PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - OCTOBER 11: Aaron Nola #27 of the Philadelphia Phillies throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning in Game Three of the Division Series at Citizens Bank Park on October 11, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The Phillies took game 1 of the NLCS. And now Aaron Nola has a chance to put them up 2-0, with him set to duel Merrill Kelly in Game 2 tonight.

Aaron Nola did not have the best regular season. He finished with a 4.46 ERA in 32 starts. Over a run higher than the 3.25 ERA he had last year. But at least so far in the playoffs, he has been incredible. In two starts his ERA is 1.42, and the Phillies won both games he started. He has allowed just 2 earned runs, and one was allowed in by Matt Strahm.

But the NLCS was when things went sideways for him last year too. Nola was fantastic against the Cardinals and Braves, then blew a 4-0 lead in game 2 of the NLCS to the Padres. So the pressure is on him to keep pitching great.

Nola has a barely shaky history against the Diamondbacks. In 5 starts he has only held them to 2 or fewer runs once. He has allowed 4 or more 3 times. And in total his ERA against the DBacks is 7.67. A lot of that comes from 1 awful start where he allowed 8 runs in 4 innings. But even this season he gave up 4 runs in 6.2 innings.

With all of that said, a decent amount of the damage done to Nola in the past came from guys no longer in the lineup. Jake McCarthy drove in 5 of the runs in that 8-run game. And in 3 of the other guys it was almost a completely different team. But he does not have that excuse for this year’s game, where the Diamondbacks jumped on him to put up 4 runs in the 3rd, including a 3-run shot by Ketel Marte. The Phillies did win that game though.

Despite the bad career ERA vs the DBacks, his numbers vs the guys on the team are actually pretty decent. See for yourself below.

Here Is How Aaron Nola has Pitched Against This Diamondbacks Lineup:

Corbin Carroll
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

.167/.167/.167/.333

1 for 6, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 1 RBI, 0 BBs, 1 K
Ketel Marte
(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

.167/.167/.667/.833

1 for 6, 1 HR, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 3 RBIs, 0 BBs, 2 Ks
Tommy Pham
(Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

.111/.111/.111/.222

1 for 9, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 0 RBIs, 0 BBs, 3 Ks
Christian Walker
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

.286/.375/.429/.804

2 for 7, 0 HRs, 1 2B, 0 3Bs, 0 RBIs, 0 BBs, 2 Ks
Gabriel Moreno
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

.667/.667/.667/1.333

2 for 3, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 1 RBI, 0 BBs, 1 K
Lourdes Gurriell Jr.
(Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images)

.333/.333/.500/.833

2 for 6, 0 HRs, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 RBI, 0 BBs, 3 Ks
Alek Thomas
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

.500/.500/1.000/1.500

1 for 2, 0 HRs, 1 2B, 0 3B, 1 RBI, 0 BBS, 1 K
Evan Longoria
(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

.375/.375/.500/.875

3 for 8, 0 HRs, 1 2B, 0 3B, 0 RBIs, 0 BBs, 2 Ks
Geraldo Perodomo
(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

.333/.500/.333/.833

1 for 3, 0 HRs, 0 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 0 Ks
Totals
(Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

.255/.268/.382/.650

14 for 55, 1 HR, 4 2Bs, 0 3Bs, 8 RBIs, 1 BB, 15 Ks
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