Philadelphia Phillies’ Aaron Nola showed a stellar performance in Monday night’s game, taking a no-hitter into the seventh inning and garnering 12 strikeouts to anchor their 8-3 win against the Detroit Tigers. Trea Turner also shone with four hits, two of which were home runs, elevating the Phillies to their third straight win.
Nola (5-4) was dominant, facing the minimum through six innings as he aimed to pitch the Phillies’ first no-hitter since 2015. The Tigers finally found a hit in the seventh with an 0-2 breaking ball from Nola that Nick Maton hit into right for a home run, reducing the lead to 5-3. Despite this, Maton’s bat-flip was the only hit by the Tigers, as Nola walked only three batters over seven innings. Seranthony Domínguez and Andrew Vasquez each tossed a scoreless inning out of the bullpen.
Nola’s no-hit bid may have stalled, but his performance was nothing short of impressive. Pitching to 33,196 fans, the right-hander threw 68 of his 108 pitches for strikes and has now pitched at least six innings in each of his last 10 starts. Nola also improved to 83-66 in his career, spent entirely with the Phillies since his debut in 2015. As a free agent after the season, Nola and the Phillies tabled contract talks in spring training until the offseason.
Meanwhile, the Phillies did not falter in their offense, scoring one run in each of the first three innings. Turner kicked off with an RBI single, followed by Nick Castellanos’ run-scoring double, and Turner’s solo shot in the third. Bryce Harper added an RBI single in the fifth while Turner connected on another home run off Tigers starter Joey Wentz (1-6) for his seventh of the season.
Notably, Turner has struggled in his first season of the 11-year, $300 million deal, hitting only .143 during the road trip. However, he has managed to bounce back with three home runs in his last two home games.
After returning home from a 4-6 road trip, the Phillies are looking to replicate last season’s June form, where they turned around a poor start to reach the NL championship. The win against the Tigers shores up that hope.
Before Wednesday’s game, the Phillies will honor Tiger’s DH, Miguel Cabrera, the last active player who played at Veterans Stadium. The Phillies last played in their now-razed former stadium in 2003. Cabrera played six games at the Vet in 2003 with the Florida Marlins.
On Tuesday, the Phillies send RHP Taijuan Walker (4-3, 5.65 ERA) to the mound, while the Tigers did not name a starter. No no-hitters have been recorded in the majors this season, the first time since the Major League Baseball introduced a pitch clock. In 2021, there were nine no-hitters, and four in 2020.
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Jose Alvarado (left elbow inflammation) is set to make a rehab appearance in Double-A Reading for the Phillies, while CF Cristian Pache (right meniscus tear) is still struggling in his minor league rehab games, as per Phillies manager Rob Thomson.
