“He pitched his butt off,” San Diego Padres catcher Austin Nola said of his older brother Aaron, pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies, after facing off in NLCS Game 2
It was quite a showdown at Wednesday night’s Game 2 of the National League Championship Series between the San Diego Padres and Philadelphia Phillies.
Aaron and Austin Nola, brothers who play on different MLB teams, made history as the first pair of siblings to face off in a pitcher-batter matchup in a postseason game. Aaron is a pitcher for the Phillies and Austin plays catcher for the Padres.
The two have a long-standing rivalry, and this battle was no different. Though they’ve played each other previously in MLB games, this was the first time it happened in the postseason.
Aaron and Austin’s first matchup in Wednesday’s game was in the bottom of the second inning. Aaron, 29, won the first meeting of the pair when Austin, 32, grounded out.
Call it brotherly love 😉 #CaptureTheMoment pic.twitter.com/WP8omVaINu
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) October 19, 2022
Right after Austin grounded out, Fox Sports interviewed the brother’s parents. Their dad A.J. kept it short and simple: “Aaron got him the first at-bat.”
The tides changed when they met again in the fifth inning, as Austin hit an RBI single against his little brother.
The two didn’t meet again after Aaron left the game for a relief pitcher. The Padres — and big brother Austin — eventually won the game 8-5.
“He pitched his butt off. I thought he did an excellent job,” Austin said after the game. “We just put together good at-bats on him. That’s what you’ve got to do with him.”
Aaron added: “It’s pretty neat. We’re going to enjoy this moment and soak it in because we don’t know when it’ll ever happen again.”
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