The San Diego Padres topped the Philadelphia Phillies, 8-5 on Wednesday, and now the National League Championship Series is all tied up, at 1-1…
The Padres’ catcher, Austin Nola, was 1-4 at the plate on Wednesday, with one run scored and one RBI…The Phillies’ catcher, J.T. Realmuto, was 1-4 at the plate for Philadelphia, in Game Two of the series on Wednesday…
Austin Nola was a shortstop for the local Greensboro Grasshoppers, back in 2012…J.T. Realmuto was a catcher for the Grasshoppers back in 2011, back when Greensboro won the South Atlantic League Championship, with Christian Yelich, Marcell Ozuna, Mark Canha, Noah Perio, Danny Black, Isaac Galloway, Ryan Fisher and others in-tow…
Nola did play shortstop for the Hoppers in 2012, but he also had catching experience and converted to a full-time catcher, after being traded away by the Miami/Florida Marlins…Realmuto was a shortstop in high school, back in his home state of Oklahoma, but after he was drafted into professional baseball, coming out of high school, he settled in at catcher, for his career in pro ball….
Former Greensboro Grasshoppers all tied up at one game a-piece, with Game Three coming up on Friday night, in Philadelphia…Game time is 7:45pm, and the game will be shown on FOX….
More on the history-making matchup between the Brothers Nola, Austin vs. his younger brother Aaron, as the two faced-off in Game Two, back in San Diego on Wednesday afternoon…First time a pitcher/batter brother combination met in MLB postseason history.
from Christina De Nicola with MLB.com/www.mlb.com
SAN DIEGO — Amongst a sea of yellow at raucous Petco Park stood A.J. and Stacie Nola, not quite sure how to react when their eldest son, Austin, sparked a five-run rally against his younger brother, Aaron.
Earlier in Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the Phillies and Padres, the Nolas became the first pitcher/batter brother combination to square off in MLB postseason history.
While Round 1 went to Aaron in the second inning, Austin got his revenge with a run-scoring single on an 0-2 count in the fifth. The hit cut the Padres’ deficit to 4-3 before Austin scored on Juan Soto’s game-tying double. San Diego would go on to win, 8-5, on Wednesday and even the NLCS at one game apiece.
“It was the best and worst inning of my life,” A.J. told MLB.com. He anxiously stood as Aaron made three pickoff attempts, then settled into his seat as a FOX camera captured his reactions.
Stacie and A.J. Nola are ready to watch their sons Austin and Aaron square off in the #NLCS! #phillies #padres #Postseason pic.twitter.com/YaVbKrznb6
— Christina De Nicola (@CDeNicola13) October 19, 2022
In their first at-bat against each other, Austin, 32, took a first-pitch cutter for a strike from Philadelphia’s 29-year-old right-hander before he chopped a sinker to third for an inning-ending groundout in the second. Earlier in the frame, Aaron had served up homers on consecutive pitches as San Diego trimmed its deficit to 4-2.
With his name being chanted throughout the ballpark in the fifth, Austin took advantage of Aaron’s elevated two-strike sinker and lined it to right-center for a one-out RBI single as Ha-Seong Kim scored from first on the play. Though Aaron didn’t think the brotherly matchup changed the game, the floodgates soon opened, as he was pulled three batters later with the score tied at 4.
When that happened, Stacie told her husband to switch jerseys; for Aaron’s starts, A.J. wears his Phillies jersey on top of his Padres one.
Austin Nola’s RBI hit vs. brother
“I wish I could have taken a snapshot and just held the moment for like a day, because that’s how fun it is,” Austin said. “And I’m sure he would say the same thing, that like stepping in the box against your brother in a situation, just facing [off] in a big league game is enough to just hold the moment. I was like, ‘I wish I could press pause on the time button and just live it for much longer than what it does,’ because it happens really quick.”
++++++++++Here is another real good headline from MLB.com, as they cover the MLB Playoffs…++++++++++
Hader’s heater has hitters hapless
Note on Hader:When Josh Hader(San Diego Padres) is hitting 100 mph, it’s game over. Case in point: He’s struck out eight straight batters, a postseason record.
**********On another local note, the San Diego Padres also have Wil Myers, one of their first basemen, and he is a former outstanding catcher for coach Scott Davis, at the Wesleyan Christian Academy, in High Point, N.C.**********