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SAN DIEGO — Last August, when Aaron and Austin Nola met at Petco Park, it marked the first time the two brothers had faced each other on a major league stage. Aaron, the Phillies right-hander, chose three fastballs. Austin, the Padres’ catcher, swung at it.
In December, Aaron gave Austin a Christmas present: the baseball he threw for Strike Three.
There are still six months until Christmas 2022. But it was the older brother who did his shopping earlier this year.
Austin Nola picked the perfect time for his first major league hit against his younger brother on Friday night. He hit a go-ahead single against the field that proved decisive in the Padres’ 1–0 win over the Phillies at Petco Park.
“Yeah, he hit it,” Aaron said. “He threw it out there. I probably won’t hear the ending for a while, but a fair bit of beating.
That’s how it usually went in their backyard in Baton Rouge, La. Wiffle Ball was the game of choice, and Austin, older and changed by about three years, almost always got the upper hand in these matchups.
“He was always making stops in the backyard trying to get me out,” said Austin, who is now 32. “That was when he was younger and I was older. Now he’s obviously the man.”
Suddenly, Austin was on the wrong end of these duels against one of the sport’s best starting pitchers. And those were big league duels, with really big league stakes. Austin entered his fifth at-bat against his brother, who was hitless with two strikeouts. He went 2-0 down on the count, swinging and missing a nasty curveball from 29-year-old Aaron.
“Man, I was 2-0 with him the whole game,” Austin said. “The last two years I’ve been 0-2. It’s nothing new. He is: One Strike, Two Strikes. And I say, ‘Good God.’ Then I look up at him and he’s just locked in.”
Aaron returned to fastball, and this time Austin was ready, spraying a line drive down right field that went over Eric Hosmer, who had previously doubled in the frame. That proved enough – for behind the plate, Austin called nine shutout frames, including five from Padres rookie left-hander MacKenzie Gore.
“We played really well against a really good arm and team and we won,” Gore said. “And yes, [Nola’s single] was great. There is no better way to write it.”
Aaron came into town on Wednesday night and spent virtually all of his free time at Austin’s. But before the game, Austin was quick to note that they “didn’t say a word about baseball.”
That’s going to change now that they have something pretty relevant to talk about. However, Austin had nothing but praise for his younger brother after the game.
“I’m glad we won, but then your brother gets the loss,” Austin said. “He put together an incredible game. It’s fun to watch him. There is no doubt about it. He did it to us twice. He threw seven innings, threw eight innings last year. What an achievement from him.”
Austin’s go-ahead single will be a highlight that the Nola family will remember for years to come. But it didn’t come out of nowhere. Of late, the Padres’ backstop has started to heat up at the plate as he and Jorge Alfaro have split catching duties relatively evenly.
These two have suddenly cemented the catcher’s position in San Diego, which was once seen as a key supply area. After a bumpy start to the season on offense, Austin has hit base with a .432 clip for the past two weeks.
“He’s swinging a lot better, no doubt about it,” said Padres manager Bob Melvin. “Sometimes you get a little tired. You expect a little more of yourself at the beginning of the year, and that takes a little longer. We actually had a few guys like that. But now he’s starting to swing the racquet, using the whole field.”
As the decisive goal on Friday evening proved. Aaron said he tried to increase his fastball a little more on the outside corner. Austin walked with the pitch and shot it cleanly into right field. Reaching first base, Austin appeared with his mouth, “Finally.”
“Facing him is exhausting because from a catching standpoint you have your pitcher and you get your pitcher through,” Austin said. “And then you have to move on to the fact that I’m now facing my brother in a major league game and he’s not letting up.”
Austin kept pointing out the bittersweet nature of scoring a crucial goal in a league game against a family member. Aaron, on the other hand, had to roll his eyes as he looked at first base after his first and only run.
“Of all people,” Aaron said. “Do it against someone else. … Yes, I will hear about it tonight.”
And maybe again this December.
That’s how stating family rights work, and they’re Austins for 2022.
