Phillies face Padres with developing ace Nola (Jul 08, 2017)

PHILADELPHIA -- Since the trade of Cole Hamels midway through the 2015 season, the Philadelphia Phillies' pitching staff has lacked a true ace, a lockdown starter who could be depended on every time through the rotation to give his team a real chance at a victory.

Finally, it looks like one of the club's promising young arms is starting to earn that title.

Aaron Nola will be trying to run his streak of more-than-solid outings to four in a row when he takes the mound Saturday afternoon in the second of three games against San Diego.

The 24-year-old budding ace has won each of his last three starts, going at least seven innings in each with a 1.27 ERA (21 1/3 innings pitched, three earned runs) during that span, dropping his season ERA to 3.73 with a 6-5 record.

Nola's last time out was his strongest start of the season, as he blanked the Pittsburgh Pirates over seven innings of four-hit ball, striking out eight in a 4-0 Phillies win.

"Nola was outstanding," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said afterwards. "He's had several good outings now. I think he's turned the corner. I think he's pitching the way he's capable of."

It's fitting that Nola arrived in the big leagues in July 2015, just two weeks before Hamels was traded. The club's first-round pick in 2014 shot up quickly through the minors with a 2.47 ERA over 31 starts at various levels, and put together a 3.59 ERA in 13 big-league starts when he first hit the majors.

His sophomore season was a bit of a slump, as he went 6-9 with a 4.78 ERA, but now the Baton Rouge, La., native is starting to show why he was picked seventh overall out of LSU three years ago.

A six-inning, five-run blemish against the Diamondbacks on June 16 is Nola's only non-quality start since the calendar hit June, a stretch in which he's 4-2 with a 2.68 ERA. He's struck out 43 in 40 1/3 innings during that time against 12 walks, and opposing hitters are just .208 against him.

"I've had a lot of first-pitch strikes and I'm getting the leadoff hitter out a lot," Nola said. "I think those are the big keys in the last couple of starts that I've been doing really well."

This will be the first time this season Nola has faced the Padres (37-49). He's gone up against San Diego in three prior starts, going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA; the loss came in his only appearance against them last year, when the Padres got him for four runs (all earned) in seven innings despite nine strikeouts.

San Diego took Friday night's series opener 4-3 in a game that was delayed more than an hour and a half by rain, getting two solo home runs and a game-winning sacrifice fly from catcher Austin Hodges.

Nola will be opposed on Saturday by veteran right-hander Jhoulys Chacin, who's also been pitching well of late.

Chacin, who is 7-7 with a 4.52 ERA, hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any of his last seven starts, a stretch in which he's 3-3 with a 2.98 ERA. His last time out, he threw five scoreless innings against the Dodgers before leaving due to a high pitch count, but that was the fifth straight outing he'd allowed two runs or fewer.

"He worked hard for this one, about as hard as you can work for a win," Padres manager Andy Green told the San Diego Union-Tribune. "He was in danger in every inning but never broke. ... Those were five hard-fought innings and you could tell he wanted it."

This will be the eighth time Chacin will face the Phillies (28-57) over his nine-year MLB career, and sixth as a starter. He's fared well against the club, going 2-1 with a 2.25 ERA, but hasn't faced them since 2014 when he was with the Colorado Rockies.