NL DIVISION SERIES: PHILLIES VS BRAVES

October 11, 2023

Aaron Nola

Citizens Bank Park

Philadelphia Phillies

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Phillies 10 - Braves 2

Q. Aaron, another high-pressure game. This one a swing game, obviously a crucial one. Just being able to pitch as well as you did keeping that team in check for as long as you did.

AARON NOLA: For real it was all about getting ahead of them and getting the leadoff hitter out, especially with these guys. They're tough, right?

Offense gave me a lot of run support, too. They went off tonight. That was awesome to be a part of. It was a big win, too. But JT was great back there to really hone in on those guys and kind of figuring out what we did to them last game. I pitched against them, and we were on the same page all night.

Q. Aaron, top of the third, I think first and second with two outs, Ozuna is coming up. Caleb came out for a visit. What did you guys talk about during that visit and how big was it to strike him out there and get out of the inning with only giving up one run?

AARON NOLA: It was big. It was big. I felt like if I could have commanded my curveball, we had a good chance to get him out. So anything kind of hanging and pops with the breaking stuff, he hits pretty well.

So that's kind of what we talked about, what we wanted to do there, and it was going to be a fastball, curveball and where we wanted it. It was pretty much that.

Q. Aaron, you've had a lot of success over the last four or five starts, and I think you mentioned something about an adjustment in your delivery, your mechanics or something like that. Do you think that that's been a revelation? Has it been that huge in the success over the last four or five starts?

AARON NOLA: Yeah, I think just squaring my shoulders up and stepping more straight to the plate has definitely helped a lot, especially for my glove side. I feel like I was losing sight of my glove side fastball, my change up a good bit. And I think that was causing some problems with a lot of my pulls and balls running over the middle of the plate a lot, more than usual.

So I think squaring up, especially with when I'm in the stretch, not over-rotating my upper body too much. So yeah, it's definitely helped my pitches, I feel like, and helped me get on top of the ball a little bit better.

Q. Aaron, you got a nice ovation coming off, and you made a nice acknowledgment. What did that moment mean to you, and how do you sort of balance staying in the moment and also knowing that your future is uncertain at this point?

AARON NOLA: Yeah, I just want to soak it in as much as possible. Fans were awesome tonight, as usual, and coming off the mound earlier, felt like they turned up the notch a little bit, which was pretty awesome, pretty special.

So I wanted to tip my cap and thank them. That's why they're the best, man. From pitch one to the end of the game, they were standing up. It was fun. It was an amazing atmosphere.

Q. Aaron, you talked about the mechanical changes and how it helped all your pitches. You've been relying on that change up a little bit in your last few starts. Didn't throw it very much tonight. Was that part of the game plan or did you just not have a good feel for it?

AARON NOLA: No, just stepping across my body too much. I didn't really have the best feel for it. It wasn't consistent. It was flat, and I was pulling it, and it was going arm side. It wasn't going where I wanted it to go. So making the adjustment has helped it a lot.

Q. When you see Bryce Harper hitting that home run, you seemed like you kind of fed off of it a little bit more. You felt like after that inning, you felt a lot better about your pitching, felt more confident feeding off of especially some of the things that Arcia said about Bryce a couple days before?

AARON NOLA: I think when a starting pitcher gets that big of a lead and the run support is awesome, right? Especially against the Braves, we've faced them so many times, I really try to pitch like it's zero-zero.

That's kind of how you have to do that against this team, because they are pretty strong from one through nine in their order. But I just wanted to stay focused and make my pitches and get ahead of them and get that lead off hitter out, because they can run the bases pretty well, too. So that's kind of my mindset tonight.

Q. Aaron, I know yesterday you said last year is last year in terms of it being 1-1 coming into tonight and you pitching in this game. But what do you make of the third inning, once again being a sixth run inning like it was last year in this Game 3?

AARON NOLA: Is that what it was, it was six runs?

Q. Last year. Six runs this year.

AARON NOLA: That's pretty cool. I didn't notice that. It's awesome, the guys that came out and hit the crap out of the baseball. And fans love it. The fans love the homers and their runs, and so do we.

But I feel like, yeah, last year is last year, and this year it's a new year, and everything is not going to go the same as it did last year, right? We still got one more game to finish this thing off, and we're going to enjoy this one tonight and come out tomorrow and whatever time we play, come out, compete, and Ranger is going to give it his all and compete his butt off like he usually does. Look forward to that one.

Q. Aaron, you talk about soaking it in. When you made that start against the Pirates and you tipped your cap, you knew you had a wildcard start at home. When you beat the Marlins, you knew you'd have this start at home. Now it is up in the air what goes on with this series if you have another start at home or on the road. Is that something you're thinking about at all or that's set in yet for you as you're walking off tonight at any point?

AARON NOLA: Honestly, no. It hasn't set in. I haven't even thought about that part of it yet just because just trying to be as much as in the moment tonight as I could, as I can. And we still got one more game, right? And nothing is a guarantee. So I obviously hope so. I hope I have some more starts here, and I just try to stay as much in the moment tonight as I could.

Q. Aaron, two questions. The first one, you've been a teammate of Bryce's for five years now. What sets him apart and allows him to rise to the occasion time and time again?

AARON NOLA: Oh, I mean the focus level of that guy is pretty amazing. He's so consistent with his approach and his swing and what he does at the plate and his routine.

And I mean, we've seen it time and time again what he can do, and he knows what he can do and he knows he's great. So it's really no surprise what he did tonight to all of us.

Q. You mentioned the tipping the cap. I know you said after you did it against Pittsburgh, that you'd never really done that before. You usually just kind of nod. You hear the crowd chanting your name. Are you feeling like being embraced now like maybe more than you ever have in your career?

AARON NOLA: I mean, it's pretty cool, right, to hear them chant your name, for sure. I mean, it's always kind of like addicting to be out there, especially in the postseason here and especially when we're winning, right? Because they're so into the game, and they're so passionate, which makes it so much more fun for us.

And I feel like being in the moment and trying to embrace it as much as possible, it's special, and we try to do it as much as possible because you really don't -- I feel like you don't get that at a lot of other places.

I mean, for me -- other guys can talk more on it because they've played on other teams, but for me, I mean it's the best home field advantage in the Major Leagues in my opinion. Just the places I've been, for sure. So I mean, I really can't say much more about that besides that's pretty awesome out there.

Q. You have been probably the most durable pitcher in baseball the last five, six, seven years, and Zack is right up there, too. First of all, how important is that this time of year to have two guys you know are going to post and how much of a value is that to you that you are as durable and reliable as you've been?

AARON NOLA: That's what we train to do as starting pitchers. We need to go deep in ballgames, and we need to put the innings on our back especially during a season. We have to keep the bullpen healthy, especially for the postseason, right? Because you never know what can happen in the postseason.

Those guys need to be fresh, and they need to be throwing hard like they do and commanding the baseball. And in order for them to do that is to not pitch as much as they -- as they should if we don't go deep in the game.

So, yeah, we definitely value that for us as starting pitchers and for our staff. I mean, that's what we want to do is to go deep in the baseball games and keep those guys fresh.