Why the Phillies pulled Aaron Nola in the second inning vs. Braves

Interim manager Don Mattingly pulled him with two outs in the second inning Thursday night, with Philadelphia down 3-0 to the Atlanta Braves in the deciding Game 3 of their National League wild card series . Nola allowed three runs on two hits, with two walks and one strikeout.

All of the damage came on 13 pitches in the first inning. With one out Nola walked Ronald Acuna Jr. and Matt Olson, then Michael Harris II hit a sinker 387 feet for a three-run homer .

Nola threw harder than usual, which is normal for pitchers amped up for a big start, but he could not find the strike zone. His four-seam fastball averaged nearly two miles per hour above his season average but only 32% of his pitches were in the zone. He threw his sinker 37% of the time, about double his season rate. His knuckle curve, which held hitters to a .177 average this season, was barely a quarter of his pitches.