Aaron Nola delivered a strong performance for the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night, helping the team secure a 1-0 win over the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. The victory increased Philadelphia’s lead over New York in the National League East to eight games with 18 games remaining in the season.
Nola pitched six scoreless innings, marking only his second shutout start of the year and his first since early May. The outing came on a day when both Trea Turner and Alec Bohm were placed on the injured list, adding pressure to Nola’s role in the rotation.
In a key moment during the sixth inning, manager Rob Thomson kept Nola on the mound to face Juan Soto, Pete Alonso, and Brandon Nimmo. Despite entering with a 6.78 ERA for the season and recent struggles after returning from injury, Nola managed to strike out Soto using a cutter—a pitch he had not thrown previously in that game—then retired Alonso and struck out Nimmo with his fastest sinker of the night.
“They’re good hitters,” Nola said. “I’ve faced them a lot. Just to get those guys out, especially to get Soto, was big.”
On using an unexpected cutter against Soto, Nola explained: “Just something he hadn’t seen before.”
Catcher J.T. Realmuto added: “He’s that type of hitter, where sometimes you have to think outside the box a little bit. He hadn’t seen one yet, so he wasn’t going to be looking for it.”
Realmuto also commented on calling for such an unusual pitch: “Oh yeah, definitely,” Realmuto said. “When I called it, I took kind of a deep breath, because if it doesn’t work out, then you really kick yourself for it. But Aaron threw a great pitch there, and it worked out for us.”
After completing his outing by retiring three dangerous hitters in order, Nola received an ovation from fans at Citizens Bank Park.
“I haven’t had a game like this in quite some time,” Nola said. “But I was able to put the team in a position to win and throw some zeros in there, and the bullpen came in and did their job.”
Relievers David Robertson and Matt Strahm held off Mets threats through the seventh and eighth innings. In the ninth inning Jhoan Duran allowed runners into scoring position but struck out Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez consecutively to preserve Philadelphia’s one-run lead.
The last time Philadelphia defeated New York 1-0 at Citizens Bank Park was September 13, 2009.
“That was really encouraging just seeing him pitch the way he has for so many years here,” Realmuto said of Nola. “This time of year, we all know how important starting pitching is, and him being able to throw up zeros against a really good lineup like that is definitely encouraging to see.”
