Home runs, velocity still a concern for Aaron Nola after latest start in New York

NEW YORK — Juan Soto stood and stared as his third-inning, sky-scraping foul ball hooked just outside the foul pole in right field at Citi Field. For a moment, it was called a three-run home run. But the replay review showed it narrowly missed staying fair.

Close call.

Aaron Nola flirted with disaster at times throughout Monday night’s game in Queens, New York. The right-hander fought hard, again without his best stuff. The Phillies pushed their luck by sending him back out to the mound for the bottom of the seventh inning against the Mets. And after a few dicey spots — like Soto’s long strike — New York finally tacked on the cushion that it would need to hold on for a 5-4 win over Philadelphia in the opener of a three-game series.

Struggling so far this season, Nola displayed lackluster velocity as the Mets tagged him for seven hits and four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up two home runs in the first two innings, then allowed two baserunners in the seventh that came around to score once he was removed. He’s taken the loss in all five of his starts while posting a 6.43 ERA.

”It’s frustrating, for sure,” Nola said. “Absolutely. I mean, I’m 0-5 with a six-and-a-half. It’s pretty brutal. So I’m going to keep working and trying to have good weeks leading up to my next starts and prepare as best as I can and stay healthy. Keep believing that things can turn around soon.”

Nola’s issues with the long ball began early as he surrendered a leadoff home run to Mets star Francisco Lindor in the bottom of the first. In a 2-2 count, the righty threw Lindor a down-and-in curveball that the shortstop golfed off the facing of the second deck in right.

Jesse Winker joined in the next inning, starting the bottom of the second with his first homer of the year. Nola served him up a 90.7 mph fastball over the middle of the plate, and Winker deposited it 405 feet into center field. The pitch lacked zip and was poorly located.

It was almost much worse. Soto barely missed out on a homer in the third. The Mets hit some balls hard in the sixth, but Nola escaped as Winker lined into a double play to first with two runners on base to end the frame.

The Phillies (13-10) had Nola, who averaged 89.8 mph on his sinker and 90.9 mph on his four-seam fastball, start the bottom of the seventh. He recorded one out and let two runners reach base before the club pulled him for reliever José Ruiz.

“Just because we were a little short in the ‘pen,” manager Rob Thomson said of why he kept Nola out there. “I thought he was still in good shape.”

Ruiz later gave up a three-run homer to Lindor to add two runs to Nola’s line and give the Mets a 5-0 lead. It cost the Phillies as their four-run comeback attempt in the top of the ninth wasn’t enough.

Thomson was pleased with how Nola pitched aside from the mistakes that ended up over the wall. The veteran pitcher, understandably, was less enthused. He liked that he “battled.” The results could have been worse on Monday, but they’ll need to be better moving forward.

“I’m not getting the results,” Nola said. “When I do get the groundballs, they’re going through the holes. My fastball is not where I need it to be right now. I hope the velocity starts to kick up here soon.”

Nola’s fastball averaged 92.1 mph last year, and it was averaging only 90.7 mph entering Monday. Some of that could be due to the weather, as Thomson and Nola have both mentioned in the early parts of the season. It was another chilly night in New York.

The velocity should improve as it gets warmer, giving Nola “a little more jump at the end” of his heater and a little more wiggle room to work with on his misses. But what if it doesn’t? Nola is 31 years old and in his 11th season after all.

He knows he’ll need to adapt in the games without that added fastball juice.

“I gotta keep competing, man. I gotta keep trying to throw a lot of innings and limit the runs,” Nola said. “I know I haven’t done that so far this year, but I gotta command all my other pitches. I gotta go out and compete and try to win the game, and that’s what I can do.

“I can’t control the results, but I can control the walks and getting ahead of guys. And I got to keep working on that.”