One thing the Mets have accomplished this season is that they have completely ripped Aaron Nola’s heart out of his chest and showed it to him.
Coming into this game, Nola pitched 24 and a third innings agianst the Mets in four starts, pitching to a 2.96 ERA and a WHIP of 0.904, striking out 29 and walking five. (Take out Nola’s first start this season against the Mets, where he gave up three runs in 3 and 1/3, and those numbers look even better.) Somehow, that resulted in a record of 0-3. It’s a microcosm of why W-L record matters less and less every year. But it’s also a testament to how well the Mets match up against the Phillies, and how well they battle good pitchers. Make no mistake, Aaron Nola is a damn good pitcher. But the Mets are a damn good team, and tonight, Nola sunk to 0-4 against the Mets as they grinded him to the ground until he broke (to paraphrase Nola’s opposite number tonight.)
The Mets tagged Nola in the first because they tag everyone in the first. It was Pete Alonso’s 100th RBI of the season, but more than was, was what it was not. And what it was not, was … “Keith Hernandez Approved“.
The Philadelphia defense.
And Pete Alonso has his 100th RBI of the season! pic.twitter.com/tlkNTmy7h1
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 19, 2022
It was Alonso’s 100th RBI of the season, but as they say in local sportscaster parlance: Pete wasn’t done there.
AND THAT'S PETE ALONSO'S 30TH HOMER OF THE SEASON! pic.twitter.com/DRYyGEOxN5
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 20, 2022
With the home run and the three RBI, Alonso is now a 30-100 player for the season … on August 19th.
What followed in the third inning was Nola’s soul leaving his body. Daniel Vogelbach followed Alonso’s dinger with a double, and then Jeff McNeil went to work. He worked out a 2-2 count on Nola, and then proceeded to spoil good pitch after good pitch after good pitch after good pitch. Four, if you’re counting, including a changeup on the last pitch that McNeil had no business coming near let alone fouling it of. On the 9th pitch of the at-bat, which by the way puchsed Nola to 65 pitches in the third inning, McNeil delivered:
Jeff McNeil toughs out a 9-pitch at-bat and gives the Mets a 4-0 lead 💪 pic.twitter.com/qriSqZn380
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 20, 2022
Not to be overdramatic about it, he did all that with a cut thumb which he was shaking after the at-bat. I hate to play the “old guy” card, but all the young baseball fans in Atlanta and Philadelphia who want to cry about luck and exit velocity because that’s what they were raised on simply don’t get it. They don’t understand that it takes skill to foul off pitcher’s pitches until they get the one they like and drive someone in. That, Suzyn, is baseball. You can be sure that Aaron Nola understands that. He’s seen the Mets do it to him time after time, and I’m sure it crushes him. But at least he didn’t whine about it.
The Mets added a fifth run in the 5th on a double steal with Starling Marte taking home on the front end to give Chris Bassitt a 5-0 lead. He gave up a two run single to Kyle Schwarber to make it 5-2 in the bottom of the frame, but he held the fort after that and gave the Mets a sixth inning of work before departing with a line of two runs on four hits, four strikeouts, seven hits, but no walks. If Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are those sports cars that zip down the autobahn at 120 mph, Bassitt is that all terrain vehicle that rides on tough terrain all the time but always gets to the camp site in time for roasted marshmallows.
Brett Baty got the two runs back in the 7th with a two run single to make it 7-2, and then Adam Ottavino spun some nasty sliders followed up by scoresless innings by Joely Rodriguez and Trevor May to end it.
Not great! pic.twitter.com/EHGgc3Id4W
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 20, 2022
Oh it wasn’t just great. It was …
Today’s Hate List
- John Kruk
- Von Hayes
- Mike Schmidt
- Dick Ruthven
- Rick Schu
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