Phillies Beat Mets Nola Shines Duran Records 28th Save
Phillies Edge Mets Behind Nola’s Strong Return, Duran Seals Win
Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (4-8) delivered his sharpest outing since returning from a three-month injury hiatus, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out seven over six innings.
The Phillies’ closer, José Alvarado Duran, capped the game by fanning Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez with runners on second and third in the ninth, securing Philadelphia’s eighth victory in 11 games. Duran notched his 28th save of the season, including 12 since being acquired at the trade deadline.
On the other side, Nolan McLean (4-1) suffered a tough-luck loss despite pitching well. The right-hander gave up one run on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, striking out five and walking three.
Pete Alonso contributed two hits for the second-place Mets (76-68), who remain eight games behind the division-leading Phillies (84-60) in the National League East.
Nola set the tone early, striking out two in the first and navigating a two-hit second inning, including a strikeout of Cedric Mullins with runners on. Philadelphia struck first in the bottom of the second, thanks to a sequence of three consecutive singles. Max Kepler opened with a base hit, followed by Harrison Bader, who was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double. Kepler advanced to third and scored on a hit by Nick Castellanos.
The right-hander weathered a two-out double by Alonso in the third and retired New York in order in the fourth. In the fifth, Nola allowed a leadoff walk to Brett Baty but picked him off to escape further damage.
McLean, meanwhile, faced his own challenges but worked around a couple of hits in the fourth. He received help when Alvarez threw out Bader attempting to steal second. McLean issued two walks in the fifth but retired the final two batters to keep the game close at 1-0.
Nola finished strong with a 1-2-3 sixth, followed by David Robertson in the seventh. In the eighth, Matt Strahm issued a two-out walk, but second baseman Bryson Stott made a diving stop on a grounder by Juan Soto to end the inning.
This matchup opened a four-game series, marking the final meetings between these rivals for the season.
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