'I was a bit wound up there': Watching the Nola brothers face off ... with their parents

SAN DIEGO -- A unsocial and unwieldy strain of anxiousness settled into Section 111, Row 36 astatine Petco Park connected Wednesday afternoon. It was mixed with anticipation and pridefulness and thing much hard to define, thing that felt contradictory and borderline impossible, similar imprisoned joy.

A.J. Nola arrived successful Section 111 for Game 2 of the National League Championship Series wearing the jersey of his son, Padres catcher Austin Nola, underneath the jersey of his son, Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola. His brownish Padres headdress seemed intended to supply immoderate semblance of balance. Stacie Nola, the players' mother, went with a navy bluish outfit that betrayed nary affinity.

Aaron was starting connected the mound for the Phillies; Austin was catching for the Padres, batting ninth. The Nolas were acceptable to go the archetypal brothers to look each different arsenic hitter and pitcher successful postseason history. They're the sixth brace of brothers to play against each different successful the postseason, the archetypal since the Alomars successful 1996.

It sounds similar each crazed sports parent's wildest phantasy -- and yet what transpired Wednesday day was astir 4 hours of 2 radical trying their hardest to comport themselves successful a mode that would betray nary favoritism oregon adjacent emotion. It sounds similar a storybook but it looked a small antithetic up close.

AUSTIN IS SCHEDULED to deed 3rd successful the bottommost fractional of the 3rd inning, and truthful a cameraman and Fox newsman Ken Rosenthal get successful Section 111 to seizure the parents' instrumentality connected history. A.J. does each the talking, an statement that was made earlier the game. "I already told him I wasn't talking," Stacie says, to which A.J. replies, "She usually kicks maine if I accidental thing I shouldn't. I'll consciousness a small tap, but I didn't consciousness 1 today, truthful I conjecture that's good."

With 2 outs successful the bottommost of the inning, Austin walked from the on-deck ellipse to the batter's box. The cheers helium heard from the sellout assemblage mightiness person been the loudest of his career. As helium took a signifier plaything and a heavy breath, determination was nary speech of looks, oregon tips of the cap, oregon adjacent immoderate evident oculus contact. Austin was conscionable different azygous successful the batter's box. Aaron was conscionable different azygous connected the mound. Austin took a cutter for a onslaught and past tapped a 95-mph fastball softly to 3rd basal for the last retired of the inning. Neither Stacie nor A.J. clapped for Aaron oregon showed immoderate disappointment for Austin. They didn't truly cognize what to do.

"I don't deliberation they adjacent looked astatine each other," A.J. says to Stacie, who says she isn't surprised. They some motion a little. Pat McElroy, the begetter of Austin's wife, Michelle, leans implicit and says, "They're some laser-focused. That's conscionable who they are."

When you look your member successful the #postseason. pic.twitter.com/D0KTBudbkP

McElroy is simply a antheral with nary divided loyalties. He's wearing a Padres garment and a Padres headdress with "Nola 26" inscribed supra the near ear. It would beryllium hard to find idiosyncratic who is enjoying the Padres' postseason tally much than Pat McElroy, oregon idiosyncratic who has much amusive showing it. He waves his Padres towel from starting with the archetypal transportation and perpetually puts his hands unneurotic and raises them to the sky, similar a preacher, consenting the Padres toward victory.

An inning later, Aaron gets a strikeout connected a curveball aft 3 consecutive fastballs and a strikeout connected a fastball aft 3 consecutive curveballs. A.J., who called Aaron's pitches done his freshman twelvemonth of precocious school, says, "I was conscionable asking Stacie, 'Where's the fastball?' and determination it was." The Phillies are up 4-2, and different than 2 solo homers, Aaron looks to beryllium successful control. "When he's on, I emotion watching him transportation due to the fact that of the mode helium tin bid his mode done the lineup," A.J. says. "And contiguous helium is on."

HA-SEONG KIM LED OFF the bottommost of the 5th with a single, and A.J. and Stacie stood arsenic Austin walked toward the plate. Stacie was signaling her sons connected her phone, and the assemblage began chanting, "Austin! Austin!" -- a chaotic improvement for a feline who spent 7 years successful the insignificant leagues and made a presumption power from shortstop to catcher much than midway through. Neither genitor chanted (McElroy did, hard). A.J. leaned guardant each clip Aaron began his question and recoiled a spot each clip a transportation crossed the plate. A Fox cameraman stood 2 rows beneath them, beaming their angst into the world.

On an 0-2 pitch, with Kim moving from first, Austin crushed a line-drive azygous to right-center, and Kim kept moving until helium scored. The noise, already teeth-shattering, roseate to a level that threatened to loosen the ballpark's pillars. McElroy is high-fiving everyone successful show (eventually, adjacent my crook arrives). Meanwhile, connected the field, Austin stands astatine archetypal basal and pumps his fist successful a muted, astir apologetic, celebration. Aaron catches a caller shot from the home-plate umpire and ascends the mound, ne'er truthful overmuch arsenic glancing Austin's way.

"Of people you ever basal for your member and privation him to bash well," Austin says afterward. "It has been strange. But we talked astir this beforehand. It was understood betwixt america that this is competitive. There's nary empathy here. We some privation to win. ... Now that it's the postseason, and it's all-out -- bottommost line, I anticipation you bash good adjacent year, you know?"

Call it brotherly emotion 😉 #CaptureTheMoment pic.twitter.com/WP8omVaINu

A.J. and Stacie are astir arrogant of however Aaron, who spent conscionable a twelvemonth successful the minors earlier becoming 1 of the National League's champion and astir reliable starters, was ever Austin's biggest booster, and however Austin ne'er begrudged Aaron his near-immediate success.

But there's nary manual for a concern similar this, nary 1 to consult for advice. One of their sons is connected his mode to blowing a four-run pb successful an LCS game, which is not bully news, but their different lad is simply a large crushed why, which is bully news. And erstwhile they cheer Austin's RBI single, arsenic they were, are they by explanation rooting against Aaron? "I deliberation we request to beryllium down and speech arsenic a household astir however we grip it," Austin says. "It should beryllium fun. Everyone should bask it. We bask it, and I anticipation they do, too."

Austin's deed started a five-run 5th inning that would beryllium to beryllium the extremity of Aaron's day. Hit aft hit, the sound rising with each 1 -- six earned runs successful all. When Brandon Drury's two-run azygous disconnected reliever Brad Hand enactment the Padres up 6-4, the Padres' instrumentality sitting adjacent to Stacie -- a feline whose intoxicant intake mightiness person led him to judge helium was person to the Nola household than immoderate alien should person concluded -- reached retired to springiness Stacie a hug. Clapping stiffly present that Aaron was retired of the game, the hostility choky astatine the corners of her mouth, she deftly avoided his grasp.

Shortly aft Aaron near the game, A.J. stood up, stretched his arms and worked his mode down the aisle. His determination to spell for a locomotion could person been precipitated by a fig of factors -- wildly vacillating emotions, McElroy's good-natured teasing and Padre exuberance, hunger -- but helium was gone for much than 20 minutes. He returned with a tri-tip sandwich, a container of chips and his jerseys switched. With Aaron nary longer portion of the proceedings, Austin's jersey was featured connected the extracurricular and Aaron's took its spot underneath. McElroy thought it was hilarious, but A.J. remained stoic. It was conscionable portion of the plan.

IN THE SIXTH INNING, Stacie smiles. "That was aggravated for a while," Stacie says. "It's amended now. I deliberation I tin relax." A.J. taps the spot wherever the 2 jerseys -- Austin implicit Aaron -- screen his heart. "I was a spot coiled up there," helium says. "Now I tin conscionable bask the game."

Austin leads disconnected successful the bottommost of the sixth, and another, little forceful chant starts up earlier helium flies retired to commencement the sixth inning. I inquire A.J. if helium ever could person conceived of sitting astatine a playoff crippled and proceeding Austin's sanction chanted passim a packed stadium. "Never," helium says. "To spell done play aft play the mode helium did, knowing however hard it is to get a spot with truthful overmuch endowment retired there..." Here helium trails disconnected and looks retired astatine the tract to stitchery himself. "I'm conscionable truthful thankful to beryllium here, to get this acquisition portion I'm inactive capable to."

McElroy, possibly arsenic a means of atoning for his day of celebrations, shows maine photos of Aaron and Austin from Monday greeting astatine Austin's house. Aaron is holding Vinny, Austin and Michelle's 2½-year-old and Aaron's godson. Out of the representation are Michelle and their five-week-old daughter, Lucia. "This is what it's about," McElroy says. "Family. Family. Family."

It's astir this clip that idiosyncratic sends A.J. a substance -- determination are truthful galore texts -- with a screenshot of A.J. connected the telecast and the caption, "His sperm could merchantability for millions." It provides Stacie and A.J. their archetypal existent laughter of the game.

Manny Machado homers to pb disconnected the seventh, and by present I've mislaid number of the high-fives. When Austin leads disconnected the bottommost of the eighth, the vigor successful the gathering sapped by the 92-degree somesthesia and the game's manic activity, McElroy takes disconnected his Padres headdress and demands I hitch the "Nola 26" connected the broadside for bully luck. "Bayou Magic," helium calls it. Austin grounds out.

Three outs to go. Josh Hader jogs successful from the bullpen, his hairsbreadth a measurement oregon 2 behind, and McElroy begins an exuberant countdown of outs. It's quick, and the Padres triumph 8-5 to adjacent the bid astatine a crippled apiece arsenic the 2 teams -- and each the Nolas and McElroys -- caput for Philadelphia for Game 3 connected Friday. After the 3rd out, McElroy -- the 1 unencumbered antheral successful the radical -- bounces and dances and hugs. He looks astatine Stacie, a pistillate who is intelligibly drained by the sound and the vigor and the weird marque of hostility that settled into Section 111, Row 36, and says, "You won. We won."

True, and not true. Stacie says thing I can't hear, but the look connected her look -- and A.J.'s -- is casual to read. They're 2 things astatine once: thrilled that it happened, blessed that it's over.