Mets Drop Game 2, Split Doubleheader With Phils

After a come-from-behind win in game one of Friday night’s doubleheader against the Phillies, the Mets were looking for a two-game sweep in the night-cap of Friday night’s twin-bill.

Left-handed pitcher David Peterson (2-55, 5.07 ERA) got the ball for the Mets in game two against left-handed pitcher Matt Moore (0-1, 6.64 ERA) of the Phillies. After a battle of the right-handed pitchers, game two was a battle of the lefties on the mound.

It was another Friday night pitchers duel, but in the end, it was the Phillies who were victorious in game 2 as the two clubs split the doubleheader at Citi Field.

After hitting Odubel Herrera to put the lead-off hitter on first in the top of the first, Peterson settled in and forced Rhys Hoskins into a double play and grounded out Bryce Harper to end the inning.

Moore came to the mound for the Phillies for his first inning of work in the bottom of the first and retired the Mets in order with a strike out of Jeff McNeil, fly out of Francisco Lindor, and a fly out of Pete Alonso.

Peterson continued to settle in in the top of the second. He struck out Andrew McCutchen to open the inning, and forced Alec Bohm and Luke Williams into ground outs to end the inning.

Moore came out and answered the strong second inning that Peterson had. He retired Dominic Smith on a lineout and Kevin Pillar on a ground out for the first two outs of the inning before giving up a walk to Luis Guillorme. Moore then forced Almora into a fly out to end the inning.

The Phillies tried to get their offense started in the third inning. After a fly out by Ronald Torreyes, Rafael Marchan singled to center field. Moore then attempted to get on with a bunt and tried advancing Marchan, but Marchan was thrown out at second in a fielder’s choice. Peterson then struck out Herrera to end the third inning.

The Mets then tried to answer by putting a runner on in the bottom half of the fourth. Catcher Patrick Mazeika led off the inning with a single to left field to get the Mets started. In similar fashion to Moore in the third, Mets’ pitcher David Peterson attempted to bunt. He got thrown out at first, however he did his job moving Mazeika to second. But McNeil popped out and Moore forced Lindor to fly out to end the inning.

Peterson returned to the mound for the Mets in the fourth. He walked Hoskins to put the lead-off batter on base and then forced Harper to fly out for the first out of the inning. Peterson then forced McCutchen into a groundout. Hoskins was out at second and McCutchen reached and advanced to second on a throwing error by McNeil trying to turn a double play. Bohm then flew out to end the inning.

The Mets tried to get some action started in the bottom of the fourth. Pete Alonso led off with a single to center field. Smith then lined into a force out, Pillar grounded out, and Guillorme grounded out to end the inning.

The game remained scoreless heading into the fifth inning.

Peterson forced Williams to bunt into a ground out to open the inning, followed by a ground out of Ronald Torreyes. Torreyes was robbed of a single on a great play from Lindor who made a great grab to throw Torreyes out at first. Peterson then gave up a two-out single to Marchan. Peterson then struck out Moore to end the inning and take the game to the bottom of the fifth.

Moore continued to look strong in the fifth. He struck out Almora to open the inning. But then Mazeika singled on a line drive to center field to get the Mets started. It was their third hit of the night and Mazeika’s second. He was 2-for-2 on the night. Peterson came up behind Mazeika and grounded into a force out. Mazeika was out at second and Peterson reached first. The Mets had two outs with one on for McNeil who was 0-2 so far on the night. He would line out to Harper in right field to end the inning.

The scoreless tie continued as game two between the Mets and Phillies headed to the sixth.

Peterson forced Herrera to line out to open the inning and struck out Hoskins for the second out of the inning. But Bryce Harper opened the scoring as the Phillies struck first in game two. Harper hit a long solo home run to center field off of Peterson to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. That was Harpers 11th home run of the season and it came off of a pitch that was left high in the zone that Harper was able to get a hold of.

Things began to unravel a bit for Peterson in the sixth as he then walked McCutchen with two outs. After a mound visit, Peterson settled down enough to strike out Bohm to end the inning and get out of the sixth inning.

Moore’s night was done after five innings. Joe Girardi went to the bullpen in the sixth replacing Moore on the mound with Connor Brogdon.

Brogdon forced Lindor to pop out to open the top of the bottom of the sixth with a quick first out. With one out, Pete Alonso singled to center field to put a runner on base for the Mets. Alonso was continuing to have a great night. He was 2-3 in game two through six innings. The Mets had one out and one on for Dominic Smith, but he proceeded to ground into a double play.

As Brogdon exited the field in the sixth, he was met by umpires for his first “foreign substance check” of the night.

Trevor May replaced Peterson on the mound for the Mets in the seventh.

Peterson’s final line:

6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 4.95 ERA

Facing his first batter of the night, May forced Williams to ground out for the first out of the inning. He then got Torreyes to ground out for a quick two outs. May then popped up Marchan for the final out of the top of the seventh.

The Mets needed late inning heroics as they were facing a must-score bottom of the seventh inning to keep the game going, down by one run to the Phillies. They needed one out to tie it and two to win it. They had Pillar, Guillorme, and Almora due up in the bottom of the seventh.

Archie Bradley replaced Brogdon on the mound for the Phillies in the seventh.

Billy McKinney pinch-hit for Pillar. He got the Mets’ offense kick-started with a lead-off single to left field. Guillorme then reached on a fielding error by the Phillies on a ground ball to third to put runners on first and second with no outs  in the seventh for the Mets.

With the tying and winning runs on board, Michael Conforto came in to pinch-hit for Almora. Bradley walked Conforto to load the bases.

The Mets had bases loaded, no outs, and Patrick Mazeika coming to the plate. The Phillies also brought their infield in. Bradley struck out Mazeika for the first out of the inning. That brought up pinch-hitter James McCann who was 0-for-3 in game one. McCann hit a deep fly to center field that scored McKinney to tie the game.

With runners on the corners and two outs McNeil grounded out to send game to extra innings yet again.

There were a lot of changes in the eighth. McKinney remained in the game at center, Travis Blankenhorn replaced Conforto in right, Sean Reid-Foley replaced Trevor May on the mound for the Mets.

Brad Miller pinch-hit for Archhie Bradley. Rafael Marchan started on second for the Phillies as the automatic runner on second.

Reid-Foley grounded out Miller, but allowed Marchan to advance to third. Herrera then grounded out, but Guillorme being forced to get the out at first allowed Jankowski to score to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the eighth. Howskins then flew out to right field to end the inning.

The Mets went down in order in the eighth and the Phillies took game two 2-1.

Game three of the series is Saturday at 4:10PM. It will be Jacob deGrom taking the mound for the Mets against Zach Eflin for the Phillies.