Aaron Nola has made 317 regular season starts in a 12-year MLB career, all with the Philadelphia Phillies. He's never started a game on fewer than four days' rest. Less than four hours before the scheduled first pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays, the Phillies announced Nola will start on two days' rest.
The Phillies' third straight loss on Friday, combined with the Arizona Diamondbacks' sixth consecutive win, means the two teams are separated by one game with only two games left on the regular-season schedule. The Phillies were planning to throw a bullpen game against the Rays after losing the day before, but the circumstances forced them to try something new. The Phillies’ bullpen has struggled mightily this month.
Their 5.23 September ERA is 27th, better than only the struggling Colorado Rockies, Washington Nationals and Los Angeles Angels. More news: Phillies Suddenly Have Reason to Worry After Third Straight Loss Nola's workload suggests the bullpen will throw the majority of the innings in Philadelphia anyway. He threw 88 pitches across six innings, allowing four runs, Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
He's made 32 starts and pitched a total of 174.1 innings this season. A former All-Star who's collected Cy Young Award votes in four of his 12 MLB seasons, Nola figures to play an important role on the Phillies' postseason pitching staff. For that to happen, however, the Phillies have to clinch a postseason berth first.
More news: National League Executive Calls One GM Vacancy the ‘Worst’ in MLB The Rays have already clinched the American League East title. With little to play for until October, they still limited the Phillies to four hits in a 2-0 win on Friday. The Diamondbacks (86-74) are playing the San Diego Padres, who have clinched a National League wild-card berth already.
Because they hold the tiebreaker over the Phillies (87-73), the D-backs will get a wild-card berth if the two teams finish with the same record. The Phillies still have the advantage on paper. Their magic number to clinch is 2, and they can finish the task Saturday.
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