Phillies beat Diamondbacks 2-1, win 5th straight
Aaron Nola and Bryson Stott carried the Phillies past Arizona 2-1, a 5th straight win that has pulled them level with the Cubs atop the NL Wild Card.
Stott's homer, Nola's 5 strong innings
The Phillies beat the Diamondbacks 2-1 on August 31, their 5th straight win. Bryson Stott went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI, and Aaron Nola started, working 5.0 innings and allowing 5 hits, 1 earned run and 2 walks while striking out 4. The Phillies' own account marked it "Nola Night" for the outing.
Diamondbacks2-1The win came the same day the club moved Tommy Pham to the White Sox, with the outfielder expected to join Chicago when rosters expanded on September 1, according to Jeff Passan as relayed by Talkin' Baseball and Foul Territory.
Level with the Cubs at the top of the wild card
At 78-60, the Phillies now sit even with the Cubs atop the NL Wild Card standings, both clubs carrying a 5.0-game cushion over 3rd place. Chicago's elimination number stands at 18, Philadelphia's at 21 — the 5-game winning streak is what closed that gap rather than a Cubs slide.
Behind them, San Diego is 73-65, Arizona 73-66 and half a game back of the Padres, Miami 69-69 and 4.0 back, St. Louis 68-70 and 5.0 back, Pittsburgh 67-71 and 6.0 back, and Washington 66-74 and 8.0 back. The Diamondbacks, next up on the schedule, are the closest thing behind the Padres to a threat for the field's remaining spot.
Upcoming
The Phillies are in Arizona tonight, with Jesús Luzardo (12-5, 3.09 ERA) opposite Eduardo Rodriguez (14-4, 2.50 ERA). Both starters were dominant in their last turns on August 26 — Luzardo threw 7.0 shutout innings against Seattle with 9 strikeouts on 1 hit, and Rodriguez matched him with 7.0 shutout innings against the Cubs, also with 9 strikeouts. Catcher Rafael Marchan, out with a knee injury, is expected to be activated from the injured list today, per MLB.com.
The market favors the Phillies, and the total points to a low-scoring game — a read that lines up with what both starters just did in their last outings. For Arizona to flip that, either Luzardo has to slip from the form that shut out Seattle or the Diamondbacks' bats have to do more against him than they managed in the series' first game.