The Mets (73-58) beat the Phillies (52-80) by a score of 3-1 Monday night at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Bartolo Colon started for the Mets and delivered his best start of the season, tossing 8 scoreless innings while striking out 9 batters and walking one. He allowed only 4 singles, pitching his way to his 3rd win in 4 games and lowering his season ERA to 4.42, having thrown 16 consecutive scoreless innings.
Jeurys Familia came in for the save, and immediately allowed two base hits to start the inning with Ryan Howard coming to the dish. He subsequently walked Howard on 5 pitches, which brought Jeff Francoeur to the plate. With the bases loaded, Frenchy broke his bat while hitting into a 6-4-3 double play which brought in a run to make it a 3-1 game. That was the first run allowed by Familia this month. Andres Blanco then came up, and with an 0-2 count, missed a double down the line by less than a foot. He kept fouling pitches off which just pissed Familia off, who eventually struck out Blanco with a 99mph fastball. Brock Holt is right, Familia is the “nastiest pitcher in the world.”
Offense:
Michael Conforto broke the scoreless tie in the 5th inning with his 4th home run of the season, a solo shot. He also recorded a single and a walk, going 2-2 on the day. Curtis Granderson provided the rest of the offense, blasting a 2-run shot also in the 5th inning, his 23rd of the year. Both home runs came off Phillies’ starter Jared Eickhoff.
Guess who had the only other hit of the day. You guessed it, Bartolo Colon, who scored in front of Granderson’s home run. Thats 7 hits this season for the man, a new career high! 3,000 here we come!
Notes:
Since Colon started using his off-speed pitches more, he has become much more effective as evidenced by his 16 scoreless innings streak. Even if he continues to pitch excellently, his role going forward into the playoffs will be a major topic of discussion.
Steven Matz made his final rehab start for the BMets, tossing 5.1 scoreless innings allowing a single hit while walking 2 and striking out 4. He threw 78 pitches.
On Deck:
The Mets seek their third straight win as they send Jon Niese (8-9, 3.95 ERA) to face off against veteran Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.79 ERA) Tuesday night at Citi Field, starting at 7:10 pm.
