Nola shaky, offense quiet: Mets 7, Phillies 2

Coming off of a day of rest after a series win in Cincinnati, the Phillies returned home for a battle with the New York Mets.

With four games at CBP ahead, Rob Thomson deployed Aaron Nola to oppose Chris Bassitt on Friday night.

The first inning was a bit uneasy for Nols as he faced base traffic from the get go.

Brandon Nimmo led off with an infield single, but had to freeze off of first on a Starling Marte lineout.

Francisco Lindor would then send a single to right center to put runners on the corners.

Pete Alonso opened the scoring with a ground ball to third that Alec Bohm tossed away into right field. The RBI was the 100th of the season for the polar bear.

Aaron Nola navigated through the rest of the inning, as well as the second without any further trouble.

The former LSU standout ran into trouble in the third frame with two outs.

With Brandon Nimmo on second, Pete Alonso torched a two-strike pitch over the wall for a two-run home run. This counted as long ball number thirty for the former derby champion.

New York was not done as they added a fourth run on an RBI single by Jeff McNeil.

The fourth inning was uneventful for both teams as the Phillies still chased four runs heading into the fifth.

Aaron Nola returned to the bump for the fifth and unfortunately allowed another run. This time it came home on a double steal. Philly’s defense continued to be relatively sloppy all night with another miscue.

Nola completed five innings of mediocre work, allowing eight hits and five earned runs. On the bright side, he only walked one while punching out nine. Not every start is going to be a gem, but the Phils really needed better.

At least Bradley Zimmer made his Phillies debut and made a mark, tallying his first hit in the fifth frame.

The Phillies offense finally struck in the bottom of the fifth inning as Kyle Schwarber singled to score two runs and push his season RBI total to 71.

Nick Nelson tossed as scoreless sixth inning as we jump ahead to the top of the seventh.

Andrew Bellatti struggled as he was entrusted with the seventh inning. He allowed two walks, two hits, and two runs. The Mets lead was now five, with the Phils offense remaining lackluster.

A major positive takeaway, was the next noteworthy event in this game for the red and white.

Sam Coonrod made his return to the mound for the first time since September 2021. The former Giant had battled a shoulder injury and was finally in the bigs after a rehab stint.

Coonrod worked both the top of the eighth and the ninth as the Phillies stretched him out to the tune of twenty-seven pitches. He responded well, hurling two scoreless innings while racking up a trio of punch-outs.

The offense could not do anything in their final set of ABs going down in order to end the ball game.

Welp, there are far better ways to open a three game set against the division rivals. Nola has to be better, but so does the offense and the defense behind him. Overall, a poor game that the Phillies must put behind them.

Next up, a 1:05pm and 7:15pm double header on Saturday back at the bank.