Mets’ Bats And Arms Dominate in 5-1 Win Over Phillies

The Mets took their third straight win by a score of 5-1 against the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday evening at Citi Field. The triumph was attributed to great play on both sides of the plate.

The pitching staff was led by a six-inning, two-hit gem of an outing from David Peterson in the best start of his career thus far. The lefty tied his career-high of 10 strikeouts before Aaron Loup added five huge outs in relief, and Edwin Diaz capped the night off with a 1-2-3 ninth.

The offense notched five runs on 12 hits. James McCann knocked his first homer as a Met, going 3-for-4 on the night. Brandon Nimmo and Dominic Smith also added three hits each.

On The Mound

Peterson set the team up for success early with a quality outing as New York’s starter. The lefty tossed six two-hit innings on 80 pitches and didn’t allow a hit until the fifth inning when he gave up his only run of the evening on a solo homer by Jean Segura. He also surrendered a single to Rhys Hoskins in the sixth. His 10 strikeouts marked the second time he reached double digits in a single game, which also happened on September 19, 2020, against the Atlanta Braves.

Jeurys Familia took the mound in the seventh and quickly found himself in trouble. After walking J.T. Realmuto to lead things off, followed by giving up a single to Segura, he was removed from the game.

Loup entered in relief of Familia with runners on first and third and one out. The lefty got out of the jam with just two pitches, inducing a 6-3 double play to end the frame. He tossed a 1-2-3 eighth with back-to-back strikeouts to close things out, aiding New York with five huge outs in a tight ballgame.

Edwin Diaz tossed a 1-2-3 ninth and fanned two to seal the win.

At The Plate

The Mets’ offense was on fire with 12 hits against Philadelphia on Wednesday evening. They took an early 2-0 lead after forcing former Met Zack Wheeler into throwing 29 pitches in the first inning. Nimmo led off with a single, and another pair of base hits from Francisco Lindor and Smith got the Mets on the board. The club grabbed another run on a Pete Alonso double-play ball that sent Lindor home.

Nimmo knocked another infield single in the second. He has now safely reached base at least twice in all eight games this season, becoming just the 10th player to do so this century. He is just two games away from tying David Wright‘s 10-game-streak in 2012, per Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com.

Singles from McCann in the fourth, Smith in the fifth, and Jeff McNeil and McCann in the sixth didn’t lead to any runs, but the Mets finally gave the bullpen some padding in the seventh. A couple of base hits by Lindor and Smith put runners on the corners once again, and Alonso’s sacrifice fly on the first pitch drove in an insurance run to make it 3-1.

McCann shot a two-run bomb in the eighth that put New York ahead to the eventual final score of 5-1. The catcher’s first home run as a Met and gave the club a comfortable lead late in the game that would not falter.

On Deck

The Mets will finish off the four-game series against Philadelphia on Thursday afternoon, pending weather as rain is in the forecast.

Jacob deGrom (0-1, 0.64 ERA) will get the start for New York. Through two starts in 2021, the ace has registered 21 strikeouts through 14 innings and has allowed just one run.

Zach Eflin (0-0, 3.46 ERA) will take the mound for the Phillies. In his last outing against Atlanta, the 27-year-old tossed six innings and gave up four runs on seven hits.

First pitch will be at 12:10 PM on April 15. The game will be televised by SNY and MLB Network, and the radio broadcast will be on WCBS 880-AM.