The Philadelphia Phillies got their offense

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Aaron Nola took care of the rest.Nola pitched six scoreless innings , Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez homered, and the Phillies beat the San Diego Padres 5-1 on Saturday night.The Phillies had been shut out in their previous two games and went 18 consecutive innings without scoring at Petco Park, dating back to last season, before they put two on the board in the first inning.“Anytime you are able to jump on the opposition early with a guy like Aaron Nola on the mound it gives you a lot of confidence,” manager Gabe Kapler said.Nola (13-3) struck out five, gave up four hits and lowered his ERA to 2.28 as the Phillies moved one game ahead of second-place Atlanta in the NL East.Franco blasted a 2-0 fastball from Walker Lockett (0-3) into the second balcony of the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field in the fourth inning to put the Phillies up 3-0.Hernandez hit his career-high 10th homer in the fifth, and Carlos Santana followed with an RBI groundout to score Rhys Hoskins, making it 5-0 and chasing Lockett. The rookie allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.“I think the story of the game for him is when he was ahead in the count , he won the at-bat,” Padres manager Andy Green said of Lockett. “When he was behind in the count, they won the at-bat.”The Phillies went ahead in the first on Nick Williams’ RBI triple and Asdrubal Cabrera’s run-scoring double.“We’re playing as a team, we’re playing as a whole,” Nola said. “Guys are coming up clutch throughout the whole team.”The Padres got their only run in the seventh after reliever Austin Davis surrendered a triple to Cory Spangenberg and a walk. Victor Arano came in and allowed Manuel Margot’s sacrifice fly before retiring the next two batters.Tommy Hunter and Seranthony Dominguez blanked the Padres the rest of the way.“I think our starting pitching has taken real steps forward from where they were at the beginning of the season, and maybe the bullpen has been even better than we thought it was going to be,” Kapler said.Robert Stock, Phil Maton and Trey Wingenter combined to pitch 4 2/3 innings of scoreless relief for San Diego.TRAINER’S ROOMPadres: Wil Myers , on the 10-day disabled with a left foot contusion, will play third base Sunday during a rehab assignment at Single-A Lake Elsinore. Myers was an All-Star first baseman in 2015 and began this season as an outfielder.“I don’t think we’d ask him to play third base in the minors if we had absolutely no intention of him ever manning that position in the big leagues,” Green said.UP NEXTPhillies: RHP Jake Arrieta (9-6, 3.11 ERA) starts Sunday’s series finale. He pitched eight scoreless innings in his previous start, a no-decision.Padres: Rookie LHP Joey Lucchesi (5-6, 3.70) will make his first career start against the Phillies. We want your thoughts on a reported change to the Marlins brand and a new article series on Fish Stripes."Under Derek Jeter’s watch, there have been changes to virtually every facet of the organization, erasing any connection to the Loria era. He’s taking the logical next step.The Marlins have used their current logo since the most recent rebrand seven years ago , which coincided with moving into the new ballpark.Your Opening Day first baseman?Joe Frisaro of MLB.com explains why Peter O’Brien received a September call-up, using quotes from president of baseball operations Michael Hill and stats from O’Brien’s time with Marlins minor league affiliates.The Hialeah native made the most of his opportunity. O’Brien batted .273/.338/.530 (135 wRC+) in 22 games and served as Miami’s primary first baseman. He demonstrated an elite ability to barrel the baseball while keeping his strikeout percentage within reason.While Hill acknowledges that there would be other candidates for playing time at that position entering spring training, gotta think O’Brien has the inside track.He comes cheaply...and so does everybody elseWith arbitration projections recently released, David takes an early look at Miami’s 2019 payroll. Assuming minimal free-agent activity and disposing of several veterans via trade or non-tender, the Fish will challenge for the title of cheapest team.It’s a calculated decision to stand pat. Once the young core begins to produce at the major league level, then devote resources to address any problem areas.Marlins shining in fall/winter ballPhoto by @jyamaz21/TwitterI figured there would be an audience for weekly updates on the Fish participating in offseason leagues. Here’s the first edition.But I’ve been wrong before! So please check it out and provide some feedback.Trust the Process?A brief but interesting interview with top prospect MonteHarrison at the Arizona Fall League. His stock took a significant hit in 2018 due to severe swing-and-miss issues, though the small sample of his AFL work has been very encouraging (as detailed in the fall/winter update).On Monday afternoon, Harrison added an extra-base hit to his already-impressive stat line.How not to use the No. 2 overall pickA few months shy of his 23rd birthday , right-hander TylerKolek looks like a total non-prospect, according to Adam McInturff of 2080 Baseball. The 100-plus mph velocity that made the Marlins fall in love with him as a prep star in 2014 is gone. Kolek continues to struggle with control and command, and his results this past season were discouraging, too (15.2 IP, 6.32 ERA, 1.66 WHIP in 10 games).Fish Stripes will have an in-depth feature on Kolek later this month that cites more of McInturff’s insight.

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