Aaron Nola tossed a two-hit shutout, Bryce Harper homered and the host Philadelphia Phillies defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 on Sunday.
Harper reached base safely all four times and also doubled, singled and walked. Jean Segura added a pair of hits and extended his hitting streak to nine in a row.
Nola (1-1) allowed two hits, struck out 10 and walked none. It was Nola’s 17th career game with at least 10 strikeouts. Nola threw 109 pitches for his first career nine-inning complete game. His only other complete game came in a seven-inning game as part of a doubleheader.
The Phillies won the series by taking two of three.
Cardinals starter John Gant (0-2) lasted five innings and allowed five hits and two runs. Gant’s control was spotty with five strikeouts and five walks.
The Phillies jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Harper launched a 425-foot home run to the second deck in right field.
The Cardinals managed only one hit through the first five innings, a single by Yadier Molina. They struck out seven times through the first five against Nola.
In the fifth, Rhys Hoskins walked with one out and Harper followed with a double down the left field line. J.T. Realmuto was then walked and Alec Bohm responded with a sacrifice fly to left for a 2-0 advantage.
St. Louis went down in order in both the sixth and seventh and had 13 hitters retired in a row by Nola.
Harper singled with two outs in the seventh and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Realmuto struck out swinging against Giovanny Gallegos to end the scoring threat.
The Cardinals’ Paul DeJong opened the eighth with a single to left. Dylan Carlson flied out, Justin Williams struck out looking and Austin Dean struck out swinging.
In the ninth, Tommy Edman grounded out, Paul Goldschmidt flied out to short right on the first pitch and Nolan Arenado grounded out to shortstop to end the game.
–Field Level Media