CHICAGO (AP) — During his season-opening slide, Aaron Nola focused on his work. Everything that made the right-hander one of the most dependable pitchers in the National League.
Nola — and the rest of the Philadelphia Phillies — felt it would turn around eventually.
It sure looked as if he was on the right track Sunday night, when he pitched seven crisp innings to help Philadelphia to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
“He was back to his old self,” Phillies shortstop Trea Turner said. “So he's going to be good for us. I'm not worried about him at all.”
Nola allowed one run and three hits in his longest outing of the season. He struck out six and walked one while throwing 73 of his 99 pitches for strikes.
He received a no-decision — the Phillies pushed across two runs in the 10th for the win — but it was an encouraging turnaround after he dropped his first five starts of the year. He lowered his ERA from 6.43 to 5.40, and his WHIP dropped from 1.61 to 1.40.
“Everything felt good tonight,” Nola said. “Fastball felt good. Cutter felt really good. Happy to go deep in the game and give the guys a good chance to win.”
The 31-year-old Nola was 4-1 with a 3.20 ERA through six starts in 2024. He finished 14-8 with a 3.57 ERA, helping the Phillies win the NL East.
Nola, who agreed to a $172 million, seven-year contract with Philadelphia in February 2024, has stayed with his usual routine throughout his tough start to this year.
“Just got to keep working,” he said. “Have good work weeks. Have good bullpens, and just stay focused as much as I can and go out and compete.”
Going into the start at Chicago, Nola was averaging 91.1 mph on his four-seam fastball — down from 92.5 in 2024 and 92.7 in 2023 — but manager Rob Thomson said Nola has pitched in some tough weather conditions this year.
“Everybody talks about his velocity,” Thomson said before the game. “I don't concern myself really with his velocity, because he can pitch without being 94 if he's got his command. That's a thing that I look at. ... When he doesn't have his command, his Nola-like command, that's when he gets hurt.”
After issuing 11 walks in his first 28 innings, Nola had no problems with his command against the Cubs.
A return to form for Nola could provide a big lift for a Phillies team that has been hampered by a couple of injuries, including in the rotation.
Ranger Suárez, who opened the season on the injured list with lower back stiffness, pitched 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball in a rehab appearance with Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday. The left-hander struck out eight and walked two.
Thomson said he wasn't sure if Suárez would need another rehab start.
“We'll meet him in Philadelphia either tomorrow or Tuesday,” Thomson said.
While Suárez is nearing a return, Thomson said outfielder Brandon Marsh left Lehigh Valley's game because of a cramp in his right hamstring. The 27-year-old Marsh was placed on the 10-day IL last weekend because of a strained right hamstring.
Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez, who left Tuesday's 5-1 loss to the New York Mets because of left forearm tightness, threw a bullpen before the series finale against the Cubs.
“I haven't talked to him, but somebody said he felt great,” Thomson said. “We'll see. Really tomorrow is the day where you figure out where he's at.”
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Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola throws against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning of a baseball game in Chicago, Sunday, April 27, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
Philadelphia Phillies' Aaron Nola pitches during the second inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets Monday, April 21, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland (AP) — In the aftermath of a fire inside a Swiss Alpine bar that killed 40 people celebrating the new year, survivors, friends and family members, the region’s top authorities and even Pope Leo have spoken to the public in remarks in French, Italian, German and English, reflecting the tradition of Swiss multilingualism.
Another 119 people were injured in the blaze early Thursday as it ripped through the busy Le Constellation bar at the ski resort of Crans-Montana, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest tragedies in Switzerland’s history.
Investigators said Friday that they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fatal fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Here’s a look at what people said in the wake of the disaster:
— “I’m looking everywhere. The body of my son is somewhere,” Laetitia Brodard told reporters Friday in Crans-Montana as she searched for her son, 16-year-old Arthur. “I want to know, where is my child, and be by his side. Wherever that may be, be it in the intensive care unit or the morgue.”
— “We were bringing people out, people were collapsing. We were doing everything we could to save them, we helped as many as we could. We saw people screaming, running,” Marc-Antoine Chavanon, 14, told The Associated Press in Crans-Montana on Friday, recounting how he rushed to the bar to help the injured. “There was one of our friends: She was struggling to get out, she was all burned. You can’t imagine the pain I saw.”
— “It was hard to live through for everyone. Also probably because everyone was asking themselves, ‘Was my child, my cousin, someone from the region at this party?’” Eric Bonvin, general director of the regional hospital in Sion that took in dozens of injured people, told AP on Friday. “This place was very well known as somewhere to celebrate the new year,” Bonvin said. “Also, seeing young people arrive — that’s always traumatic.”
— “I have seen horror, and I don’t know what else would be worse than this,” Gianni Campolo, a Swiss 19-year-old who was in Crans-Montana on vacation and rushed to the bar to help first responders, told France's TF1 television.
—“You will understand that the priority today is truly placed on identification, in order to allow the families to begin their mourning,” Beatrice Pilloud, the Valais region's attorney general, told reporters Friday during a news conference in Sion.
Pope Leo said in a telegram Friday to the bishop of Sion that he " wishes to express his compassion and concern to the relatives of the victims. He prays that the Lord will welcome the deceased into His abode of peace and light, and will sustain the courage of those who suffer in their hearts or in their bodies.”
— “We have numerous accounts of heroic actions, one could say of very strong solidarity in the moment,” Cantonal head of government Mathias Reynard told RTS radio Friday. "In the first minutes it was citizens — and in large part young people — who saved lives with their courage.”
— “Switzerland is a strong country not because it is sheltered from drama, but because it knows how to face them with courage and a spirit of mutual help," Swiss President Guy Parmelin, speaking on his first day in the position that changes hands annually, told reporters Thursday.
People bring flowers near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
A woman holding a stuffed animal, whose daughter is missing, gather with others near the sealed-off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
People light candles near the sealed off Le Constellation bar in Crans-Montana, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, where a devastating fire left dead and injured during the New Year's celebrations. (AP Photo/ Antonio Calanni)
