Phillies grind out 3-2 win over Padres behind steady pitching from Aaron Nola, bullpen

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jun 2, 2026

Published in Baseball

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PHILADELPHIA — With runners on the corners and nobody out in the sixth inning Tuesday night, Alec Bohm grounded into a double play.

And that was how the Phillies took the lead.

It had to be the Phillie-est of all 2026 Phillies victories, this 3-2 tiptoe past the Padres to begin a three-game series in Citizens Bank Park. But how else did you think two of the National League’s three worst offenses (by OPS) would decide matters?

The Phillies got exactly one big swing, an opposite-field two-run homer from Bryce Harper. Yet it was somehow enough for them to win for the sixth time in nine games.

It’s a testament to the pitching, which, once again, was spectacular. Aaron Nola tossed five solid innings before José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, Brad Keller and Jhoan Duran ran a bullpen relay for the final 12 outs.

But it also helps that four of these last nine games were against the equally struggling Padres, who took some of the ugliest swings you’ll ever see, including debuting Jase Bowen’s game-ending flail at Duran’s sweeper.

Never mind, then, that the Phillies haven’t scored more than four runs in a game since … checks notes … May 18. Or that Harper’s homer was their first at home in a span of 32 innings. Or that they went 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.

Winning quietly is still winning … for now, at least.

Facing the Padres for the second time in eight nights — with the birth of his second child sandwiched between the starts — Nola was effective by applying the same formula.

Lots of curveballs.

Nearly half of Nola’s 80 pitches last week in San Diego were curveballs. He returned to his signature breaking ball 39 times in 95 pitches and held the Padres to two runs on four hits in five innings.

The Padres knew the curveball was coming, and other than Gavin Sheets’ two-run homer in the third inning, they still weren’t able to hit it hard. Nola got 15 swings and misses; 11 came with his curve.

But Nola can afford to lean on his curveball only if he gets ahead in the count. He threw a first-pitch strike to 13 of 19 batters and didn’t issue a walk for the third consecutive start.

Harper tied it with one swing in the fourth inning.

After Trea Turner led off with a single, Harper laid off a first-pitch curveball in the dirt and a sweeper and cutter off the plate to get into a 3-1 count against Padres starter Randy Vásquez. The next pitch was an elevated sweeper, and Harper hit it out the other way to left field.