Phillies rookie Aaron Nola set to oppose Matt Harvey on Wednesday

NEW YORK --- Aaron Nola on Wednesday night will make what should be the first of dozens of career starts against the New York Mets.

The Phillies' promising 22-year-old righthander pitches the series-deciding finale at Citi Field. The game will pit two former seventh overall draft picks against one another as Matt Harvey, 26, will take the mound for the Mets.

Nola, a Baton Rouge, La., native, who had never before been to New York City until Sunday, is coming off the best back-to-back starts of his young career. He has allowed just one run and five hits over his last 15 innings. This will be his third start in nine career outings against a likely playoff team.

Nola will likely find himself drawing off his recent experience against the Toronto Blue Jays. After that Aug. 18 start, he lamented trying to be too fine with his pitches against the hot-hitting Jays' lineup.

"They swing the bat really well, and they're a good team," Nola said of the Mets. "They have some veterans on their team so I expect they will probably be selective at the plate.

"Trying to be too good at times can hurt me sometimes, and that's what did in the Blue Jays game. But I'm just going to go out and stick to my regular plan, go out and attack the zone and be aggressive."

Nola over his last two starts lowered his ERA from 4.41 to 3.26. He is only the second starter since 1980 to earn a win in five of the first eight starts of his rookie campaign, joining the Baltimore Orioles' Brian Matusz (2009).

Harvey will be the best pitcher Nola has matched up against so far. The hard-throwing righthander is on a roll of his own. He has not allowed more than two runs in any of his last eight starts and has surrendered only one run over his last four, which have spanned 27 innings.

"It's pretty cool," Nola said of the matchup. "The guy's a great competitor, and I've watched him for a couple years now. ... It's exciting to go up against somebody like that."