PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Aaron Nola returned to form with three-hit ball over six innings and Jhoan Duran stranded two runners when he struck out the final two batters to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 1-0 on Monday night.

The Phillies stretched their lead in the NL East to eight games over the Mets, pulling away in a race that seemed to tighten when New York completed a three-game sweep of Philadelphia late last month.

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New York stumbled since that series in Citi Field and lost their third straight game, and fourth in five games.

Nola (4-8) shook off a season derailed by injuries and career-worst stretches to look like the right-hander who anchored the rotation for most of the last decade. He walked only two and struck out seven. Nola’s last pitch was a 93 mph sinker that got Brandon Nimmo swinging to end the sixth and earned him a standing ovation as he walked off the field.

Duran was the last of three Phillies relievers and worked a scoreless ninth for his 28th save to keep the Mets as the only big league team this season that hasn’t won when trailing after eight innings.

The Phillies, who beat the Mets for the third time in 10 meetings this year. needed Nola to deliver with a lineup weakened by the losses of infielder Trea Turner and Alec Bohm, both placed on the injured list.

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Without Turner at the top of lineup against the Mets, two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper hit leadoff for the first time since 2022. Harper took a called strike three starting the game against rookie Nolan McLean (4-1).

McLean — who tossed eight scoreless innings against the Phillies in August — struck out five, gave up seven hits over 5 1/3 innings and lost for the first time in five big league starts.

Key moment

Nick Castellanos had an RBI single off McLean in the second inning.

Key stat

Phillies CF Harrison Bader had three hits and is 12 for 21 against the Mets this season.

Up next

The Mets send LHP Sean Manaea (1-2, 5.60 ERA) to the mound against Phillies LHP Ranger Suárez (11-6, 2.89 ERA) on Tuesday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB