Aaron, Austin Nola’s father looks tortured during ‘bittersweet’ NLCS moment

Aaron and Austin Nola’s father was in a glass case of emotion Wednesday afternoon.

For the first time in MLB playoff history, two brothers faced off against each other in a game, with Aaron the starting pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies and Austin the starting catcher for the San Diego Padres in Game 2 of the NLCS. Their father, A.J. Nola, was in the stands in San Diego, wearing a Phillies jersey and a Padres cap.

Aaron managed to get his brother out in the first showdown, but in the fifth inning, Austin came up with his team down 4-2 and a runner on base, and smoked a hit into right field that drove in a run and cut the deficit to 4-3. As the San Diego crowd erupted in celebration, the Fox broadcast cut to A.J. – trying to figure out what to root for.

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Talk about a conflict of interest.

Aaron ended up giving up another huge hit to Juan Soto, which tied the game. He was then relieved by Brad Hand, who gave up two more runs that were credited to Nola. The camera continued to flash back to A.J. throughout the Padres’ rally, who later described the moment as “bittersweet.”

“I had no emotion,” A.J. told the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’m going to get kicked in the leg all night by my wife like ‘Why didn’t you clap?’”

The Padres ended up winning the game 8-5, tying the series 1-1 as it heads to Philadelphia for Game 3.