NEW YORK — As Aaron Nola stretched in front of the bullpen and fans filed into Citi Field, an in-stadium host previewed the opener of Friday’s doubleheader by editorializing — correctly, by the way — that the Phillies’ star pitcher is having a “un-Nola-like season.”
What else could Nola do, then, but give one of the best all-around performances in franchise history?
Nola struck out 10 consecutive batters, tying a 51-year-old major league record set by, of all people, Tom Seaver, the late Hall of Famer and all-time greatest Met. He also got two hits, including a go-ahead RBI double. It wasn’t Rick Wise throwing a no-hitter and slugging two home runs 50 years ago this week, but given the stakes for the Phillies this weekend, it wasn’t far off.
These are the 2021 Phillies, though. So before Nola could bask in his history-making achievement, the bullpen and defense had to get their say. And the twin poisons struck again in a walk-off, 2-1 loss that dropped the Phillies to six games behind the division-leading Mets.
The record will reflect that Ranger Suárez allowed the winning run in the eighth inning, when Dominic Smith’s leadoff single scored ghost runner Francisco Lindor from second base. It will show, too, that just-installed closer José Alvarado blew a save in his first opportunity in the seventh inning on a two-out single by Lindor that scored Luis Guillorme.
But the Phillies were done in again by the defense. The offender this time: first baseman Rhys Hoskins, who was unable to catch Alvarado’s high throw on Guillorme’s comebacker to the mound. Hoskins appeared to lose the ball in the early-evening sun, and as the ball sailed over his glove, Guillorme chugged into second base.
Alvarado retired the next two batters, then got ahead in the count to Lindor on a 99-mph sinker. He spiked a cutter in the dirt, then went back to the sinker. Lindor had it timed right and lined it into center field.
It marked the Phillies’ fourth loss in a row and seventh in the last nine games. With lefty Matt Moore making a spot start in the second game of the doubleheader and Mets ace-of-aces Jacob deGrom scheduled to start Saturday, winning the opener seemed paramount for the Phillies if they hoped to cut into New York’s lead in the National League East.
Nola entered with a 5.62 ERA in his last eight starts and was coming off a 2 1/3-inning, six-run dud last Saturday in San Francisco, the shortest start of his career. Did he figure out anything in the intervening six days?
“Sure hope so,” Girardi said before the game. “We’re going to find out.”
But this was vintage Nola. He pounded the strike zone with his fastball and got eight swings and misses early in the game with his curveball. He went heavier on his change-up the second time through the order and got eight swings and misses with that offspeed pitch, too.
After the Mets’ first two batters of the game reached base, Nola went on his strikeout binge. He froze Mets pitcher Taijuan Walker on a 91-mph fastball to open the third inning and tie the Phillies’ record of seven consecutive strikeouts, a mark shared by Steve Carlton in 1981, Curt Schilling in 1996, and Jerad Eickhoff in 2018.
Nola beat the franchise record by getting Jeff McNeil to swing through a sinker, then closed the third inning by whiffing Lindor.
Next up: Seaver. Tom Terrific is such a legend here that the official address of the Mets’ ballpark is 41 Seaver way. Nola joined him in the record book by getting Michael Conforto to wave at a change-up after fouling off a fastball and a curve.
Nola got two strikes on the next batter, Pete Alonso, but with history hanging in the balance, the Mets’ first baseman hit a cue-shot double down the right-field line.
The Phillies mustered only three hits, two of which came from Nola, an .082 career hitter. His first hit, a two-out single in the third inning, went off the wall in left field, narrowly missing going out of the ballpark.
In short, Nola did it all. And in typical Phillies fashion, even that wasn’t enough.
