Aaron Nola strikes out 10 straight Mets to tie Tom Seaver mark

Is this what it’s like for the opposition when Jacob deGrom pitches?

Aaron Nola mimicked the Mets ace with his arm and bat and, in the process, equaled a record owned by another Mets great.

The Phillies’ right-hander drove in his team’s lone run and tied Tom Seaver’s mark of 10 straight strikeouts in a 2-1 Mets victory in Game 1 of a doubleheader Friday at Citi Field.

“That’s pretty cool to be in a category with Tom,” Nola said.

The Mets were wearing Seaver’s No. 41 uniform number on their sleeves, a tribute to The Franchise who died on Aug. 31 of last year at age 75.

Nola equaled a career-high with 12 strikeouts and allowed just two hits over 5 ¹/₃ dominant innings. He also stroked a two-out, run-scoring double in the fifth.

After the first two Mets reached against him in the first inning, Nola fanned the next 10 batters he faced, tying Seaver’s 51-year-old record, which was set on April 22, 1970 against the Padres at Shea Stadium. Seaver’s last 10 outs that day were strikeouts. Nola’s first 10 outs Friday were strikeouts.

Nola didn’t realize he was closing in on a record until he struck out Francisco Lindor to end the third inning. At that point, he had fanned nine in a row. He tied the record by striking out Michael Conforto to start the fourth inning on a changeup.

“I wasn’t really thinking about anything except getting him out,” Nola said. “I’ve faced Mike a lot of times already. He’s a good hitter. We’ve had some good battles, so it’s fun.”

Pete Alonso didn’t let the Phillies right-hander grab the record outright, though. Alonso’s one-out double in the fourth snapped the run of punchouts and elicited a roar from the crowd.

The performance came at a surprising time for Nola. He had been struggling this season, entering the game with a 4.22 ERA and a 5.85 mark in four June starts. He lasted just 2 ¹/₃ innings in his previous outings, shelled by the Giants for six earned runs and two homers. He struck out just one in that appearance.

But on Friday, he was a very different pitcher. After the first two Mets reached base, Nola went into domination mode. He shook off Lindor’s opposite-field double, which came after Jeff McNeil was hit by a pitch, and struck out the next 10 Mets hitters.

He got Conforto twice, to start and end the streak. Three strikeouts were looking, nine were swinging and four came on his devastating knuckle curve. But Nola couldn’t break the record. Alonso lined a 1-2 knee-high fastball off the outside corner just inside the right-field line for a double to end the run and at ensure Seaver kept a share of the record.

It was the second — and last hit — the Mets got against Nola. Much like deGrom in recent years, however, Nola was undone by both a lack of run support and his bullpen. His record-setting outing came in defeat.

“Yeah, it’s a cool accomplishment, but winning is cooler in my opinion,” he said.