The New York Mets (54-69) defeated the Philadelphia Phillies (68-56) by a score of 8-2 to win this five-game series against their division rivals in Williamsport.

Pitching

Jason Vargas pitched this evening for the Mets and was effective for the second straight game. He set down the first seven guys to face him.

Odubel Hererra got the first hit against him but Vargas got out of a jam by getting Rhys Hoskins to popup.

Vargas pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning and struck out Maikel Franco to end a threat in the fifth.

He started the inning but gave up a two-run homer to Carlos Santana and subsequently a double to Wilson Ramos so he got pulled for Seth Lugo. His final line was: 5.1 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 K.

Lugo got two outs in the sixth to strand an inherited runner from Vargas. He pitched a scoreless seventh inning to follow up the sixth.

Drew Smith pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning with a strikeout. He’s been pretty impressive thus far.

Daniel Zamora finished the game and allowed only one hit in his inning of work while striking out one batter in the process as well.

Offense

The offense got rolling in the second inning. Todd Frazier and Austin Jackson singled to begin the inning. Jose Bautista drove home Frazier on a single and Kevin Plawecki singled home Jackson. Two batters later, Amed Rosario singled home both of them.

In the fourth, Austin Jackson and Bautista both got on to begin the inning. Amed Rosario later singled with two outs to load the bases. Jeff McNeil then singled home two runs but got thrown out trying to go to second. So far, he looks pretty good.

In the sixth, Kevin Plawecki and Vargas singled out with two down. Then, Amed Rosario drove home Plawecki for the Mets seventh run.

In the eighth, Kevin Plawecki walked and came around to score on Dominic Smith‘s double. Let him play, Mets.

Daniel Zamora of Long Island closed out the game for the Mets.

On Deck

The Mets head home on Monday to face the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field. Zack Wheeler (8-6, 3.75 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets against his former organization who counters with Derek Holland (6-8, 3.83 ERA). The game starts at 7:10 p.m. and will air on SNY.