Here’s a ridiculously early prediction: Aaron Nola and Rhys Hoskins will be in Washington on July 17.
And they won’t be there to visit the Smithsonian.
They’ll be there as members of the National League All-Star team.
These two pillars of the Phillies’ rebuild led the club to a 6-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates Saturday (see first take). Nola was brilliant on the mound. He went seven innings, allowed just two runs, walked none and struck out nine. He allowed six hits. Two never left the infield and one was a sixth-inning pop up to center field that became the latest chapter in the Adventures of Odubel Herrera and dropped in, costing Nola a run as the Pirates went ahead, 2-0.
Just when it was starting to seem as if Nola was going to be victimized by no run support, Hoskins showed up to save the day with a three-run home run to left against gas-throwing righty Michael Feliz. The bomb capped a terrific, seven-pitch at-bat in which Hoskins came back from an 0-2 count, and gave the Phils a 3-2 lead that they padded with three runs in the eighth.
Hoskins fouled off three pitches after falling behind, 0-2. Hit his a 1-2 fastball that came in at 97 mph. Through 20 games, Hoskins is hitting .328 with four homers, 19 RBIs and a 1.127 OPS. He is 8 for 17 with two doubles and two homers on counts of 1-2 or 0-2.
MLB
There ain’t any fear in this gifted, 25-year-old hitter, who, by the way, has played in just 70 big-league games.
“Wherever he is in the count, it always feels like he’s dominating the at-bat,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “So even if he is down 0-2, we’re waiting to see him get back into the count and hang in there for a pitch he can drive into the gaps or out of the ballpark.
“You need a calm to hit like that with two strikes and that’s what he displays. No situation overwhelms him. He gets down 0-2 against a guy who has nasty stuff, a big fastball, it just doesn’t seem to faze him.”
The Phillies, 13-7 and 12-3 since their 1-4 start, have beaten the Pirates three straight days and go for a sweep Sunday. They rallied for a run in the eighth to win, 2-1, Friday and rallied back from being down 2-0 in this one.
“There’s no panic,” Hoskins said. “We get into the late innings, we keep grinding.”
Hoskins explained the key to his success with two strikes.
“I think if you can control your heart rate and be comfortable in the box, good things are probably going to happen,” he said.
Being a good hitter also helps.
It seems as if Nola has been around forever, but he doesn’t turn 25 until June. He has the same calm that Hoskins does. A leadoff homer by Sean Rodriguez never fazed him. Rodriguez swung big and laid into a fastball. Nola went soft on him the rest of the day. Herrera’s mistake in center field didn’t rattle Nola either.
“There are so many pitchers who would get frustrated and then not be able to execute their pitches,” Kapler said. “It was just the opposite with Noles. He just got right back on the bump and delivered his next strike.”
Nola has not allowed more than two runs in any of his five starts this season.
A few more of those and he and Hoskins can carpool to Washington in July.