Jean Segura dodges injury, if not an errant fastball, in Phillies’ 9-6 loss to Mets

Jean Segura didn’t have any feeling in his left hand, so there wasn’t much time for the Phillies second baseman’s head to be filled with conspiracy theories.

Still, after five New York Mets batters were hit by pitches in three games this week, including three on Wednesday alone, after five others were hit last week in their season-opening series against the Washington Nationals, you had to wonder if the 96-mph fastball from Sean Reid-Foley in the sixth inning that wound up smacking Segura in the left wrist was, well, intentional.

Ultimately, Segura didn’t think so. Neither did the Phillies, who lost, 9-6, in the matinee rubber match of a three-game series against their National League East rivals but were relieved that they likely won’t lose Segura to the injured list.

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“Feeling better,” Segura said after the Phillies capped a season-opening homestand with a 3-3 record despite winning the first two games last week against the Oakland Athletics. “Thank God it’s nothing serious.”

Asked if he may be able to play Thursday night in a series opener in Miami, Segura didn’t rule it out.

“Yeah, why not?” he said. “If I feel good, if I feel ready to go, I’m always willing to go out and play a game.”

Segura said Reid-Foley apologized through a Phillies teammate, and it seemed the teams were content to let bygones be bygones. Besides, it’s clear that neither Zack Wheeler on Tuesday night nor Aaron Nola on Wednesday was intending to hit Mets batters.

Nola, in particular, lacked his typical command. Good, bad, or in between, he’s usually a consistent strike-thrower. Instead, he was all over the joint. He allowed three walks, hit back-to-back batters for just the second time in his career, and fell behind almost half the hitters he faced.

Nola didn’t complete the fourth inning and put the Phillies at an early three-run disadvantage against Mets ace Max Scherzer. The Phillies loaded the bases with one out against Scherzer in the first inning, but Segura struck out and Didi Gregorius grounded out.

“That was probably the difference in the game,” manager Joe Girardi said. “We weren’t able to get that one hit to really extend [Scherzer] and maybe even knock him out of the game if we could’ve kept the inning going.”

Girardi chalked up Nola’s command issues to the early-season inconsistencies that many pitchers across baseball are experiencing after a short spring training.

“Tough day, command-wise,” said Nola, who hung a first-pitch curveball to Brandon Nimmo for a solo homer in the third inning and gave up an RBI double to Pete Alonso in the fourth. “They weren’t really too competitive pitches. Just kind of spotty the whole game for me.”

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For a second consecutive game, the Phillies never led against the Mets. They actually played from behind for most of the series, only pulling out a 5-4 victory in the opener by scoring five runs in the eighth inning.

The Mets extended their lead against the Phillies’ bullpen, breaking the game open on Alonso’s three-run homer in a four-run sixth inning.

Segura left the game in the bottom of the sixth, and the Phillies were concerned that their second baseman might be lost for much longer.

“When they squeezed my hand, I was like, ‘I don’t feel it,’” Segura said. “The ball hit kind of my nerve and my wrist, so it kind of numbed my hand a little bit. Now I’m starting to feel better.

“I know those guys have been hit a lot the last two series, D.C. and here. I don’t really necessarily have to say it’s on purpose. He apologized to one of my teammates to tell me he was not hitting me on purpose. It’s just good to know that people still appreciate enough to say sorry.”

Matt Vierling drove in a run with a groundout in the sixth inning. But that qualified as his hitting highlight for the homestand.

Vierling went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and is 0-for-13 through six games. The rookie was slated to split time in center field but got pressed into everyday duty after Mickey Moniak fractured a bone in his right hand in the last game of spring training.

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Help may be on the way, with Odúbel Herrera beginning a minor-league rehab assignment to come back from a strained muscle in his right side. But Girardi said the Phillies won’t expedite Herrera’s return because of a lack of production in center field.

“He’s been getting at-bats, which is great, but you’ve got to build his legs up a little bit,” Girardi said. “I think we just have to make sure that he’s ready and not rush him and hurt him just because of a couple [bad] days.”

Vierling also isn’t the only Phillies hitter who is struggling. Leadoff man Kyle Schwarber is 0-for-18 with eight strikeouts since opening day, when he homered in his first at-bat and finished with two hits.

Bryce Harper didn’t leave town without hitting his first home run of the season.

Harper went deep in the ninth inning, slicing a solo shot around the left-field foul pole against Mets closer Edwin Diaz. But he struggled overall on the homestand, finishing 3-for-21 with eight strikeouts.

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