It took until the ninth inning for the offense to come to life at Citi Field. Bryson Stott clobbered a three-run home run to pull Philadelphia within a run against Edwin Diaz before the All-Star closer struck out Trea Turner and then Bryce Harper on three pitches to end the rally and game in a 5-4 series opening loss.
The Phillies had no answer for Tylor Megill, who welcomed the reigning NL East Division champion Phillies with one of his best starts of his career. The Mets’ starting pitcher dominated, matching a career-best 10 strikeouts allowing just one hit over 5 1/3 innings of work as the Mets have won six of the last seven games against the Phillies.
“He is a big guy with big arm angle. The velocity is really good and you kind of get out in front to cheat that fastball and the off-speed is good to get you out,” Turner said on what has given the Phillies trouble over the last couple of seasons against Megill. “Felt like we had some traffic out there but couldn’t get the hit to try and give us the lead. Just tip your cap and move on tomorrow.”
Phillies have a Nola problem
It was not an ideal start for Aaron Nola as the long ball continues to plague the right-hander. Francisco Lindor greeted Nola to Queens with a leadoff solo home run five pitches into his outing giving the Mets and early 1-0 lead. Three pitches into the second inning, Jesse Winker smacked a solo shot to double the lead. Nola’s fastball velocity was also another point of emphasis, still noticeably lower than what he typically has averaged over his career.
“It’s probably an early season thing. I feel like I do start off with a little lower velocity when it’s cold out, but it starts to tick up when it starts to get a little bit hotter,” Nola said on his struggles with his fastball after the game. “I just have to keep competing out there and I’ll come in with the ball and commanding it more importantly.”
Juan Soto was nearly the culprit in derailing Nola’s outing in the bottom of the third, crushing a sinker into the upper deck in right field which originally was called a home run and seemingly giving the Mets a 5-0 lead. However, the call was overturned allowing Nola a second chance ultimately getting the prized offseason signing out on a groundout two pitches later.
Settling in after that near mishap, Nola did what he could to keep the Phillies in the game. After the second inning, Nola went on to toss four scoreless innings afterwards before being pulled in the seventh inning with a runner on and one out.
“I thought he was good,” Rob Thomson said postgame courtesy of Phillies Postgame Live. “We haven’t scored runs for him. He’s pitched better than his line and better than his record to tell you the truth.”
The offense has scored just five runs over 28 innings that Nola has logged this season in his five starts. Turner, Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos combined to go 1-for-14 with seven strikeouts.
Jose Ruiz, who has been trying to get on track, almost induced an inning-ending double play, but Tyrone Taylor beat it out to keep the inning alive. With runners on the corners, Lindor broke the game open, clubbing his second homer of the game, a three-run shot, to make it 5-0.
One of the runs was Nola’s responsibility, closing his line at 6 1/3 innings allowing four earned runs while allowing seven hits, two walks and striking out six suffering his fifth loss of the season.
“I’m not getting the results. When I get the ground balls they are going through the holes. Feel like my fastball is not where it needs to be right now and I’m hoping the velocity starts to kick up here soon,” Nola said after the game. “Curveball and changeup felt pretty good tonight. Just left some balls over the plate and they aren’t missing them right now.”
Max Kepler had a pair of hits, including a ninth inning double where he came around to score on a J.T. Realmuto RBI single before the Stott home run.
**All quotes are courtesy of Phillies Postgame Live on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
