Last night was all about Aaron Nola and the future of the Phillies.
The anticipation for the highly touted prospect had been ongoing since the organization first announced his debut start against the Rays. You could feel the excitement and energy all throughout Citizens Bank Park. The team store was already promoting tons of new Aaron Nola merchandise and prior to the start of the game, fans of all ages gathered around the bullpen to observe the 22 year old, during his warm-ups. The team also saw an increase in attendance as 28,703 showed up in support of Nola. To put it in perspective, it was the largest non-fireworks night crowd on a weekday since May 14th and an increase of a little over 8,000 since Monday night.
After giving up a lead-off double to Rays left-fielder John Jaso, Nola calmly retired the next three batters, including back to back strike-outs to Souza and Longoria. Nola was on cruise control for pretty much the rest of the game with the exception of the third inning. As luck would have it, he gave up his first MLB homerun to Ray’s pitcher, Nathan Karns. Home runs are a rare commodity by American League pitchers and Karns was the first to do so since Zach Britton of the Orioles hit one against the Braves back in 2011.
Apparently none of that phased Nola and yet again he would retire the remainder of the Rays in order.
Tags: Aaron Nola, Debut, Joe Buscemi, MLB, Philadelphia Phillies, Phillies Prospects, TalkSportsPhilly, Tampa Bay Rays
