Philadelphia Phillies vs Miami Marlins

The decisive sequence arrived in the top of the sixth. After Sanoja's leadoff homer, the Marlins strung together back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corners with one out and the tying run at the plate. Nola, following a mound visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham, struck out Griffin Conine and Heriberto Hernández on consecutive knuckle curves to escape the jam. He retired the side in order in the seventh on his 100th and final pitch, exiting to a standing ovation from the crowd of 37,031.

Aaron Nola (W, 5-9) — 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 100 pitches. Seven of his eight strikeouts and 12 whiffs came on his knuckle curve. Nola lowered his ERA to 2.74 across four August starts, a sharp improvement from his 5.61 mark through July.

Luis Arraez — 1-for-4, HR (6), 2 RBI. The two-run shot, which per StatCast would not have cleared the wall in 11 other ballparks, proved the decisive blow against his former club.

Brandon Marsh — Two outstanding defensive plays: a sliding catch on Esteury Ruiz's line drive to end the seventh, and a wall-climbing grab in foul territory in the eighth that robbed Xavier Edwards of a hit with two runners on.

Jhoan Duran (SV, 28) — Retired the side in order in the ninth to close out the win.

The Phillies out-hit the Marlins 10-7 and committed no errors to Miami's zero. Philadelphia's 10 hits were spread across seven innings, while Nola held Miami to just five through his seven frames. The Marlins managed only one extra-base hit (Sanoja's homer) against Nola; their two other hits off him were singles. Philadelphia's bullpen of Jonathan Bowlan and Duran allowed two hits over two scoreless innings. Nola did not walk a batter for just the third time this season, a key factor in reaching the seventh inning for only the second time in 2026.

The Phillies (69-57) sit 4.5 games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves in the NL East and hold a two-game cushion for the second NL Wild Card spot. The six-game winning streak is their longest of the season. They return to Citizens Bank Park on Friday (20 August) to open a series against the Washington Nationals.

The Marlins (55-71) fall to 4-6 in their last 10 games and remain in fifth place in the NL East. They travel to Chicago to face the Cubs on Friday.

Nola is not the pitcher who signed a $172m extension two years ago, but his August resurgence — a 2.74 ERA over four starts — has stabilised the back of a Phillies rotation that desperately needed it. Combined with Marsh's defensive wizardry and just enough offence, Philadelphia is playing its best baseball at the right time.