FLUSHING, NY — You could hear a pin drop in Queens during the aftermath of Mets first baseman Jared Young taking an accidental right knee to the head from right-handed starter and teammate Nolan McLean Thursday night in the top of the sixth inning with two outs vs. the Phillies.
An unfortunate and scary scene as the 32,044 in the building, both dugouts, and each player on the diamond of Citi Field were all shaken up and concerned, hoping for the best.
The Mets announced shortly after Young, who laid motionless, immediately attended to by Mets trainers, soon paramedics and then carted off that the 31-year-old, giving a thumbs up to the crowd before departing, was taken to a nearby hospital for further evaluation.
There he underwent a CT scan which came back negative with Young having full use of his extremities.
“First of all, Jared Young, man, I hope he is okay,” said Phillies Bryce Harper on the field in a FOX postgame interview.
“God be with him and his family. I just hope he’s okay.”
Before giving credit to his teammate and starting pitcher Aaron Nola in Thursday night’s postgame on the field interview with FOX, Phillies Bryce Harper sent his thoughts and prayers out to Jared Young and his family – Image Credit: Miguel Maldonado/Latino Sports
After Philadelphia (85-68) won by a final score of 3-0, dropping the Mets to 69-84, shortstop Francisco Lindor said:
“It is scary to see one of our brothers, one of the most respected and loved teammates we have here, like that. Life is bigger than this game for sure. And seeing him like that, not reacting and then seeing the trainer holding his neck, it’s scary. It’s a scary moment. You can only think about how quick life can get out of your hands and think about his family, so thoughts and prayers to him and his family.”
Team trainers and paramedics were quick on the scene to help Jared Young after the Mets first baseman and Nolan McLean collided on a ground ball hit by Phillies Justin Crawford in the top of the sixth inning of Thursday night’s series opener – Image Credit: Miguel Maldonado/Latino Sports
Mets interim manager Andy Green added: “That was a terrifying moment on a baseball field. I’m thankful he is showing really good signs right now and doing well at the hospital. And thankful for the paramedics and everybody that came onto the field so quickly to take care of him.”
Nols Tough As Nails
Flirting with a no-hitter across his first 5.1 innings of work Thursday night, Aaron Nola or as Harper, interim manager Don Mattingly and the Phillies call the right-hander “Nols” was tough as nails. Like Young.
While pitching to contact and the 33-year-old’s arsenal proving to be in vintage form—a knucklecurve (35), sinker (15), changeup (13), four-seamer (12), and cutter (6)—Nola (81 pitches, 51 for strikes), going seven scoreless innings on three hits, three walks and four strikeouts, had the no-no broken up in the sixth on a Nick Morabito one out single.
“You know a game like that, Nols is good, every run felt better and better as we were able to score and add on. It makes the game feel better,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly. “He kind of had them off balance all night long. Pretty much easy innings, got a couple of double plays in there. He was just really good.”
Don Mattingly was extremely impressed by Aaron Nola and the 33-year-old’s dominant performance of seven shutout innings Thursday night vs. the Mets, which is just what the Phillies needed – Image Credit: Miguel Maldonado/Latino Sports
Harper, helping Nola escape with no harm on a few plays at first throughout his outing, noted, “Nols works harder than anybody around. He’s in that bullpen every day trying to get better, trying to do things the right way. And weight room, everything else. I’m glad he’s turned it around for us, obviously we’ve needed him to be this guy and he’s done a great job for us.”
In the middle of a nine game road trip—three in Atlanta, two in the nation’s capital and four in Queens—Nola matched Zack Wheeler’s dominant performance from the night before on Wednesday vs. the Nationals—seven innings pitched, four hits allowed, no runs, one walk and five strikeouts.
If Aaron Nola can keep at this pace, posting a combined 1.66 ERA across his last seven outings, the Phillies would make for a tough matchup against any team in the National League postseason picture regardless of Jesús Luzardo’s status – Image Credit: Miguel Maldonado/Latino Sports
With one of the best pitchers in the game, one of Philadelphia’s four elite starters Jesús Luzardo (14-5, 2.87 ERA) sidelined due to left shoulder inflammation and on the 15-day injured list until further notice, the Phillies will have to depend on the starting trio remaining in Nola (7-10, 4.49 ERA), Cristopher Sánchez (17-6, 2.93 ERA), and Zack Wheeler (13-5, 2.99 ERA) along with Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.54 ERA) down the stretch.
“We really hope (Luzardo) can come back healthy and quick,” Nola said as Philadelphia now is tied with the Cubs for the first National League Wild Card spot with nine games left in the 2026 regular season.
“We really need him. But you know, all the starters here, we’re just trying to take it game by game and make sure we’re healthy and do everything we can to put the team in a good chance to win.”
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