Aaron Nola dedicated his first playoff pitching performance Saturday to the commenters on the Crossing Broad Facebook page, most of his Twitter followers, and all the people still waiting in line to kiss Ruben Amaro Jr.’s ass:

OK, that’s not true. I made up that dedication, but considering the way Nola pitched, he could well have sent that as a love letter to each and every one of those doubting Thomases.

Because, friends, he’s a big game pitcher. He’s an ace. And because of it, the Phillies are advancing to the NLDS for the first time in 11 years after shutting out the St. Louis Cardinals 2-0 and sweeping the Wild Card series 2-0 as well.

Nola pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing just four hits and a walk and most importantly, zero runs.

This, coming off the heels of a no-run two hit performance in Houston that clinched the Phillies a playoff berth for the first time since 2011.


His next start will likely be in Game 3 of the NLDS against Atlanta – in the first playoff game at Citizens Bank Park since the soul crushing 1-0 loss to the Cardinals in 2011.

That’s right, Red October is coming home, and a large part is thanks to Nola. Following up on a similar performance from Zack Wheeler in Game 1, Nola kept the Cardinals off balance. Although he did have 6 strikeouts, it was Nola’s ability to pitch to weak contact that really stymied St. Louis, as the Cardinals hit one groundball, after another.

As per usual, Nola didn’t get a lot of run support, but this time he didn’t need much.

Bryce Harper, who has been in an extended funk since returning from his broken thumb at the end of August, finally was able to provide offense for the Phillies, crushing a Miles Mikolas curveball 435 feet on the first pitch of the 2nd inning, to at least give Nola a margin to work with.

https://twitter.com/PlayoffTanaka_/status/1578913282525888512?s=20&t=o81xFpcmnf1DrqHT6HtfgQ

Alec Bohm, who was arguably the MVP of this short series, led off the 5th with a double and later scored on Kyle Schwarber’s sacrifice fly, to give Nola (and the Phillies bullpen) an all important insurance run.

Aside from a couple of key hits in the two games (and wearing a 100 mph hit by pitch on his shoulder in Game 1) Bohm made several excellent defensive plays at third base, something no one could have ever predicted would be typed about him at any point this season, let alone the first round of the playoffs.

Nola’s big inning was the 6th, when he struck out both Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado with a runner in scoring position, but almost as impressive, or even more so, was Seranthony Dominguez doing the same with 2 runners on in the bottom of the 8th. After struggling mightily upon his return from a stint on the IL, Dominguez flashed signs of his pre-injury dominance, which can only bode well for the Phillies in the next round, and potentially beyond.

There are still some causes for concern. Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins, and Nick Castellanos all continue to provide nothing at the plate. And although he picked up a save in Game 2, Zach Eflin continued to allow runners to reach base and put the Phillies into a sticky situation. He got out of it, but he has hardly shown the kind of “closer” stuff needed for a postseason run.

But who needs things to be perfect on the field when they seem to be perfect in the Clubhouse?

One thing’s for sure, this team knows how to party. If them all singing and dancing to “Dancing on my Own” isn’t evidence of this cohesiveness. Nothing is.