CHICAGO — Aaron Nola followed up Cole Hamels’ no-hitter with an impressive start of his own in leading the Phillies to an 11-5 win over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Sunday.
The win gave the Phillies a three-game sweep of the Cubs. It was the Phils’ first road sweep in over a year. Their last was July 7-10, 2014, at Milwaukee.
Nola went 7 2/3 innings to earn his first big-league win in his second start. He was supported by eight extra-base hits. He even drove in a run.
The Phillies are 8-1 since the All-Star break.
Starting pitching report
Nola took a three-hitter to the mound in the eighth inning. He gave up a pair of hits, one of which was a two-run homer in the inning.
In all, Nola gave up five hits, two of which were homers, and four runs in 7 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out six.
Nola exhibited tremendous economy of pitches. He threw just 74 in seven innings and finished with 92.
The Phillies had not gotten seven or more innings from their starting pitchers in back-to-back games since May 13-14 when Hamels and Aaron Harang did it.
Cubs’ starter Jason Hammel lasted just 3 2/3 innings. He gave up eight hits and six runs in absorbing the loss.
Bullpen report
Elvis Araujo and Hector Neris got the final four outs for the Phillies.
The Cubs used catcher David Ross as their pitcher in the ninth. He got three outs on eight soft-serve pitches. He then led off the bottom of the inning with a solo homer to cut the Phils' lead to 11-5.
At the plate
The Phillies were 8 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They out-hit the Cubs, 17-6.
They had 21 extra-base hits in the series. It was the first time the Phils reached 20 extra-base hits in a three-game stretch since July 3-6, 2007.
Maikel Franco and Ryan Howard both smacked two-run home runs. Franco, Howard, Cesar Hernandez, Domonic Brown and Cameron Rupp all had multiple hits. Brown had a single, an RBI double and a two-run triple.
Dexter Fowler and Addison Russell homered for the Cubs.
Rehab road
Harang, on the disabled list with a foot injury, will make a minor-league rehab start at Lehigh Valley on Wednesday night.
The afterglow
Saturday’s no-hitter still hasn’t completely sunk in for Hamels yet. More on the that and his status approaching the trade deadline here.
Up next
The Phillies are off on Monday. They open a two-game set in Toronto against the Blue Jays on Tuesday night. Pitching matchups for the series:
Tuesday night — LHP Adam Morgan (1-2, 4.28) vs. RHP Felix Dubront (1-0, 4.34)
Wednesday night — RHP Jerome Williams (3-7, 6.28) vs. RHP R.A. Dickey (4-10, 4.53)