PHILADELPHIA — Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a sprained right ankle.

The 31-year-old veteran has struggled this season and is coming off an outing against St. Louis on Wednesday in which he allowed 12 hits, nine runs and three homers — all career highs — in a 14-7 loss.

Nola originally injured the ankle while doing agility work in the outfield in Tampa, Florida, last Thursday. He made two starts since, and said the ankle bothered him to the point he was overcompensating elsewhere in his body.

“I did feel like I had to overcompensate a bit,” Nola said. “It did get a little bit better last game, but it was putting a little more stress on my back just because I wasn’t able to rotate my foot like I usually do.”

The Phillies chose to put Nola on the injured list to avoid another injury cropping up while he was favoring the ankle.

Manager Rob Thomson said he doesn’t expect this to be a long stint for Nola, who aside from a 10-day stint on the COVID injury list in 2021, hasn’t missed a start since 2017.

“Obviously, I never want to go on the IL,” Nola said. “As a competitor, I’m here to pitch. I’ve pitched through stuff before and little things haven’t affected me. I thought this was going to subside by now, but it hasn’t really. It’s frustrating.”

For the season, Nola is 1-7 with a 6.16 ERA in nine starts. In 11 seasons with Philadelphia, Nola is 105-86 with a 3.78 ERA.

The Phillies recalled right-hander Daniel Robert from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to take Nola’s roster spot. Robert was acquired from Texas in a trade on April 30. Pitching prospect Mick Abel will be recalled to make a spot start on Sunday and the Phillies will make a corresponding move at that time.

Taijuan Walker, who pitched three innings in relief of Nola on Wednesday, will take Nola’s actual turn in the rotation next Wednesday in Colorado.

SAN FRANCISCO — Wilmer Flores homered three times — including a grand slam — and drove in eight runs to back a strong start by Logan Webb, leading the San Francisco Giants past the Athletics 9-1 on Friday night.

Flores, who set single-game career highs for homers and RBIs, hit his seventh slam in the third inning off A’s starter JP Sears. He had a three-run shot against Michel Otanez in the sixth, then added a solo shot off Anthony Maldonado in the eighth.

According to ESPN Research, Flores is the first right-handed batter with a three-homer game at Oracle Park since the Dodgers’ Kevin Elster did it on April 11, 2000. Joc Pederson, a left-handed batter, achieved the only other three-homer game at Oracle in 2022.

Flores also lifted his RBI total to 41, tying him with New York Yankees star Aaron Judge for the MLB lead.

Flores’ big night was more than enough support for Webb (5-3), who carried a shutout into the eighth inning. The 2024 All-Star allowed one run and five hits in eight innings with four strikeouts and two walks. The Giants’ ace has allowed two runs over his past four home starts covering 28⅓ innings for a 0.64 ERA.

Camilo Doval struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the win in the Giants’ first game against the A’s this season in the former Bay Bridge Series.

Sears (4-3), who gave up one run in 14⅔ innings covering his previous two starts, allowed four runs and six hits in four innings.

It was the A’s first visit to the Bay Area since leaving Oakland for Sacramento while a new stadium in Las Vegas is built.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NEW YORK — Juan Soto‘s return to Yankee Stadium in a Mets uniform Friday night went just about as he expected: with loud, relentless boos and chants from scorned Yankees fans still offended by his decision to choose the crosstown rival over their team during the offseason.

“I was ready for it,” Soto said after the Yankees beat the Mets 6-2 to open the Subway Series. “They’re really passionate fans and they’re a little hurt, and they’re going to do the best for their team, and they just feel that way.”

All game, whether he was in the action or not, Soto heard a chorus of boos and chants directed at him. Most chants were vulgar. All the boos were loud. After partnering with Aaron Judge to create one of the most productive duos in baseball history and lead the Yankees to their first World Series appearance in 15 years in his only season in the Bronx, he was the center of attention from beginning to end Friday.

And Soto — whose 15-year, $765 million contract is the richest in North American sports history — was prepared for it.

Soto, 26, stepped to the plate for his first at-bat in the first inning with a plan for the vitriol. Instead of ignoring the inevitable rancor, he was, after some prodding from teammates, going to playfully acknowledge it.

So while thousands of people stood to jeer him, he smiled, took off his helmet, tipped it to the crowd, touched it against his chest and mouthed, “Thank you.”

“We were just joking in the dugout that I should do it, and I just did it,” Soto said. “Guys loved it.”

Minutes later, the Bleacher Creatures, the celebrated group of staunch fans in the right-field bleachers who serenaded Soto with “Re-Sign Soto!” chants last season, turned their backs to him when he took his spot in right field in the bottom of the first inning. Soto said he didn’t notice them.

“I was just listening to the boos,” Soto said. “I tried to not have any eye contact. I just listened to the boos.”

Between the lines, Soto’s return was rather quiet. He walked in his first three plate appearances, scoring the Mets’ first run on Brandon Nimmo‘s single in the fourth inning. Soto grounded out in the seventh inning and flied out to center field with two runners on base to end the game. He emerged with a .252 batting average and .845 OPS through his first 44 games as a Met.

“Every time he’s at the plate, we feel good,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Didn’t come through today, but that’s the guy you want there in that spot. He’ll be fine.”

Defensively, Soto failed to throw out a runner at home on Anthony Volpe‘s 243-foot sacrifice fly in the third inning. In the eighth, he caught a fly ball for the third out and tossed the ball over his head into the seats behind him. A fan threw it back onto the field, igniting passionate cheers.

There were more cheers when Soto made the final out, ending an eventful night the 47,700 people in attendance anticipated.

“It’s just another game,” Soto said. “It’s real [unfortunate] that we couldn’t get the win. I don’t focus at all on fans. We got to focus on the game and be a professional, try to win a game. Yeah, it sucks that we lost the game, but we have two more to win the series.”