Aaron Nola Matches Phillies Hall of Famer with Rare Feat

Philadelphia Phillies ace Aaron Nola made Major League Baseball history on Friday, recording 10 straight strikeouts against the New York Mets to tie a 51-year-old record set by Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver.

Ironically, each of Nola’s first 10 outs recorded came via the strikeout, whereas the Mets great retired his final 10 hitters in a 2-1 win against San Diego via the same method. Both of the impressive starts occurred in Queens, New York (Seaver’s at Shea Stadium).

Seaver is not the only Hall of Famer that Nola’s gem reached the headlines with on Friday, however. According to Baseball-Reference’s Stathead, the right-hander became the first Phillies pitcher with at least 12 strikeouts against the Mets since Steve Carlton in October 1982. In July 1965, fellow late Hall of Famer Jim Bunning also struck out at least 12 Mets batters.

Aaron Nola joins this list of Phillies pitchers with 12-plus strikeouts vs. Mets

• Steve Carlton: October 3, 1982 — 13 SO
• Steve Carlton: July 4, 1982 — 13 SO
• Steve Carlton: September 16, 1981 — 15 SO
• Steve Carlton: October 3, 1976 — 12 SO
• Steve Carlton: June 29, 1972 — 13 SO
• Grant Jackson: July 14, 1968 — 13 SO
• Chris Short: June 30, 1966 — 13 SO
• Chris Short: October 2, 1965 — 18 SO
• Jim Bunning: July 24, 1965 — 12 SO
• Art Mahaffey: August  2, 1962 — 12 SO

Nola’s impressive outing — 5 1/3 scoreless innings while allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out a dozen Mets batters — ultimately went for naught.

The seven-year veteran was in line for the win, however newly-named closer Jose Alvarado allowed a game-tying, two-out RBI single to Francisco Lindor. The Mets won in extras on a Dominic Smith RBI-single to score Lindor, who started the bottom of the eighth inning on second base.

The Phillies had only three hits in the 2-1 loss, two of which came from Nola himself; his RBI double in the fifth drove in the only run the Phillies scored. Every other Phillies batter went a combined 1-for-25 with nine strikeouts in the Game 1 loss.

Entering the second game of the doubleheader, the Joe Girardi-led team sat 34-38 overall on the season, including going 13-24 on the road and 17-20 against National League East opponents.