people out.”
Schwellenbach already has defeated the Phillies twice this season. He earned the win in a 3-2 victory on Aug. 22 after giving up two runs and three hits in 6 2/3 innings, retiring 19 hitters in a row during one stretch.
Schwellenbach also beat Philadelphia on July 6, allowing one run and seven hits in six innings in a 5-1 win.
–Field Level Media