Aaron Nola allowed three hits over seven innings and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies opened a four-game series against the New York Mets with a 3-0 win on Thursday night.
Nola (7-10) walked three, struck out four and lowered his ERA to 2.10 over his last 10 starts. Jonathan Bowlan and Tim Mayza combined for a scoreless eighth inning before Jhoan Duran worked around a leadoff single in the ninth for his 32nd save.
Bryce Harper had three hits for Philadelphia (85-68), which is tied with the Chicago Cubs for the top wild-card spot in the National League.
New York (69-84) was limited to four singles and lost its fifth straight game.
Philadelphia broke a scoreless tie in the fifth inning after loading the bases with two outs against Nolan McLean (11-10). Harper singled on a ground ball to shortstop Francisco Lindor, allowing Brandon Marsh to score.
Trea Turner was initially ruled out on a force play at second on the play before the call was overturned.
Nola pitched five hitless innings and faced the minimum 15 batters to start the game. Francisco Alvarez lined out to begin the sixth inning and Brett Baty walked before Nick Morabito singled for the Mets’ first hit. Nola escaped unscathed when Lindor grounded into a double play.
New York first baseman Jared Young was taken off the field on a stretcher after being kneed in the head by McLean on a play at first base in the sixth inning.
The play occurred with two outs when McLean moved toward first base to cover the bag on a dribbler hit by Justin Crawford. Young gave a thumbs-up to the crowd as he was carted off the field.
McLean stayed in the game and struck out Garrett Stubbs to end the inning.
Philadelphia added to its lead with a run against Tobias Myers, who replaced McLean to begin the seventh inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Turner scored from third on Luis Arraez’s sacrifice fly.
The Phillies tacked on an insurance run in the eighth. Bryson Stott hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on Marsh’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Crawford’s sacrifice fly.
–Field Level Media
