Somewhere between the worry about Trea Turner’s hamstring, Alec Bohm’s back, and Bryce Harper hitting leadoff for the first time since 2022, Monday night at Citizens Bank Park could have gone off the rails. But baseball has a funny way of offering the least likely plot twist at the most critical time.
That twist? Aaron Nola looked like that Aaron Nola again.
The one who used to anchor rotations. The one who used to take the ball and make managers breathe easy. The one who, for six innings against the Mets, made the Phillies’ October formula look possible again. Three hits. No runs. Seven strikeouts. And a parting sinker that froze Brandon Nimmo and sent 40,000 Philadelphians to their feet like a postseason berth depended on it.
This was the same pitcher who had given up 18 runs in his previous four starts. The same pitcher fans have debated for months—ace, or liability? And yet here he was, shutting down a team that embarrassed the Phillies at Citi Field barely two weeks ago.
The margin for error was a whisper thin, because the Phillies’ lineup — missing Turner, missing Bohm — produced exactly one run. That came in the second inning, courtesy of Max Kepler, Harrison Bader, and Nick Castellanos, against Mets rookie Nolan McLean, who had stifled them in August but learned that baseball humbles fast.
From there it was up to the bullpen.
David Robertson carved through the seventh. Matt Strahm wobbled but survived the eighth. And then came Jhoan Duran, whose last meeting with these Mets ended in four straight hits and a walk-off nightmare. This time, Citizens Bank Park turned up the lights, Duran cranked up to 101.9 mph, and Jeff McNeil went down swinging with the tying, and potentially go-ahead run, already on the basepaths.
Final: Phillies 1, Mets 0.
The magic number now sits at 11.
One game in September doesn’t win a division. But this one stretched the Phillies’ lead to eight games with 18 left, leaving the Mets needing something closer to divine intervention than a hot streak. And it reminded everyone in the building, including a certain enigmatic right-hander, that the Phillies’ best path forward isn’t just through Harper’s bat or Turner’s legs. It’s through nights when Aaron Nola looks like Aaron Nola.
Injury Updates
If you thought Monday night was only about Aaron Nola finding himself, you missed the subplot that could shape the Phillies’ October.
Trea Turner and Alec Bohm — two pillars of this lineup, two everyday faces on the lineup card — both joined the injured list before first pitch. Turner with a Grade 1 strain in his right hamstring, Bohm with what the Phillies called inflammation in his left shoulder.
The Turner diagnosis? Believe it or not, that was the good news. Grade 1 means the Phillies expect him back for October, maybe even sooner. He pulled himself out of Sunday’s game in Miami after a sprint to first base, and for a few uneasy hours, the doomsday scenario of a postseason without both Zack Wheeler and Turner hung in the air. Monday confirmed that won’t be the case.
The Bohm news landed with less warning. Manager Rob Thomson said the shoulder had been barking for two weeks. It showed up in the box scores, too — Bohm had just three hits in his last 33 at-bats. The hope is that 10 days of rest will bring him back fresh for the stretch run.
One game in September doesn’t win a division. But this one stretched the Phillies’ lead to eight games with 18 left, leaving the Mets needing something closer to divine intervention than a hot streak. And it reminded everyone in the building, including a certain enigmatic right-hander, that the Phillies’ best path forward isn’t just through Harper’s bat or Turner’s legs. It’s through nights when Aaron Nola looks like Aaron Nola.
If you thought Monday night was only about Aaron Nola finding himself, you missed the subplot that could shape the Phillies’ October.
Trea Turner and Alec Bohm — two pillars of this lineup, two everyday faces on the lineup card — both joined the injured list before first pitch. Turner with a Grade 1 strain in his right hamstring, Bohm with what the Phillies called inflammation in his left shoulder.
The Turner diagnosis? Believe it or not, that was the good news. Grade 1 means the Phillies expect him back for October, maybe even sooner. He pulled himself out of Sunday’s game in Miami after a sprint to first base, and for a few uneasy hours, the doomsday scenario of a postseason without both Zack Wheeler and Turner hung in the air. Monday confirmed that won’t be the case.
The Bohm news landed with less warning. Manager Rob Thomson said the shoulder had been barking for two weeks. It showed up in the box scores, too — Bohm had just three hits in his last 33 at-bats. The hope is that 10 days of rest will bring him back fresh for the stretch run.
Quotable
“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.”Loading Phillies schedule...
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