Sep 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the first inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
PHILADELPHIA - There is a minority - a sizable minority, but still a minority - of Phillies fans out there who love to vent their frustration about Aaron Nola when he doesn't pitch well.
It is often misguided, sometimes completely misinformed and occasionally delusional.
Not Friday.
That's because Nola pitched right into every visceral and negative reaction fans have about him on social media. in the fifth inning of what turned into an 11-3 blowout loss to the New York Mets.
Nola pitched four hitless innings and had retired 10 straight batters before the fifth. He looked like he was having one of those trademark great starts, and not the opposite.
But then he did something he has never done in one inning. In fact, something he has never done in one game, and had only done twice all season.
He let up two three-run home runs.
The first followed a pair of cheap singles - the first hits he had allowed in the game, when he hung a curveball to Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, who pasted it high off the left field foul pole.
Alvy: Outta here 💥 pic.twitter.com/lAD9HHt8r6
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 13, 2024
He struck out the next hitter, but then there were two hard singles and then Bradon Nimmo got him on another hanging breaking ball.
Feel like we just posted a three-run homer? pic.twitter.com/Z6kOLzVl51
It was six runs on six hits in the span of seven batters. It happened in the blink of an eye.
"I just got to eliminate the big inning," Nola said. "It spiraled too much. Prior to that inning was decent. I felt like I had a good bit of strikeouts early on and some good two-strike pitches. But the fifth inning really got away from me."
Nola entered this game with a 2.42 ERA in the fifth inning this season. It's not an inning that usually gets away from him. Yet, in his last two starts it has.
"Command," said J.T. Realmuto about what got away from Nola. in the inning. "I felt like he was pretty good early in the game, throwing the ball pretty much where he wanted. He probably went a full five straight batters with not throwing the ball where we wanted it and just kind of missing spots. Against a team like that, when you don't hit your locations, they're going to make you pay for it."
Nola said both home run balls were curves where the ball popped out of his hand early, which causes them to hang. And as he described it, you can see that he was visually frustrated with what took place.
"Nola is a competitor and this is a big game for us," Realmuto said. "So, I think the frustration is pretty obvious. He wants to do well for the team. We didn't score any runs for him anyway, so it didn't really matter much, but knowing Noles, he just wanted to throw the ball a little better."
Nola has been inconsistent in Septembers past. He's had some good Septembers, some mediocre Septembers and some frightful ones. Right now, he seems to be between the second and third.
He knows it. And he knows his history. Which is why he wants to lean on what happened last year - when he figured it out in his last couple starts of the regular season.
"I'm just going to keep doing what I usually do and try to finish as best I can and flush this one quick and get a good week going to my next outing."
He'll have three more starts to get right. As for his manager...
"I have no concern."
Rob Thomson says he has more than enough confidence in Aaron Nola's ability to bounce back in time for the postseason. pic.twitter.com/Ov2NMacyE5
"I have no concern," Rob Thomson said. "I think his performance in October has shown that he can bounce back."
He's going to have to, to try to silence the critics once and for all.
