Aaron Nola was encouraged by his second rehab start with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Wednesday night in the first game of a doubleheader at Coca-Cola Park against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
“I felt better than the first outing,” he said, “especially as the game wore on. Each inning felt better command-wise, stuff-wise. I felt more comfortable. My delivery felt better than the last game.”
After allowing a run on two singles and two walks in a 28-pitch first inning, Nola retired eight of the last 10 batters he faced in a 12-1 IronPigs victory. He threw 40 of 69 pitches overall for strikes.
The win was manager Anthony Contreras’ 287th in his four seasons in charge, passing Dave Brundage for the franchise record.
But the focus was on Nola’s health and performance. The 32-year-old right-hander has not pitched for the Phillies since May 14 because of ankle and rib injuries.
Assuming there are no setbacks, Nola figures to make one more start for Lehigh Valley on Tuesday in Buffalo before returning to Philadelphia.
Yankees’ No. 4 prospect Spencer Jones singled with one out in the top of the first, stole second and scored four batters later on a bases-loaded walk by Nola, who threw only seven of 17 first-pitch strikes.
But the 6-foot-2, 200-pounder settled in. He retired Braden Shewmake on a grounder with the bases loaded to end the first, then worked around Jorbit Viva’s two-out double in the second.
Nola retired the RailRiders in order in the third before exiting after allowing Ismael Munguia’s two-out single in the fourth.
“Everything is important right now,” he said. “Health, command, velocity, being more consistent with my pitches. I felt I did that today.”
Nola sat between 91 and 93 mph on his fastball. His knuckle curve was responsible for two of his three strikeouts.
He said his ability to limit the damage in the first inning was an important step in just his second game in 84 days.
And it went better than his older brother Austin’s only inning of work in the Colorado Rockies’ 20-1 loss Wednesday to the Toronto Blue Jays. The 35-year-old catcher allowed eight runs on eight hits (two home runs) in the ninth inning in his major-league debut.
Scranton/Wilkes-Barre won Game 2, 12-9 in nine innings. Contreras and bench coach Tank Adamson were ejected in separate incidents involving crew chief Felix Neon after calls on stolen base attempts. Both teams had issues with Leon’s strike zone in Game 1.
Both teams finished with position players on the mound. Rafael Lantigua allowed two runs on two hits (a grand slam) in two-thirds of an inning for the IronPigs, who gave up eight runs in the top of the ninth.
Ismael Munguia allowed two runs on three hits before finishing off the game with a grounder and flyout.
Roster moves
RHP Seth Johnson was optioned back to Lehigh Valley when the Phillies activated RHP Joe Ross from the injured list. The 26-year-old Johnson made 10 relief appearances in three stints this year with Philadelphia. He struck out five in a two scoreless innings Monday against Baltimore.
RHP Brett de Geus and Devin Sweet cleared waivers and were outrighted to Lehigh Valley.
RHP Lou Trivino, an Upper Perkiomen graduate, was signed by the Phillies and sent to the IronPigs. He threw a five-pitch, 1-2-3 fifth inning in Game 2 on Wednesday.
RHP Jacob Waguespack was signed and put on the 7-day IL with lower back discomfort. He previously pitched in the Phillies system for four years, including part of 2018 with the IronPigs.
RHP Austin Schulfer was reinstated from the 7-day IL and released.
INF Robert Moore was promoted from Double-A Reading.
INF Keaton Anthony placed on the 7-day IL.
RHP Nabil Crismatt and OF Óscar Mercado were granted their release.
OF Matt Kroon has been released.
How they scored (Game 1)
Top 1: Spencer Jones singled with one out, stole second, took third on T.J. Rumfield’s bloop single and scored three batters later on Jose Rojas’ bases-loaded walk. RailRiders 1-0.
Bottom 1: Justin Crawford singled, took third on Johan Rojas’ double and scored Gabriel Rincones’ grounder. Tied 1-1.
Bottom 3: Crawford singled with one out. Garrett Stubbs reached on catcher’s interference with two outs. Rincones followed with a three-run home run, his 13th homer of the year. IronPigs 4-1.
Bottom 4: Donovan Walton singled and scored on Rodolfo Castro’s 13th home run of the season. Rafael Lantigua walked and Luis Verdugo singled. After both moved up on Crawford’s sacrifice, Rojas singled in Lantigua. Stubbs’ sacrifice fly scored Verdugo. IronPigs 8-1.
Bottom 5: Brewer Hicklen was hit by a pitch followed by walks to Walton and Castro to lead the bases. Verdugo singled in Hicklen and Walton. Rojas’ two-out single scored Castro. Stubbs’ double scored Verdugo. IronPigs 12-1.
How they scored (Game 2)
Bottom 2: Gabriel Rincones doubled to lead off, stole third and scored on Donovan Walton’s single. IronPigs 1-0.
Top 3: Jake Gatewood singled. Omar Martinez and Spencer Jones walked to load the bases with one out. T.J. Rumfield doubled in Gatewood and Martinez. J.C. Escarra’s sacrifice fly scored Jones. RailRiders 3-1.
Bottom 5: Luis Verdugo singled, took second on Justin Crawford’s infield single and scored when Cal Stevenson’s sacrifice bunt was thrown away. Crawford scored on Brewer Hicklen’s bloop single. Stevenson scored on Rincones’ sacrifice fly to right. IronPigs 4-3.
Top 6: Rumfield hit his 13th home run of the year on the first pitch thrown by IronPigs reliever Guillo Zuniga. Tied 4-4.
Top 9: Bryan De La Cruz singled to score pinch runner Ismael Munguia. Duke Ellis pinch ran for De La Cruz. Jeimer Candelario walked and Braden Shewmake pinch ran. After a double steal, Jose Rojas singled in Ellis and Shewmake. Omar Martinez and Jorbit Vivas walked to load the bases before Jones’ sacrifice fly off IronPigs position player Rafael Lantigua scored Rojas. After Rumfield walked, Munguia hit a grand slam. RailRiders 12-4.
Bottom 9: Crawford and Stevenson walked to load the bases. Hicklen singled off RailRiders position player Munguia to score ghost runner Luis Verdugo. Rincones singled in Crawford. Castro’s sacrifice fly scored Stevenson. Walton singed in Hicklen. Payton Henry’s grounder scored Rincones. RailRiders 12-9.
Up next
RHP Gabe Mosser (3-3, 6.08 ERA) faces Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RHP Allan Winans (9-0, 1.27) in a 7:05 p.m. start Thursday from Coca-Cola Park. Mosser, a Parkland graduate, allowed nine earned runs on 10 hits, including three home runs, in 4 1/3 innings in his July 2 start against the RailRiders.
Morning Call senior writer Tom Housenick can be reached at thousenick@mcall.com
Originally Published: August 6, 2025 at 12:46 PM EDT