They say that Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, and that will be on full display when the Phillies take a 1-0 edge over the Padres into Game 2 of the NLCS.
Aaron Nola is set to pitch for the Phils. One of the batters the right-handed ace will face is his older brother, San Diego catcher Austin Nola.
The Nolas will be the sixth set of brothers to play against each other in the postseason, and first since Baltimore's Roberto and Cleveland's Sandy Alomar Jr. in the 1997 AL Division Series.
This will be the third big league game where 29-year-old Aaron and 32-year-old Austin have opposed each other on the field. In 2021, Aaron struck out his brother; last June, Austin hit an RBI single off his sibling in a 1-0 win.
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This time, one of them is going to the World Series and the other is headed home.
“I don’t even want to think about the feeling or anything like that,” Austin said.
The Nolas grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and were coached by their father, A.J. Dad will wears jerseys of both teams, mom Stacie prefers to avoid either team's colors.
YOU AGAIN?
Bryce Harper was a smash in his return to Petco Park, hitting his fourth home run this postseason in the Phillies' 2-0 win over the Padres in Game 1 of the NLCS.
In his previous game at San Diego, the two-time NL MVP's left thumb was broken when he was hit by a pitch from Padres lefty Blake Snell on June 25, sidelining Harper for two months.
Harper joined Gary Matthews (1983) as the only Phillies players to homer in three straight postseason games in the same year.
Now, Harper will try to extend the streak in Game 2 when he faces Snell.
Harper, trying to reach his first World Series, has hit nine home runs in 26 career postseason games.
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