Wednesday’s Game 2 of the NLCS was notable for many reasons, but there was only one reason to tune in for the Nola family. The Nola brothers—Philadelphia’s Aaron and San Diego’s Austin—became the first siblings in MLB history to face off as an opposing pitcher and hitter in a postseason game.
The brothers had faced each other before in the regular season, but this was different. There were two rounds in this heavyweight bout. In the first, Aaron got the better of his older brother by inducing a groundout to third base. But Austin got the last laugh, drilling an RBI single in the fifth inning to cut the Phillies’ lead to 4-3.
Austin’s single kicked off a huge rally for the Padres. San Diego ended up scoring five in the fifth, turning a 4-2 deficit into a 7-4 lead. After the pair’s first meeting, Fox’s Ken Rosenthal caught up with the brothers’ parents in the stands and interviewed their father, A.J., who was wearing both a Phillies and Padres jersey.
Austin and Aaron’s mother, Stacie, said she was too nervous to be interviewed mid-game, but A.J. summed up the pair’s emotions well.
“It was a lot of anticipation, I was real anxious before the game,” A.J. said. “I’m kind of settled down a little bit now … [this] was worth every motor home trip, every tournament, everything to this point. It’s just so surreal, worth every penny.”
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