Mets Fall 2-1 to Phillies in Extras

The Mets (73-40) and the Phillies (63-49) faced off Friday evening at Citi Field. Both teams scored one run early on and then the offenses went quiet for the next seven innings. The Mets had a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth, but Starling Marte was thrown out at the plate. The Phillies took the lead in the top of the tenth, and won 2-1 when the Mets could not rally in the bottom of the inning.

Max Scherzer was not his usual self early in the game. The Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to a Bryson Stott double followed by an Alec Bohm run-scoring single. In the second inning, the Phillies got the bases loaded, but were unable to score.

The Mets offense tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the second. Pete Alonso led off the inning with a walk, and Darin Ruf followed with a double, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Alonso scored on a sac fly by Mark Canha to tie the game. Ruf advanced to third on the sac fly but was stranded there.

Although they scored a run, the Mets also lost two players in the bottom of the second. Jeff McNeil slid awkwardly into the Phillies’ first baseman Rhys Hoskins and cut his thumb on his throwing hand. Luis Guillorme pinch hit for Eduardo Escobar, who left the game due to a sore side later revealed by Buck Showalter. With McNeil and Escobar both gone, Canha moved to third base, Tyler Naquin came in to play left, and Guillorme took over at second.

Scherzer bounced back in the third inning, retiring the side in order. He started off the fourth inning well, retiring the first two batters. But he then gave up two well placed pop-fly singles to left before getting the final out of the inning. Scherzer needed only six pitches to get through the sixth inning, and he also had a solid seventh inning.  He gave up nine hits and one run while striking out six and walking none in his seven innings.

Other than the run they scored in the second inning, the Mets’ offense was extremely quiet. They were held to only three hits through the first seven innings.

Adam Ottavino pitched the eighth inning for the Mets. He gave up a one-out single and stolen base to Nick Castellanos, but struck out the next two batters to retire the side.

Edwin Diaz came on to pitch the ninth. It was not a save situation, as the game was still tied 1-1. Still, Diaz was electric as always. He struck out the first two batters, and then got the final out via a fly ball to left. He needed only eight pitches to get through the inning.

The Mets had a chance to walk it off in the bottom of the ninth.  Marte led off the inning with a stand-up double to right field. He reached third when he tagged up on a long fly ball out to center off the bat of Francisco Lindor. After Alonso was intentionally walked, pinch-hitter Daniel Vogelbach hit a short fly ball to left. Marte tried to tag up and score on the play, but he was thrown out at home sending the game to extra innings.

Mychal Givens pitched the top of the tenth for the Mets. He retired all three batters he faced, but the ghost runner who started the inning on second did score. With one out and the ghost runner on third, Bohm hit a fly ball out to Marte in right. Marte made a solid throw to the plate, but it skipped by Nido and the runner scored, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the tenth.

The Mets had their chance to tie it, as Vogelbach, the Mets’ ghost runner, made it to third on a fly ball out to right off the bat of Canha. But he was stranded at third when Naquin struck out and Guillorme grounded out to first on the first pitch he saw.

Player of the Game: Max Scherzer

The game started rough for Scherzer, but he got it together and ultimately had a good start. He went seven innings, gave up only one run, and put his team in a great position to win the game.

On Deck

The Mets and Phillies will play game two of their series Saturday at 7:10 p.m. Jacob deGrom gets the start for the Mets, while Aaron Nola will be on the mound for the Phillies.