PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Aaron Nola felt like himself again.
Nola pitched shutout ball into the eighth inning, Freddy Galvis and Tommy Joseph homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-1 Thursday to stop a five-game losing streak.
Nola (4-5) allowed one run, four hits and two walks in 7 1/3 innings and struck out eight.
“I know what I’m capable of and know what I can do,” Nola said. “Today was me. I felt confident in all of my pitches.”
The 24-year-old right-hander had a promising start to his career, but he did not pitch after July 20 last season because of right elbow trouble. He has been inconsistent this season.
“That looked like the old Nola, and that was great to see,” Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “That’s the Nola we have come to love. He was outstanding, hitting paint on both sides.”
Joseph drove in three runs as Philadelphia, a major league-worst 23-48, won for just the second time in 15 games.
“Positive vibes, right?” Joseph said. “You have to keep your heads up. It’s a long season. It’s easy to get lost in the record, but we have the opportunity to make a personal difference and team difference every day.”
Paul DeJong homered on a hanging curveball leading off the eighth, pulling the Cardinals to 3-1, and Matt Carpenter walked with one out. Pat Neshek relieved and got Tommy Pham to ground into an inning-ending double play, and Luis Garcia followed with a perfect ninth.
Carlos Martinez (6-6) gave up three runs - two earned - and six hits with four strikeouts in six innings. The Cardinals, who made three errors, had won their previous five games against the Phillies.
“He was making pitches on the corners, getting a little help early and a lot of early outs so that kept hit pitch count down,” Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said of Nola. “His breaking ball was good.”
Galvis homered in the first and Joseph leading off the fifth. With two on and two outs, Andres Blanco scored from second on an errant flip to second by shortstop Aledmys Diaz after his fine grab of Galvis’ liner up the middle.
Left fielder Jose Martinez dropped Odubel Herrera’s fly ball in the eighth for a two-base error, and Joseph followed with a two-run, two-out single.
BASERUNNING GAFFE II
Herrera was picked off third base in the fourth inning. In Wednesday’s 7-6 loss, Herrera ran through third-base coach Juan Samuel’s stop sign in the ninth and was out by 10 feet.
“I can’t say I was happy,” Mackanin said. “You have to be aware. He didn’t take that hard step back. I’m not pleased about it.”
GOING DEEP
St. Louis has homered in 11 straight games and has 20 home runs since June 16. The Cardinals had scored four or more runs in their previous 11 games.
STREAKING I
Cardinals’ Yadier Molina extended his hitting streak to 10 games with a seventh-inning single. He is batting .293 over the stretch.
STREAKING II
Neshek extended his scoreless innings streak to 15 innings while making it 18 straight innings at home without allowing a run.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Cardinals: OF Dexter Fowler did not play, a day after experiencing left quadriceps tightness.
UP NEXT
Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (7-5, 5.75) is to start for St. Louis as the Cardinals open a three-game home series against the Pirates. Wainwright set career highs for earned runs (nine) and home runs allowed (three) over 1 2/3 innings in a 15-7 loss Saturday at Baltimore, the shortest start of his big league career.
Phillies: Philadelphia opens a nine-game trip at Arizona on Friday night. Mark Leiter (0-0) was in the clubhouse Thursday and is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to make his first big league start. The 26-year-old right-hander, who made 12 relief appearances for the Phillies earlier this season, is a son of former big league pitcher Mark Leiter and the nephew of former pitcher Al Leiter.
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