PHILADELPHIA (Audacy, KYW Newsradio) — There will be plenty of brotherly love in the National League Championship Series this year, and not just because two or three games of the series will be played in Philadelphia.
Phillies ace starting pitcher Aaron Nola will be going up against his brother, San Diego Padres catcher Austin Nola, in a sibling rivalry with a trip to the World Series on the line beginning on Tuesday.
The Phillies did not initially announce when Aaron, 29, will pitch. But when he does, it will mark just the third time the brothers will have faced one another in their professional careers.
Austin, 32, went 0-for-3 against his younger brother with a walk in their one meeting on Aug. 21, 2021. Earlier this year, on June 24, Austin hit an RBI single off of Aaron in a 1-0 win for the Padres.
The only other time the two Louisiana brothers faced each other in their adult careers was during a practice game when they both starred at LSU.
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Both have played integral roles for the surprising Phillies and Padres to reach this point.
Aaron pitched 6.2 scoreless innings in the series-clinching win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the Wild Card round while throwing six scoreless against the Atlanta Braves in Friday’s Game 3 of the National League Division Series in a 9-1 Phillies victory, striking out six in each start.
Hour after Aaron’s Friday win, Austin powered the Padres to their own NLDS Game 3 victory against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with a 2-3 day with a walk. Austin went 4-12 in the NLDS against the Dodgers, with a double and two RBI.
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MLB.com said that the Nola brothers’ parents, A.J. and Stacie Nola, have caught three of their sons’ playoff games in three different cities. They saw Austin’s Padres in Game 1 of the Wild Card series in New York against the Mets, flew to St. Louis the next day to see Aaron’s Wild Card win in St. Louis, then saw Aaron’s Phillies get the victory Friday at Citizens Bank Park.
It will be interesting to see who gets the best of who in the NLCS, and who will be playing for a World Series ring at the end of the month.
As well as how many frequent flyer miles and memories their parents will rack up this month in the process, since one of their sons’ teams is guaranteed to make the Fall Classic.
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