Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets (32-17) completed their three-game set with division-rival Philadelphia Phillies (21-27) on Sunday night at Citi Field. The Mets were on the hunt for their first sweep of the season. After a late blown lead, Nick Plummer played hero and Eduardo Escobar finished the game off with his defense and bat to secure an extra-innings victory. The 5-4 win secured New York’s first sweep of the season.

The Mets got the scoring going early. Luis Guillorme continued his insane stretch with a lead-off double. Starling Marte then singled, and Francisco Lindor followed that up with a fielder’s choice. Lindor’s ground ball not only drove in Guillorme, but also resulted in Marte being safe at second thanks to a fielding error courtesy of Johan Camargo.

Pete Alonso registered a bloop hit which loaded the bases with no outs for Escobar. Escobar grounded into a fielder’s choice which brought home another run. Mark Canha then grounded out to third base to score the third Mets’ run of the inning.

The Phillies tried to bounce back in the third inning. They loaded the bases with no outs but only got one run via a double-play ground out. Philadelphia, however, did inflate Chris Bassitt‘s pitch count all the way to 63.

Bassitt’s day ended up coming to a close after six extremely strong innings. He only allowed the one run on two hits. He walked three but struck out seven over his 100 pitches thrown. Bassitt retired the last 10 batters he faced. A nice bounce-back outing after his struggles last time out.

Drew Smith relieved Bassitt in the seventh inning. He got the first two outs before deflecting a comebacker with his bare hand which got through for a hit. He left the game with a pinky finger injury. Joely Rodríguez came in and got the third out by throwing only one pitch.

Rodríguez also got two outs in the eighth inning. However, he walked two before being relieved by Adam Ottavino. Ottavino gave up a two-strike, three-run home run to Nick Castellanos. The Mets now trailed 4-3 headed to the bottom of the eighth.

Nick Plummer, in his first career start, hit the first pitch he saw from Corey Knebel into the second deck of right field. The ballgame was tied just like that. The solo shot went 389 feet at 112.8 MPH off the bat. The home run was the first time a Met has registered their first career home run in the ninth inning or later since 2006.

The game went to extras innings where Edwin Díaz got the Mets to the bottom of the tenth inning tied. In the top half of the inning, Escobar made an absurd over-the-railing snag and then Díaz struck out Roman Quinn to end the half inning.

Eduardo Escobar came up clutch and drove in the free runner with a line drive to right field with one out. First, it was his defense in the top of the inning, then his bat in the bottom half. He had a fantastic 10th inning.

With the win, New York is on pace for 106 wins. They improve their NL East lead to 8.5 games and have separated themselves by 10.5 over Philadelphia.

Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

Player of the Game: Nick Plummer

It was Nick Plummer’s first career MLB start. The outfielder, who was signed in the offseason, didn’t start the game off too hot. He struck out twice and read a ball incorrectly in left field that led to a third inning Phillies’ run. Well, in the ninth inning, all was forgiven as he went 389 feet to right field to tie the ballgame.

The 25-year old will surely never forget not only his first career MLB hit, but also his first career MLB homer at such an important juncture.

On Deck

The Mets will kick off their last home series before they go to the West Coast for a tough test. First, they’ll take on the Washington Nationals at Citi Field in a three-game set. The 7:10 P.M. ET first pitch tomorrow is slated to feature Erick Fedde (3.55 ERA) versus David Peterson (2.16 ERA).