MIAMI -- There can only be so many All-Stars each season. On Sunday, Aaron Nola added to the reasons why he’s on the list of this year’s “snubs,” while also bolstering Philadelphia’s confidence heading into the All-Star break.

Nola delivered a gem, striking out 10 across 8 1/3 innings in Philly’s 4-0 win over Miami at loanDepot park. The Phils secured the three-game sweep, emerging from their three-city road trip with a 5-4 record after coming into the final series on a four-game losing streak.

“We've had some terrible losses, and the next day we come back, rebound and play well,” interim manager Rob Thomson said. “To start off good on the road in St. Louis, and [then] go through four straight losses -- they bounced back well. Finished out strong.”

Nola was in high school the last time the Phils swept the Marlins in Miami. That was back on Sept. 13-15, 2010, at Sun Life Stadium, when Joe Blanton, Cole Hamels and Roy Halladay started for the Phillies.

With a swinging strikeout of Avisaíl García to open the bottom of the eighth inning, Nola registered his 10th strikeout of the game and his 25th career 10-strikeout game. He tied Hall of Famer Jim Bunning for fourth in Phillies history, just four games behind Hamels for third.

García’s strikeout, which came on just four pitches, marked the 17th batter to whom Nola threw four or fewer pitches on Sunday. Nola left the mound with one out in the ninth having allowed only four hits and one walk. That walk didn’t come until the eighth -- on the only three-ball count Nola had worked to that point in the game. 

“He was outstanding,” Thomson said. “[His] fastball location was great. Curveball was good. Changeup was -- I mean everything was good. He got a lot of soft contact [and] he managed his pitch count extremely well. … He was unbelievable.”

Nola agreed that his stuff was working, especially coming off his previous start on Monday, in which he matched his season high with five runs allowed over seven innings in St. Louis. He had a 69% first-pitch strike rate on Sunday, and his top two pitches (his four-seamer and his curveball) combined for 28 called strikes and whiffs.

Further proof of how locked in Nola was: He struck out the first four batters he faced for the first time in his career. His teammates noticed.

“You kind of felt like, 'Man, if he didn't get a couple of those bad hits, there was the possibility of a no-hitter going on,’” Kyle Schwarber said. “The way that he's been pitching the whole year, it's been fantastic. And you see how he just keeps rolling through and he goes deep in the games. 

“He's given us all a chance when we go in -- giving us as an offense a very comfortable feeling going into [the] game knowing that even if we don't put one or two [runs] up in the first couple innings, that we can still probably go do that in the latter innings too. … He pitches great and he keeps his defense active, and he gets all those punchouts too. So it's great.”

Nola became the first Phillies pitcher since Hamels (April-June 2014) to pitch at least seven innings in eight straight starts. It was also the 12th time Nola has pitched at least seven innings this season, cementing him as one of the Phils’ most reliable arms heading into the All-Star break. Having Nola as a leading member of the rotation is crucial considering the unclear timeline surrounding Zach Eflin’s return.

Eflin, who has been on the 15-day IL since the end of June with a right knee bruise, is set to be reassessed after the All-Star break. He pitched a simulated game prior to Saturday’s win but reported soreness on Sunday morning. Still, both he and Thomson are confident the right-hander will return to the mound in the second half. In the meantime, Eflin has enjoyed seeing his teammates step up in his absence, even if he’s itching to contribute.

“It's just one of those things where it has to go away before you get back out there, or else it comes right back,” Eflin said. “You could say [that it’s frustrating]. There's nothing else I want to be doing than being out there every fifth day. … That's everybody's job, right? ‘Next man up,’ or whatnot. But everybody's been playing well -- [throwing] well, hitting well, playing good defense. I’m just waiting to be a part of it again.”