Clever wrinkle helped Phillies' Aaron Nola return to ace status vs. Mets

Aaron Nola had one of his best starts of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies on Sept. 8 against the New York Mets. The right-hander has not had a good season overall due to inconsistencies and a three-month absence due to a right ankle sprain and a stress fracture in his ribs, but he summoned something special when it mattered most.

After the 1-0 Phillies victory wrapped, MLB.com's Paul Casella wrote about what led to Nola's success in his last inning pitching in a close game. He faced some of the Mets' best hitters during the top of the sixth, but was successful in keeping New York off the scoreboard, thanks in part to a bit of trickery..

Phillies' Aaron Nola varied his pitch types to find success versus the Mets

Nola got off to a good start in his latest outing, which he has not done regularly this year. The 32-year-old pitcher limited the Mets to no runs, two walks, and three hits in six innings. After the game, he spoke about throwing his only cutter of the night to strike out New York's Juan Soto.

"Just something he hadn't seen before," said Nola per Casella.

Before his start against New York, Nola was coming off a start in which he'd allowed six earned runs in five innings against the Milwaukee Brewers. In his prior four appearances since being activated from the injured list, the seventh overall pick in the 2014 MLB Draft had an 8.38 ERA. Objectively, he needed to pitch a game like the one he just posted against the Mets.

In the postgame, Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto also commented on the decision to signal for Nola to throw a cutter versus one of the Mets' best hitters, "[Soto's] that type of hitter, where sometimes you have to think outside the box a little bit. He hadn't seen one yet, so he wasn't going to be looking for it."

Nola finished with seven strikeouts, the most he had totaled in his five starts since returning from the injured list. The Phillies need him to be pitching well with only a few weeks remaining in the regular season. He is likely to make a few more starts before the playoffs begin.

"I haven't had a game like this in quite some time,” Nola said per Casella. “But I was able to put the team in a position to win and throw some zeros in there, and the bullpen came in and did their job.” Relievers David Robertson, Matt Strahm, and Jhoan Duran kept the Mets scoreless to get Nola his fourth win of the season.

Nola has not always had good run support in his 14 appearances this year, but he has pitched erratically, failing to control what was left up to him. Considering he has struggled with consistency all year, this outing could be a start to help him get going and pitch well regularly before the postseason begins.