Mets Late Rally Falls Short in 4-3 Loss to Phils

The New York Mets (72-76) already slim playoff odds took another big hit on Friday night, as they dropped the series opener with the Philadelphia Phillies (75-72) by the score of 4-3 at Citi Field for their fourth consecutive loss. 

The Phillies struck first against right-hander Taijuan Walker (7-10, 4.27 ERA) in this one. After a scoreless top of the first, J.T. Realmuto led off the first with a single and immediately ended up in scoring position after stealing second.

Realmuto advanced to third on a Didi Gregorius fly out, and then scored the first run of the game on a Freddy Galvis sacrifice fly to deep center field. From there, Walker settled down and retired the Phillies in order in the third and the fourth.

Old friend Zack Wheeler (14-9, 2.83 ERA) cruised through the Mets lineup the first time through the order, and the only base runner against him was Walker, who was hit by a pitch on the ankle. The Mets finally were able to break through against him in the bottom of the fourth.

In his first game back from the injured list, Brandon Nimmo lined a single to center leading off the inning for the Mets’ first hit of the game. Pete Alonso was hit by pitch, and then Michael Conforto drew a walk to load the bases.

Javier Baez then stayed red hot, blooping an opposite-field RBI single to shallow right field, knotting things up at 1. The bases remained loaded, but line-outs off the bats of James McCann and Jeff McNeil ended the inning.

The score didn’t stay that way long, as Brad Miller cracked his 19th home run of the season to center, to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth. The Phillies then tacked on a few more runs, and the bullpen somehow held on from there.

Walker was pulled in favor of a pinch-hitter with just 88 pitches in the bottom of the fifth, but Aaron Loup entered and tossed a scoreless top of the sixth. The Mets then put together a little bit of a rally in the bottom half of the inning.

Francisco Lindor and Alonso led off the sixth with singles off Wheeler, chasing him from the game. Lefty Jose Alvarado entered and got Michael Conforto to ground into a double play with the first pitch he threw.

Javy Baez then drew another walk, his seventh in his past eight games, to put two on with two out. J.D. Davis pinch-hit for Jeff McNeil against the lefty, but he struck out on a slider in the dirt to end the inning.

The Phillies tacked on another run in the top of the seventh against Seth Lugo, as Gregorius came into score on a Matt Vierling sacrifice fly. After the Mets failed to get anything going, Philly added their fourth run of the game off Brad Hand in the eighth.

Odubel Herrera doubled, followed by a Jean Segura single to put runners on the corners. After Hand was pulled in favor of Jeurys Familia, Gregorius doubled home a run to make it 4-1 Phillies. The Mets came fighting right back and chipped away at that lead in the bottom half of the eighth.

Lindor led off the inning with a double off the fence in deep right-center field to spark things. After Alonso grounded out, Conforto lined a double of his own down the left-field line to cut the lead to 4-2.

Baez was called out on strikes, but then Kevin Pillar put together an excellent at-bat, and doubled home another run to make it a one-run game. Pillar was initially called out on the play, but after a crew chief review, he was called safe with the Mets third double of the inning.

The Phillies then turned to closer Ian Kennedy for the four-out save. McCann fought off a few pitches, but ultimately went down swinging on a high fastball to end the inning.

Edwin Diaz hit a batter but was able to strand him at second and keep it a one-run game in the top of the ninth. The Mets were in a nice position heading into the bottom of the ninth, however, Kennedy retired Jose Peraza, Jonathan Villar, and Nimmo in order to end the game and secure the 4-3 Phillies win.

It was another valiant comeback attempt, but the Mets ultimately ended up dropping yet another one-run game. This one was another marathon, as the Mets ended up playing their third 4+ hour game in the last five contests.

The Mets and Phillies will return to action on Saturday night at 7:15 PM at Citi Field. Right-hander Carlos Carrasco (1-2, 5.59 ERA) will take on Aaron Nola (7-8, 4.58 ERA) in the second game of the series. All the action can be seen live on FOX or heard on WCBS 880.

Player of the Game

Francisco Lindor went 2-for-4 on the night with a run scored. His 15th double of the season sparked a Mets comeback attempt against right-hander Archie Bradley in the bottom of the eighth.

Lindor also led off the bottom of the sixth with a single off Zack Wheeler but was stranded at third. The slugging shortstop is riding a five-game hitting streak, and now has a .734 OPS and 32 extra-base hits through 111 games on the season.