Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola was cruising through two innings in a must win Game 3 of the National League Division Series Oct. 8 in Los Angeles.

And then, manager Rob Thomson pulled him for left-hander Ranger Suarez.

Nola looked strong. He faced eight Los Angeles Dodgers hitters, striking out three and giving up only one hit. His average four-seam fastball was up 2.3 mph from his season average, and his sinker was up 2.6 mph.

But Thomson decided to stick to the plan the Phillies set ahead of time. He said they planned for Nola to go through the Dodgers' lineup once, looking to get Suarez matched up on left-handed leadoff hitter Shohei Ohtani the second time through the order.

The Phillies also wanted Suarez to enter in a "clean" inning without any runners on base, so the

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