Clutch Hit Eludes Mets in 4-1 Loss to Phillies

Taijuan Walker returned to the mound for the Mets (15-7) Saturday night at Citi Field against the Phillies (11-11). This was his first start since hitting the injured list with shoulder bursitis. Having five pitchers make history last night tossing the Mets’ second ever no-hitter gave Walker a tough act to follow, but he rose to the occasion. Unfortunately, the bats and bullpen faltered behind him, and the Mets lost to the Phillies 4-1.

Walker tossed five scoreless innings for the Mets. He came out firing in the first inning, consistently reaching 96 mph on his fastball. The Phillies went down 1-2-3 in the first before Nick Castellanos singled to lead off the second inning. This was the first Phillies’ hit in 10 innings against the Mets. Walker promptly picked off Castellanos and got out of the inning without issue. Walker ran into a little trouble in the third inning, giving up a single to Alec Bohm to lead off the inning and walking Odubel Herrera with one out. But he then proceeded to retire the next eight Phillies’ hitters he faced before his night was over.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning when Brandon Nimmo, in typical Nimmo fashion, got the offense going by taking a one-out walk. Nimmo was on third when Francisco Lindor hit an easy ground ball to first base. Rhys Hoskins tried to throw Nimmo out at home, but Nimmo beat the throw to score the first run of the game. Even though Pete Alonso would walk to load the bases, the Mets were unable to score more in the fifth. Both Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil struck out to end the inning. This inability to add on would come back to bite the Mets later.

Trevor May was the first reliever up for the Mets in the sixth inning. Things started off poorly when Starling Marte was unable to hang on to a bloop hit by Herrera which resulted in a double. But thanks to some poor base running by Herrera and heads up defense by Lindor and Escobar, May got through the inning unscathed. Adam Ottavino got the seventh inning, and things went worse, as he gave up three runs. This included a two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber that gave the Phillies the lead. Ottavino was unable to finish the seventh, and Sean Reid-Foley came in to get the final out.

Reid-Foley stayed in for the top of the eighth and gave up a lead-off homer to Hoskins, putting the Phillies up 4-1. He retired the next two batters, but then left the game with an injury. Chasen Shreve came on with a 3-0 count against J.T. Realmuto and promptly struck him out on three pitches. Shreve stayed in to pitch the ninth inning as well and retired the Phillies 1-2-3.

The Mets threatened in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting the bases loaded with two outs via walks to McNeil, Dominic Smith, and pinch-hitter J.D. Davis. Former Met Jeurys Familia was responsible for two of the walks, helping his old team out. But as was the case in the fifth inning, the Mets were again unsuccessful with the bases loaded. Nimmo grounded out on the first pitch he saw from Phillies’ closer Corey Knebel to end the inning.

The Mets went down quietly in the ninth, with just an infield hit for Lindor. They ultimately left 13 men on base and only had four hits all game. It was not a good night for either the Mets’ offense nor Ottavino.

Player of the Game: Taijuan Walker

Walker pitched a solid five innings for the Mets in his first game back from the injured list. He was throwing hard and looked good defensively, as he moved well off the mound to cover first base. It seems like Walker’s shoulder is good to go, as is his surgically cleaned up knee. He is tentatively scheduled to face the Phillies again for his third start of the season when the Mets are in Philadelphia next week. Hopefully the third time’s the charm for him getting a win.

On Deck:

The Mets will face the Phillies in the rubber game of the series on Sunday night. The Mets will need a win to keep their series win streak alive. First pitch is scheduled for 7:08 PM ET. Max Scherzer gets the start for the Mets against Zach Eflin for the Phillies. The game will be on ESPN.