PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Aaron Nola pitched seven strong innings, Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins homered and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2 on Saturday night.
Nola (10-2) allowed one run and three hits with 10 strikeouts and two walks. He lowered his ERA to 1.91 over his last eight starts while reaching double-digits in strikeouts for the 12th time in his career, including the fourth this season.
Cesar Hernandez also had an RBI for the Phillies, who entered Saturday a game back in the NL wild-card race.
Jon Jay had an RBI double for Chicago, which dropped its ninth in the last 11. The White Sox are batting .194 while averaging two runs per game over that stretch.
Nick Pivetta got the final six outs for his first career save. The White Sox got the first two runners on in the ninth before Pivetta struck out Eloy Jimenez and Tim Anderson. Yolmer Sanchez’s two-out single to right drove in Jose Abreu, putting runners on first and third. However, Pivetta struck out pinch-hitter Adam Engel to finish his 42-pitch outing.
Nola retired the first nine batters before walking Leury Garcia to start the fourth. Garcia scored on Jay’s two-out double to right-center that put the White Sox up 1-0.
Harper got the first hit off Ross Detwiler (1-2) with a drive to the second deck in right field with one out in the fourth. Hoskins followed by drilling the next pitch, a 91-mph fastball, over the wall in center field for his 24th of the season to give Philadelphia a 2-1 lead. Both homers were measured at 406 feet.
The hits were redemption of sorts for Harper and Hoskins, who were a combined 1 for 11 with three strikeouts in the Phillies’ 4-3 loss in 15 innings to the White Sox on Friday night.
Detwiler, making his fourth start, didn’t allow another run after Hoskins’ homer. He lasted 5 2/3 innings and gave up three hits with six strikeouts and one walk while lowering his ERA nearly a run, from 6.08 to 5.21, as a starter. The left-hander also has pitched four times out of the bullpen.
Hoskins and catcher Andrew Knapp combined on a stellar defensive play in the seventh to keep Philadelphia ahead. With runners on second and third and one out, Sanchez laid down a good bunt toward first with Jimenez hustling hard from third. In one motion, Hoskins scooped up the ball barehanded and tossed it to Knapp, who applied the tag on the headfirst sliding Jimenez.
The Phillies tacked on a run in the seventh on Hernandez’s bases-loaded groundout.
