Nola, Phillies set to face struggling Mets in weekend series opener

The Philadelphia Phillies (69-63) will begin a crucial three-game weekend series against the New York Mets (67-66) on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. They are coming off a terrific offensive performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night in which everyone in the starting lineup excluding pitcher Vince Velasquez and Corey Dickerson had a multi-hit game.

The Phillies are catching the Mets at the right time. They have lost six straight games. Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom will not take the mound in Philadelphia this weekend to the delight of both Phillies fans and hitters alike. The Mets, however, are not the same team the Phillies swept in fourgames in late June. Since the All-Star break, the Mets have gone 27-16 and surprisingly, are still playing meaningful baseball. The Phillies could very well change that, however, with another series sweep.

Aaron Nola will make his fourth start of the season against the Mets. He will face Zack Wheeler for the third time this season. The 26-year-old was shaky in his first start against Wheeler in April, going only four innings and allowing five earned runs. In his next two starts against Wheeler, Nola would dominant the Mets lineup, pitching a combined 13.2 innings, allowing only six hits and two earned runs while striking out 16 batters. Wheeler was excellent in his first two outings against Nola and the Phillies, but struggled in the third meeting, allowing six earned runs on eight hits in an 8-3 loss at Citi Field.

Here’s everything you need to know for  Bark in the Park at Citizens Bank Park:

Mets Lineup

• TBA

Phillies Lineup

1. Corey Dickerson, left field
2. J.T. Realmuto, catcher
3. Bryce Harper, right field
4. Rhys Hoskins, first base
5. Jean Segura, shortstop
6. Cesar Hernandez, second base
7. Scott Kingery, third base
8. Adam Haseley, center field
9. Aaron Nola, pitcher

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

• Aaron Nola (12-4, 3.53 ERA, 3.95 FIP, 3.79 xFIP) vs. Zack Wheeler (9-7, 4.46 ERA, 3.71 FIP, 4.06 xFIP)
• Nola will make his fourth start of the season against the Mets. He is 1-0 with a 3.06 ERA, and 2.81 FIP in 17.2 innings of work. He sports an impressive 7-1 career record against the Mets.
• In four starts against the Phillies so far this season, Wheeler is 1-2 with a 3.60 ERA and 3.73 FIP. In 25 innings of work, he has allowed four home runs, 10 earned runs and seven walks, but has struck out 3o batters. Wheeler is 5-3 with a 3.43 ERA in his career against the Phillies

Pregame Phillies Nuggets

After Wednesday night’s victory against the Pirates, Sean Rodriguez walked back his comments after Monday night’s walk-off victory. He admitted that he wished he would have framed his message a little differently, having this to say:

I wasn’t trying to insult anybody with what I said. I’m very similar to the Philly fan base. I’m a very passionate person. I’m a passionate player. I show up every day and I don’t leave anything in the tank…Could I probably have used different words? Yeah, absolutely. I could’ve said ‘love over hate.’ I do agree that the fans obviously pay to come watch a game and they feel entitled to want to say something…And again, like I said, I thought I was pretty clear: The boos aren’t anything I’m actually opposed to. When they’re properly directed, that’s fine. It’s some of the other stuff that was being said underneath that.

• On this day in 2007, Chase Utley’s thrilling game-winning RBI in the ninth completed a four-game of sweep of the Mets at home. With one out and two runners on in the ninth, Utley had a 3-2 count against Billy Wagner. Wagner came inside with a fastball that caught a little too much of the plate and Utley ripped a ball past Mets first baseman Carlos Delgado. Tadahito Iguchi came into score from second and the Phillies would go on to win the game by a final of 11-10. Those same Phillies would steal the National League East division from the Mets, who had a seven game lead as late as September 12th.

• Jean Segura’s hitting streak ended at nine games during Tuesday night’s loss to the Pirates. During that streak, Segura had an OPS of .857, a .360 wOBA and drove in four runs on 13 hits, including five doubles.
• Todd Frazier is still looking for his first career hit against Nola. He is a staggering 0 -for-15 against the Phillies ace. Michael Conforto has also had little success against Nola as he only has four hits in 26 plate appearances. Yoenis Cespedes has had much more success against the Phillies best pitcher, going 6-for-14 in his career, including three home runs.
• Since Nola left Atlanta in mid-June with a 4.89 ERA and 1.51 WHIP, he has rebounded considerably, posting a 2.13 ERA and 0.96 WHIP.

Ticket IQ Programming Information

• 7:05 P.M at Citizens Bank Park
• NBC 10
• Sportsradio 94 WIP; WTTM 1680 (Spanish)

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