Take a page out of Terry Collins’ book, and don’t put too much stock in this game.
The Mets (89-70) were swept by the Phillies (62-97), losing 3-0 on Thursday afternoon in Philadelphia.
Sean Gilmartin pitched for the Mets and was pretty good, allowing two runs on three hits and a walk in five innings, striking out three.
Jerad Eickhoff held the Mets at bay all afternoon, striking out 10 and allowing just four hits and a walk in seven scoreless innings.
Gilmartin began the day with three hitless frames, but with two out in the bottom of the fourth, Jeff Francoeur doubled and Darin Ruf homered to put the Phillies up 2-0.
The Mets, using their JV squad, made hardly any noise in this one. Kirk Nieuwenhuis had a nice day with three hits including two doubles, but the “lineup” struggled for the most part. The Mets got two men on in the seventh, but Eickhoff escaped the jam to keep the visitors off the board.
Tim Stauffer pitched two scoreless innings in relief for the Mets, but Dario Alvarez gave up a solo shot to Andres Blanco in the bottom of the eighth to make it 3-0. Alvarez bounced back to get two outs before Jeurys Familia came in and struck out the lone hitter he faced.
The Mets did nothing against the Philadelphia bullpen, and the Phillies wrapped up the sweep with ease.
Well, not an ideal start to “October Baseball” for the Mets. But they’ve clinched, so these games don’t matter too much. It would be nice to get home-field, and it would be nice to get 90 wins, so hopefully they bounce back against the Nationals this weekend at home and win two of three.
The Mets didn’t really play to win this series, for whatever reason. So their struggles aren’t something to be too worried about. Yes, Eric Campbell is a bad hitter, but Eric Campbell is also a guy who will be sitting and watching come Playoff Time.
Gilmartin gave us a nice effort today and has done everything the team has asked of him all year. Nice work once again from the Rule 5 Pick.
Eickhoff has been fantastic lately, so it’s not like the Mets got shutout by a nobody— or, at least, a talentless nobody.
Hopefully the Nationals don’t play dirty this weekend, and hopefully there are no accidental mishaps either. We’ve come so far, we deserve some health in these final 3 games.
Up Next: The Mets will kick off their series with the Nationals on Friday night at Citi Field. Noah Syndergaard (9-7, 3.34 ERA) will face Gio Gonzalez (11-8, 3.93 ERA).
