Aaron Nola Shoves, Phillies Blank Mets in Playoff Atmosphere
Sep 8, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) throws a pitch during the fourth inning against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
Calling this a huge series is an understatement. Not only in the standings, but mostly for the confidence of the team moving forward.
With the New York Mets coming to Citizens Bank Park to take on the Phillies, the table was set to exact revenge for the recent series sweep at Citi Field. Making this task harder, the entire left side of the starting infield was placed on the 10-day IL, with both Alec Bohm having a shoulder issue and Trea Turner going down with a hamstring strain. Turner has been the igniter for the Phils’ offense all season, and Bohm has been swinging the bat well recently.
Nick Castellanos got the only RBI in the game with a single in the second, bringing home Max Kepler, which had to feel great for him, since he has been mired in a slump, especially with runners in scoring position.
The pitching for both teams came up huge in the game after the second inning. The Mets made it interesting in the 9th with Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos stringing a single and a double. With the tying winning run standing on second, the Mets stranded them both, leaving them 0-7 on the night. Jhoan Duran clutched up, striking out Jeff McNeil and Francisco Alvarez to end the game. The Phils took game one 1-0, the first 1-0 victory over the Mets since 2016. It was the first time the Mets had been shut out in Philadelphia since 2021.
There was a collective holding of our breath coming into tonight’s game with Aaron Nola starting the game for the Phils. We didn’t know what version of Nola would come into tonight’s game; it didn’t take long to answer that question.
Tonight, Nola looked like the clock had been turned back to 2018.
He pitched incredibly well tonight, largely in part due to getting first pitch strikes and not elevating the breaking pitches. He was incredibly effective tonight, mixing speeds, proven by 2 strikeouts of Juan Soto on changeups, a pitch that has been an issue for him all season. Nola not only pitched well by locating his pitches better, but he flirted with 95 on the fastball a few times in the game.
He had the strikeout pitches working, which is a very positive development for Nola, who came out of the dugout in the first with a fire in his eyes, which matched the fire that the impending arrival of Walker Buehler has lit under him. He’s fighting for his spot in the playoff rotation, and tonight was a huge step towards reclaiming his spot in October and becoming a calming presence for Phillies fans.
Tonight was a playoff atmosphere, and Nola stepped up, reminding us all who it is. Tonight, he was not the guy with the 3-8 record and an ERA over 6.50 coming into tonight. This was prime Nola, taking the Mets to task — limiting hard contact and punching out 7 over 6 strong innings, anchoring the Phils’ 13th shutout of the season.
Tonight was something for Nola to build on. He has seemed to fall in love with his knuckle curve and has become predictable. If he can locate the fastball like he did tonight and pitch off of that, this can be the late-season resurgence we’ve all wanted to see from him since he came back off the IL.
In his postgame interview, Nola confirmed that he felt good with the fastball tonight, and that set up the changeup. Proven by him throwing the 2-seam fastball 54% of the time tonight. A huge amount of credit has to go to J.T. Realmuto for calling a great game and noting how effective Nola was with the fastball.
This showed us all that when it matters most, Nola can still reach down and put the Phils in a position to win. If he can continue his fastball command, and mix pitches well, he will be incredibly effective in October and that is exactly what we’ve all been waiting for from him since he came back, and now we can breathe a little sigh of relief and turn our focus to tomorrow’s game, with a chance to have a double digit lead at the end of this series. Now is the time to get greedy and to bury the Mets once and for all for the season.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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