Flores Slams Phillies, Mets Open Home Stand With 9-4 Victory

The New York Mets (65-63) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (59-69) by a score of 9-4 at Citi Field Friday evening.

Pitching:

Bartolo Colon was on the mound for the Mets tonight and he was terrific until he ran into trouble late in the game. Colon took a two-hitter into the eighth inning before finally running out of gas. All in all, Colon went 7 innings giving up four runs, walking two, and striking out six. His line really doesn’t do much justice for how well Colon pitched tonight.

Hansel Robles was able to come in and clean up Colon’s mess in the eighth by not allowing another base runner.

Sean Gilmartin tried to close the game out in the top of the ninth but he struggled. Gilmartin allowed a single and a walk before being removed from the game in favor of Jeurys Familia. Familia made quick work of the Phillies and got out the jam with ease to send the Mets home with a win.

Offense:

This is the closest the Mets have had to a full lineup in quite some time and it clearly showed. Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera wasted little time getting things started for the Mets in the bottom of the first inning. Reyes and Cabrera hit back to back home runs to give the Mets the early 2-0 lead before the Phillies were able to record their first out.

After the Phillies cut the lead to 2-1 in the top of the fifth inning, Bartolo lead off the bottom of the inning with a double on a line drive to Aaron Altherr. Jose Reyes followed with a double of his own but Colon cautiously held up at third base. After Asdrubal Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes both grounded out with Colon staying put at third, Neil Walker was able to draw a walk and load the bases with two out. Wilmer Flores finally made the Phillies pay by blasting a grand slam to left center field to blow the game open 6-1.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Mets were at it again. Alejandro De Aza, who had just come in for injured Justin Ruggiano, lead off the inning with a walk. Travis d’Arnaud followed with a double on a line drive to right fielder Peter Bourjos to score De Aza and make the score 7-1. Bartolo Colon followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Jose Reyes followed by hitting a fly ball out that Travis d’Arnaud decided to take a chance on but he was thrown out at the plate for a double play. Asdrubal Cabrera cashed in, however, by hitting his second home run of the game to make the score 9-1.

Notes:

The Mets activated Neil Walker from the paternity list today while optioning T.J. Rivera back to Vegas.

The Mets have now won 5 of their last 6 games.

Bartolo Colon becomes the 64th pitcher in MLB history to have at least 230 career wins.

JZ Player of the game: Wilmer Flores. Colon, Cabrera, and Reyes are all worthy candidates but Flores really busted this game wide open with his bases-loaded grand slam with two outs in the fifth inning. Just how good exactly is Wilmer Flores against left-handed pitching?

On Deck:

The Mets will play their second game of a three-game set with the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field tomorrow evening. The game has a start time of 7:10 PM. Noah Syndergaard (11-7, 2.61 ERA) looks to keep the Mets rolling against Jeremy Hellickson (10-7, 3.60 ERA).