Phillies’ Nola ties 51-year-old record by striking out 10 straight batters
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola struck out 10 straight New York Mets batters Friday, tying a major league record that stood alone for more than five decades.
Hall of Fame ace Tom Seaver fanned his final 10 hitters for the Mets in a 2-1 victory over the San Diego Padres at Shea Stadium on April 22, 1970.
That mark for consecutive strikeouts held for 51 years until Nola whiffed Michael Conforto leading off the fourth inning in the first game of a doubleheader at Citi Field, which replaced Shea Stadium as the Mets’ home in 2009 on the same site in Queens.
Featuring a nasty knuckle curve, Nola started and ended his streak with punchouts of Conforto. Pete Alonso halted the astounding run of Ks when he reached across the plate to poke a 1-2 slider inside the right-field line for a line-drive double.
Nola got off to an inauspicious start. He hit leadoff batter Jeff McNeil with a curveball in the first inning and then gave up a double to Francisco Lindor that left runners at second and third.
The right-hander struck out Conforto, Alonso and Dominic Smith in succession to keep New York off the scoreboard — and didn’t slow down. James McCann, Kevin Pillar and Luis Guillorme went down in the second, then pitcher Taijuan Walker, McNeil and Lindor in the third. VACCINATIONS SLOW AMONG MLB PERSONNEL >> A 23rd Major League Baseball team has reached the 85% vaccination threshold for players and other on-field personnel, which allows relaxed protocols, but there were few additional COVID-19 vaccinations in the past week.
Major League Baseball and the players’ association said Friday that 85.4% of tier 1 and tier 2 individuals had been fully vaccinated, up just 0.1% from the previous week, and 86.5% had received at least one dose, unchanged from the previous week.
Tier 1 includes players, managers, coaches, team physicians, athletic trainers and strength and conditioning staff.
Tier 2 includes ownership, front office staff, travel staff, head groundskeepers and ballpark operations staff.
Once a team reaches 85% vaccinations among tiers 1 and 2, it has the option to apply loosened protocols to tier 2.
There were no positive tests in the last week. There were 1,854 tests, down from 9,104 the previous week.
So far this season, there have been 66 positive tests — 37 players, 29 staff — among 205,377 samples tested, a 0.03% positive rate. The positive tests are among 25 teams. RELIEVER FELIZ BACK IN BIGS >> The Philadelphia Phillies selected the contract of righthander Neftali Feliz from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, bringing the former Rookie of the Year back to the majors for the first time since 2017.
The team also placed righthander Sam Coonrod on the 10-day injured list with tendinitis in his right forearm.
Feliz, 33, was the American League Rookie of the Year and an All-Star in 2010 as the closer for the Texas Rangers. He was 2-1 with a 1.26 ERA and four saves in 15 appearances this season at Lehigh Valley. He struck out 23 and walked six batters in 14 1/3 innings.
He owns a 21-19 record with 107 saves and a 3.49 ERA in 357 appearances (seven starts) with the Rangers (2009-15), Detroit Tigers (2015), Pittsburgh Pirates (2016), Milwaukee Brewers (2017) and Kansas City Royals (2017). ANGELS PUT UPTON ON IL >> The Los Angeles Angels placed outfielder Justin Upton on the 10-day injured list with a right low back strain.
The Angels had hoped Upton would avoid the injured list, and manager Joe Maddon said earlier in the day he thought Upton might have been able to be back in the lineup today or Sunday.
Upton, 33, has hit .338 in June and has hit four of his 14 home runs this month. He has been especially effective in his role at the top of the order, slashing .326/.417/.576 in 24 games batting leadoff.