Phillies Notes: Nola Shines, Harper Homers, Kapler Returns

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola’s outing against the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday was closer to the team’s expectations for him than his past two starts this season.

Nola lowered his 3.45 season ERA to 2.19 by pitching tossing all nine innings, giving up no runs and striking out 10 as he helped the Phillies win the series with a 2-0 win.

"Its been a long time coming," Nola said after the game. "I felt good today, defense was great."

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The 27-year-old ace cruised, allowing just two baserunners, for his first-ever nine-inning complete game shutout.

Nola totaled just nine innings over his last two starts, allowing four earned runs and 13 hits in starts against Atlanta and New York.

Philadelphia also got a breakout day from Bryce Harper, who missed Saturday's game with lower back soreness, going 3-for-3 with a solo homer on Sunday.  The three hits helped raise his average to .289 on the season.

Second baseman Jean Segura stayed hot with a pair of hits to raise his average to .352.

Kapler Returns

Monday will make the return of former Phillies manager Gabe Kapler, who is now the skipper of the San Francisco Giants. Kapler lead the Phillies for two seasons, going 161-163 in two seasons.

Now with the Giants, he went 29-31 during his first season in 2020 and is currently 9-6 in his second season.

The Phillies will send Chase Anderson, Zack Wheeler and Zach Eflin to the mound against the Giants. The will oppose Kevin Gausman, Logan Webb and Anthony DeSclafani in the three-game set.