Despite displaying some tremendous heart after falling behind 10-0 to the Phillies early, the Mets tacked on eighth runs but it wasn’t enough as they lost 10-8 tonight at Citi Field.
Pitching
Sean Gilmartin got the start for the Mets and had himself a nightmarish first inning, letting up five earned runs on four hits and four walks and only able to get two outs before Rafael Montero relieved him and was able to get the third out. The huge blow came off the bat of Maikel Franco, a three-run bomb to left-center. A disappointing outing for Gilmartin who was pitching in place of Noah Syndergaard.
Not wanting to be outdone, Montero gave up another five runs to the Phillies, but was at least able to last 3.1 innings. Montero allowed seven hits and a walk including a three-run homer to Darin Ruf. On the plus side, he struck out seven.
The Mets turned to lefty Josh Edgin in the fifth and he delivered a 1-2-3 inning while striking out one, while Jim Henderson struck out the side in a scoreless sixth. However after a leadoff single to start the seventh, Josh Smoker replaced Henderson and was greeted by a single himself, but no harm done.
Fernando Salas pitched a perfect eighth and Erik Goeddel stranded a pair of runners in the ninth.
Offense
While Mets pitchers were struggling to keep the game within striking distance, Alec Asher was dealing for the Phillies and keeping the Mets offense in check. He was perfect through the first three innings.
After four innings, Terry Collins pulled Asdrubal Cabrera, Yoenis Cespedes, Jose Reyes and Curtis Granderson out of the game and brought in the B Squad.
The Mets finally broke through against Asher in the fifth inning when they put up a four-spot courtesy of two Phillies errors and RBI hits by Brandon Nimmo and who else – T.J. Rivera.
Gavin Cecchini got the Mets within five runs with an RBI double in the sixth, his first major league hit. Then T.J. plated another run with a single to bring home Lucas Duda as the Mets kept chipping away. The score was now Phillies 10, Mets 6 heading into the seventh inning.
More dramatics in the eighth inning as the Mets tack on another run thanks to a Gavin Cecchini double. The Replace-Mets will not go silently into the night.
In the ninth inning, needing three runs to tie, Jay Bruce hit a pinch-hit homer to cut the deficit to two runs and snap an 0-for-15 slump. After Eric Campbell drew a walk in a great at-bat, the Mets would bring the tying run to the plate. Holy shit…
Another walk, this time to Michael Conforto, and the tying runs were on base with just one out. But Lucas Duda pops out to short and Travis d’Arnaud grounds out to end the game. And the greatest comeback win in franchise history would not happen. But they gave it a heck of a shot.
On Deck
Robert Gsellman will close out the series on Sunday, taking on Jake Thompson for the Phillies in a 1:10 PM matinee.
