Philadelphia Phillies' Ace Dominates Mets After Harper's Late Scratch

The Philadelphia Phillies secured a sweep in their series against the New York Mets after a dominating performance from their ace despite missing some offensive stars.

May 14, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola (27) / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

It's been an impressive run for the Philadelphia Phillies where they have dominated virtually every team that has been placed in front of them.

Their hot stretch has seen them win or tie seven of their last eight series, and their sweep against the New York Mets on Tuesday ensured they kept that streak alive.

What has been the storyline for the Phillies virtually the entire season is how elite their pitching has performed to start the year.

With a 2.65 ERA among their starting staff, they ranked second in the MLB entering Tuesday.

As Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, and Spencer Turnbull have dominated in virtually every one of their outings, Philadelphia's high-priced arm, Aaron Nola, hasn't quite found that same level of success to start 2024.

While his ERA of 3.67 was nothing to be concerned about, it was still the highest amongst starting pitchers on the Phillies.

That changed against the Mets when Nola delivered a vintage type of performance that reminded everyone why he is an ace.

He threw nine shutout innings where he allowed just four hits and struck out eight batters. It was his fourth-career complete game shutout and it couldn't have come at a better time.

With J.T. Realmuto out of the lineup once again and Bryce Harper being a late scratch after suffering a migraine, Philadelphia needed this type of outing from their star as they continue to deal with missing firepower from their lineup.

Going deep into the game is something that Nola and the entire staff looks to accomplish every time they take the mound.

"That's what I train for. That's what all of our staff trains for, too. That's what we want to do ... We want to put it on our back during the season to rack up those innings and we've got five guys that can do that," he said according to Brooke Destra of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Doing that had to feel great for the star right-hander after having a down year in 2023 that brought plenty of scrutiny prior to his resurgence in the playoffs.

Hopefully this is the outing that gets him back to being the clear dominant starter he's capable of being whenever he's on the mound.