Photo by Matt Thomas/San Diego Padres/Getty Images
The Padres’ Austin Nola picked up a crucial hit of his brother, Phillies’ pitcher Aaron, to tie up their playoff series.
A little history was made during Game 2 of the National League Championship Series with brothers Aaron and Austin Nola facing off on opposite sides. When Padres’ catcher Austin stepped to the plate against Phillies’ pitcher Aaron in the second inning, it marked the first time brothers faced off in a pitcher-hitter matchup in the playoffs. Aaron and the Phillies won that particular battle, getting him to ground out. However, they would face off again in the fifth inning, and that at-bat ended up having an impact on the final result of the game.
While the Phillies had jumped out to a 4-0 lead, the Padres chipped away at their deficit scoring two runs in the third. Then in the fifth inning, with a runner on first, Austin Nola stepped to the plate. While his brother quickly got ahead of him in the count, San Diego’s Nola then singled to center field.
The runner on first came all the way around to score, getting the Padres within a run of Philadelphia. The Nolas’ parents, who were in attendance, were somewhat conflicted as you might expect.
After that hit, the Padres went on to tack on two more hits off the Phillies’ Nola brother, the second of which was a Juan Soto double that scored Austin. While Aaron was removed from the game shortly after, San Diego went on to add a couple more runs off Philadelphia’s bullpen in the inning. In total, Aaron Nola ended up allowed six runs in just 4.2 innings of work. The Padres went on to win the game 8-5, evening up the NLCS at one game each.
There’s still a lot of series left, and the Nola brothers may end up facing off again in a later game. However, at least for now, Austin has the bragging rights.
