Phillies can’t figure out Mets ace Jacob deGrom, who outshines Aaron Nola in pitcher’s duel

NEW YORK — Facing two Cy Young Award winners on back-to-back nights never was going to be easy for the Phillies, but Mets starter Jacob deGrom was nearly perfect Saturday night.

He allowed only two hits and didn’t walk a batter while striking out 10 through six innings in the 1-0 Mets win. He was economical, too. The right-hander finished his night at 76 pitches, of which 57 were strikes, deftly mixing his four-seam fastball, his slider, and a few curveballs and changeups.

Saturday marked deGrom’s third start of the season after coming off the 60-day injured list on Aug. 2. It was his first scoreless outing.

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The Phillies looked largely lifeless at the plate. In the top of the third inning, moments after striking out, Nick Maton stared down the right-field line in a daze. In the top of the fifth, Brandon Marsh swung at a 92.6 mph slider just outside the bottom of the zone and landed on his knee. DeGrom’s next pitch was an 100.1 mph fastball at the top of the zone, which Marsh swung at for deGrom’s ninth strikeout. Marsh cursed under his breath as he sulked back to the dugout.

“You don’t see it too often where a guy throws 101, 102 with three or four pitches,” said Phillies starter Aaron Nola. “He didn’t really use all four of his pitches, but to see a guy throw that hard ... he spots up really well. All of his pitches, especially his fastball and his slider, he can paint the corners.”

Added Bryson Stott: “He’s deGrom. He’s got an elite fastball and an elite slider. I thought our at-bats, as a whole, were pretty good. He threw a lot of pitches early on, and then he kind of settled in there for a second. But, like I said, it’s deGrom, so ... ”

The Phillies (63-50) did not have much luck against the Mets bullpen, either. They recorded only one hit off Mets relievers Seth Lugo and Trevor May, and two walks off Edwin Diaz in the ninth.

The Phillies did show some life at the very end in the top of the ninth, as Edmundo Sosa (pinch-running for Rhys Hoskins, who had walked) stole second. After a walk to J.T. Realmuto, both runners moved up on stolen bases, putting them on second and third. But Nick Castellanos struck out as the Phillies finished the night with just three hits and the two walks, while striking out 14 times.

Despite the loss, interim manager Rob Thomson felt that his team’s ability to go toe-to-toe with a division rival for two straight nights, in a playoff atmosphere in New York, was a positive sign.

“DeGrom is going, the crowd is into it, it’s a packed house, and they were very relaxed, very poised for the first two games,” he said. “They played great.”

Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the Phillies on Sunday afternoon as the Phillies attempt to win a series against the Mets for the first time this season.

DeGrom’s performance was so dominant that it overshadowed Nola’s superb outing. Nola allowed an RBI single from Pete Alonso in the bottom of the first inning, which followed a stolen base by Starling Marte and a throwing error by Realmuto. He followed with seven scoreless innings, retiring 17 straight Mets at one point and finishing his night by facing the minimum of 18 batters. He went the distance, tossing eight innings, allowing four hits, walking one, and striking out eight with 96 pitches.

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It was easily one of Nola’s best outings of the season, and that’s saying something, considering he’s in the midst of one of the best seasons of his eight-year career. He lowered his ERA to 3.07.

“Pretty good,” Nola said of his outing. “Ran into some trouble in the first and second inning, but, other than that, pretty good. I got some early outs, early pop ups, defense played great behind me.”

It was Nola’s first complete game of the season and the fourth of his career. He now has a 1.34 ERA over his last eight road starts and has nine starts with eight or more strikeouts and one or zero walks this season (good for second-most in MLB).

In the top of the eighth inning, Kyle Schwarber took his first at-bat since Thursday. Pinch-hitting for Matt Vierling, Schwarber flied out to center field off a Trevor May fastball. Schwarber exited midgame Thursday with a mild right calf strain and didn’t play on Friday night.

Thomson said that Schwarber will be re-evaluated on Sunday morning.