Nola, Harper, Marsh Get Job Done in Phillies Series Opening Victory vs. Padres

The Phillies have won the season series against the Padres, defeating the Friars 3-2 Tuesday night.

For what has been such a rough start all season for the veteran righty, Aaron Nola has been great in his last two starts, which were both against the Padres. Besides giving up a home run early, those were the only runs he allowed. Nola settled in for the rest of the night, pitching five quality innings, striking out eight. It was also nice to see his velocity, with the majority of his fastballs reaching 94-95 mph. Given that Nola has hit as low as 91 in some of his starts, this is a great outlook for the recently married father. It’s also his third consecutive outing without a walk. It’s the 4th time he’s done that in his entire career, and the first time since 2024.

Although the Phillies won, a common struggle persisted: the offense. After having a miserable series offensively in Los Angeles, the struggles continued Tuesday against the Padres. The only bright spots were Bryce Harper, courtesy of his two-run home run, and Brandon Marsh, who went 4-for-4. He’s currently tied for the best batting average in MLB at .332. 

Both teams worked through a quiet two innings. The Phillies had what felt like extra-base hits in the bottom of the 2nd inning, but the ball held up in the air for just the right amount of time. 

But once the third rolled around, that would be when the Padres would break open with the scoring. What looked like was going to be a clean inning for Nola quickly shifted, as Fernando Tatis Jr. singled with two outs, which brought up Gavin Sheets, who sent a two-strike curveball deep into the right field seats to make it 2-0 Padres. 

With Nola working through clean innings in the 3rd and 4th, the Padres’ lead would only last two more innings. Trea Turner led off the bottom of the 4th with a single, and that set up Harper, sending a 419-foot fly ball to deep left center field, tying the game up at 2. 

Bryce ties it!#Phillies pic.twitter.com/NexEqPhVVn

— Philly Sports Reports (@PhlySprtsReprts) June 2, 2026

Nola worked his way through a 1-2-3, 22-pitch 5th inning, ending his night and another good start. The Phils would have the chance to take the lead in the bottom of the frame, but failed to capitalize with two on as Turner flew out softly to left. 

Both pitchers were done after five innings, leaving it up to both bullpens to finish the game. After a scoreless top of the 6th from Jose Alvarado, the Phillies would take the lead in the bottom half. After back-to-back singles from Harper and Marsh, Alec Bohm would drive in a run, hitting into a 6-4-3 double play. 

The Padres almost came close to scoring at the top of the 7th. With Orion Kerkering in, he gave up a walk and a base hit right after, setting up 1st and 3rd for San Diego with one out. He got the next two hitters he faced to strikeout and groundout, ending the threat and keeping the Phillies’ lead. The Phillies would leave the bases loaded in the bottom half of the frame, failing to break the game open. 

Brad Keller worked his way through a scoreless 8th, although it could’ve gotten ugly. With Tatis Jr. on 2nd, a slow dribbler hit towards Bohm had Miguel Andujar on 1st with an infield single. However, Bohm faked the throw to 1st and picked off the runner, Tatis, who was trying to sneak to third. 

Jhoan Duran came on for the 9th inning and struck out the side, giving the Phillies the 3-2 win. Duran is now 13-for-13 in save opportunities. 

The Phillies will look to take the series against San Diego on Wednesday night at 6:40 p.m, with Cristopher Sanchez and his current scoreless streak scheduled to take the hill.

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