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Aaron Nola exits early as Phillies fall to Mets, 9-4

Young pitcher has shortest outing of his season, only four innings, as Phillies drop the game.

New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada (11) slides safely into home in front of Philadelphia Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp (29) after hitting an inside-the-park two-run home run during the second inning at Citi Field.
New York Mets shortstop Ruben Tejada (11) slides safely into home in front of Philadelphia Phillies catcher Cameron Rupp (29) after hitting an inside-the-park two-run home run during the second inning at Citi Field.Read more(Brad Penner/USA Today)

NEW YORK - It was billed as the ace of today against the potential ace of the future. The ace known as The Dark Knight against the ace of a young, rebuilding team and pitching staff.

And, after Matt Harvey struck out the first three Phillies he faced in 4 minutes and Aaron Nola set down the Mets in order with a strikeout of his own, the fans at Citi Field were well on their way to seeing a pitching matchup that these National League East rivals could showcase for years to come.

Nola, however, unraveled in the next two innings and recorded the worst start, statistically, of his young major league career in New York's 9-4 win last night.

Nola had his shortest outing as a member of the Phillies, going only four innings and giving up six runs on nine hits.

"I felt good out there," Nola said. "My body and my arm felt good. [I had] a good first inning and then things kind of just unraveled. I missed a couple spots and they really made me pay for it."

Harvey wasn't all that much better. The Phillies (53-81) got three runs off him in the fifth after the Mets jumped out to a 6-0 lead. They added another in the seventh and knocked him out of the game.

Harvey went 6 1/3 innings, allowing nine hits and striking out nine.

Nola didn't get a ton of help from his defense, although the Phillies were not charged with any errors. In the second inning, with two outs, the Mets' Kelly Johnson hit a Nola fastball the opposite way to leftfield. Darnell Sweeney, starting for the second consecutive night, seemed to take a poor route on the ball, which reached the wall, allowing David Wright to score from first.

"That was one of those seeing-eye fly balls just out of his reach," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "He made a good run after it."

The next batter, Ruben Tejada, hit a liner to rightfield. Domonic Brown hustled hard after it but the ball bounced under his glove. With all his momentum moving toward the rightfield foul line, Brown tumbled over the short wall, allowing the ball to roll all the way to the wall. Tejada rounded the bases for the second inside-the-park home run in Citi Field history and a 3-0 Mets lead.

Brown left the game in the middle of the fourth inning and was on his way back to Philadelphia to be evaluated for a head injury before the game even ended. He will see a specialist today and will not travel with the team to Boston this weekend.

"The trainer told me he said he hit his knee," Mackanin said. "He didn't really look dazed or anything like that.

"If I was told he hit his head, I would have taken him right out of the game."

The Mets added three more runs off Nola in the third. The big blast came off the bat of Michael Conforto, who drove a Nola fastball into the leftfield seats to give New York a six-run lead.

"It just wasn't one of his better performances," Mackanin said of Nola. "But the defense wasn't the greatest today. We didn't come up with great plays."

Dalier Hinojosa, recalled Tuesday from Lehigh Valley, allowed a run in the fifth in relief of Nola. The other addition to the bullpen with the expanded rosters, Colton Murray, was welcomed to the majors with an eighth-inning solo home run by Yoenis Cespedes.

The Phillies threatened in the seventh. Sweeney homered run off Harvey to make it 7-4 Mets. Harvey then walked Cesar Hernandez and was removed from the game. Reliever Sean Gilmartin got into a jam with runners on first and third, but ryan Howard bounced into a rally-killing, inning-ending doubleplay.

Mackanin elected not to pinch-hit for Howard against the lefty, saying that he told Howard when they discussed the first baseman's not starting against lefthanders, he wouldn't pinch-hit for him.

Is that out of respect?

"Pretty much," Mackanin said. "He's been hitting against lefties for a long time, and I'm not going to be the one to pinch-hit for him."

New York, which scored insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings, totaled 16 hits on the night.

The loss extended the Phillies' franchise record of consecutive series defeats to the Mets to nine, dating back to late May last season. The Phillies will get one final crack, at home, during the last week of the season.