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Aaron Nola showed glimpses of dominance during the Phillies home opener, but he also looked at times like a young hurler still susceptible to costly mistakes. 

The 22-year-old right-hander set a career-high with nine strikeouts, but the Padres were able to make the most of just six hits en route to a 4-3 win over the Phillies on Monday in front of a sold out crowd at Citizens Bank Park.

 Nola cruised through the first two frames, tossing 16 of his first 21 pitches of the afternoon for strikes while punching out three.

He ran into trouble though in the third when Alexi Ramirez hit a bloop single to center to open the frame and Alexi Amarista followed with a base hit up the middle. Both eventually scored via a John Jay double and a Cory Spangenberg ground-out, pushing the Padres to an early 2-0 lead.

 Nola then made a miscue in the third, hanging a 2-2 curve-ball over the plate to Wil Myers who deposited the pitch about five rows deep in left center field, pushing the Padres to a 3-0 lead.

Through seven innings on the day, Nola surrendered four runs on six hits.


 "Nola was pretty good, but he got hurt by his secondary pitches," said manager Pete Mackanin. "Other than that he pitched well enough to win. His mechanics are conducive to throwing strikes. He reminds of Cliff Lee every once in a while where you want him to get a little effectively wild, but he pounds the strike zone and paints the corners. Like I said, it wasn't his fastball that hurt him today."

The Phillies evened things in the sixth, but not before some controversy.

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With the bases loaded, no out, and a lefty Brad Hand coming in to relieve starter Andrew Cashner, Mackanin pinch hit Darin Ruf for Ryan Howard. Ruf proceeded to swing at the first pitch and hit a towering fly to shallow left field. Shortstop Alexi Ramirez awkwardly drifted backwards in an attempt to make the play when third base umpire Will Little signaled an infield fly. Ultimately, the ball dropped between Ramirez and left fielder Myers, allowing Hernandez to score. Odubel Herrera, who was on second base when the ball dropped, reached third but was ruled out on a tag play.

Mackanin protested the call, arguing Herrera was never touched, but the call on the field stood. "Put it this way; I didn't like the call, but we had to live with it and get past it," Mackanin said. "It was explained to me in the umpire's judgement that the shortstop was under the ball. As I said, I didn't agree, but it is what it is."


San Diego scored the game-winning run in the top of the seventh when Derek Norris scampered to the plate from third base when Alexi Amarista laid down a successful suicide squeeze bunt. The play came one batter after Maikel Franco made a remarkable diving stab and throw to record the inning’s second out … only to see the out erased after the Padres challenged and replay revealed that the throw took first baseman Darin Ruf off the first base bag.

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