Best friends Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin square off in Phillies vs. Rays, and savor it

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — This game is ruthless, but its soft spots are so poetic. Aaron Nola and Zach Eflin, best friends who met almost a decade ago as baby-faced prospects at Double-A Reading, realized last week they would pitch against one another on July 4 at Tropicana Field. They glanced at the schedule and noticed an off day before the game. It was too perfect.

Nola, this past winter, bought a home here in St. Petersburg with his new wife. They closed on it before Eflin, now a father of three, signed with the Rays for $40 million. He, of course, bought a home 10 minutes from Nola’s. They are never too far from one another. That’s how it is.

So, Nola invited Eflin over the day before they pitched. They spent hours just hanging out. “There wasn’t too much smack-talking,” Nola said. Neither tried to break character. That’s the foundation of their friendship. The two men have made millions upon millions since they met — and they take pride in being the same people as they were before this game lifted them upward.

But, as they tried to match each other Tuesday for seven innings in a 3-1 Phillies win, everyone could tell.

“Nola, he does such a good job of controlling his emotions and trying to make it seem like everything is the same,” Phillies catcher J.T….