The Phillies Had 159 Chances To Get a Hit and Failed All 159 Times


The night of April 29, 2022 was a pretty significant night in Philly sports: Embiid’s devastating orbital injury was revealed, the Eagles drafted Center Cameron Jurgens and Georgia Linebacker Nakobe Dean, and the Flyer’s completely forgettable season has come to a merciful end.

So its easy to forget that on that same night the Phillies got No-Hit by the Mets immediately after winning four straight games against the Colorado Rockies. And not only that, the five Mets pitchers combined to throw 159 pitches in the game, the most pitches thrown in a No Hitter since pitch counts were recorded.

Keep in mind that the New York Mets franchise, despite becoming a legitimate franchise in the late 1960s thanks to pitching, waited 50 years to record a No Hitter. The underrated pitching great Johan Santana finally delivered a No-No in 2012 despite the fact that there was a hit in that game that was ruled foul, meaning the No Hitter probably wouldn’t have counted in the Instant Replay Era.

Now Mets fans have another No-Hitter to celebrate that can’t be disputed by their many trolls. While it’s an impressive feat for the red hot Mets, its a terrible sign for the Phillies who looked like they were picking up some momentum before the game. This Phillies offense that the front office invested millions upon millions on from Bryce to JT to Schwarber to Castellanos couldn’t get a single hit despite 159 pitches thrown. This same offense that was supposed to make up for their lack of defense and average pitching staff and bullpen literally did not hit against their arch rival.

And once again it was a good effort by struggling starter Aaron Nola whose been trying to get some of his 2018 juice back. Suddenly he’s turning into a lighter version of the Jacob deGrom: delivering strong performances with little to no run support.

The one good thing about being No Hit is that it’s still just one game and they have many more to go. As the past week has shown the Phillies are motivated when they are upset and it’s pretty upsetting to get No Hit. Who knows whether we’ll look back at this game as a lowlight of another disappointing season or as a motivating factor towards a successful one.

But good lord has this first month of the 2022 baseball season been a rollercoaster. Can we please get a consistent stretch of anything Phillies?

By Mike McCarrick | April 30, 2022