Brett Baty. Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets got the scoring started early, putting a run up against former Met Taijuan Walker in the first inning. With Brandon Nimmo standing on second, Pete Alonso hit a blooper into shallow right field that just stayed fair before bouncing into the seats. With the ground rule double, the Mets took an early 1-0 lead.

The Mets didn’t score again until the fifth inning, still in a 1-0 game. With Walker’s pitch count rising, he started showing signs of fatigue as he allowed three straight hits off the bats of Rafael Ortega, Omar Narváez, and Brandon Nimmo. Nimmo’s hit came with runners on the corners, and he hit a laser into right field to double the Mets’ lead to make it 2-0.

With the Phillies still not on the board in the fifth inning, it’s no surprise that Mets’ starter Tylor Megill was pitching well against what is a really good lineup. Outside of a Trea Turner walk in the first inning and a Kyle Schwarber double in the third inning, Megill had everything working for him early. Even in the fourth and fifth innings, when he found himself in trouble by allowing a leadoff baserunner, he was able to work around them to avoid putting the Phillies on the board.

Megill then found himself in trouble again in the sixth inning and that’s where things went south. With one out already recorded, Megill spiked a breaking ball in the dirt that came up and hit Bryce Harper who appeared to be in a bit of pain afterwards. Alec Bohm then reached on an infield single, putting two runners on with one out.

Megill then struck out Bryson Stott, needing just one more out to get out of trouble and likely secure a six-inning, no-run outing. However, J.T. Realmuto played spoiler and put a jolt into the Philadelphia crowd by unloading a fastball into the seats in left field, giving the Phillies a 3-2 lead for their first lead of the night.

BRETT BATY OFF CRAIG KIMBREL IN THE 9TH TO TIE THE GAME!

(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/nzqmAUeFG1

— SNY (@SNYtv) September 23, 2023

Despite allowing the home run to Realmuto and that being the moment that will define his start, Megill still had a really solid outing. Over six innings, he allowed three runs on five hits and a walk while striking out six, and with the performance, he now has a 2.89 ERA over his last five starts.

Phil Bickford relieved Megill out of the bullpen and the Phillies immediately tacked on to extend their lead. After Johan Rojas reached on a single, he advanced to third after a bad throw on his stolen base attempt at second base. Schwarber then poked a ball into left field, scoring Rojas, giving the Phillies a 4-2 lead.

The Mets wouldn’t go down quietly, though. With two outs in the eighth inning, Francisco Lindor launched a solo homer into left field for his 27th of the year to bring the Mets back to within one run. Jeff McNeil singled after him to bring Pete Alonso to the plate as the go-ahead run. Alonso popped up on the infield, failing to bring the runner home to end the inning.

With one final chance to tie the game or take the lead in the ninth, the Mets found themselves two outs away from another disappointing loss after Ronny Mauricio recorded the first out. Brett Baty then stepped up to the plate and provided a heroic late-game moment the Mets haven’t experienced much of this season, sending a fastball from Craig Kimbrel 432 feet to dead center to tie up the game at 4-4.

The Mets were able to hold the Phillies at bay in the bottom of the inning, setting the table for extras. In the top of the 10th inning, the Mets loaded the bases against Seranthony Domínguez with a chance to really put pressure on the Phillies in the bottom of the inning. Domínguez, however, struck out Alonso in a crucial moment in the game, sending it to the bottom of the 10th in a tie game.

Just as Megill’s start ended in disappointing fashion, so did the game for the Mets. Despite the late-inning heroics provided by Lindor and Baty, Adam Ottavino couldn’t keep the Phillies from scoring as Alec Bohm dumped a ball into right field on just the second pitch of the inning. Trea Turner scored easily, giving the Phillies a 5-4 victory for the second consecutive night. With the loss, the Mets are now 71-83 on the year and are officially eliminated from playoff contention.

Stat of the Game

With his home run in the eighth inning, Francisco Lindor broke his own record that he set last year for the most home runs in a season by a Mets shortstop. He is now just three home runs shy of a 30-home run, 30-stolen base, 30-double season and could become the first Mets player to achieve those numbers since David Wright did so in 2007.

On Deck

The Mets’ series with the Phillies will continue on Saturday afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET. José Quintana (3-5, 3.02 ERA) will get the start for the Mets as his fantastic debut season with the team winds to a close. For Philadelphia, former Met Zack Wheeler (12-6, 3.63 ERA) will take the mound. The Mets roughed up Wheeler in his only start against the team this year, attacking him for five runs over 5 1/3 innings. The game will be broadcast on SNY and can be listened to on WCBS 880.

The post Phillies Spoil Mets’ Late-Game Heroics With 5-4 Walk-Off Win appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

There are many ways to acknowledge just how remarkable this 11th-hour turnaround a year ago really was. Before the Mets did it at Citizens Bank Park, there were 857 consecutive times that a team trailing by at least six runs entering the ninth had somehow figured out a way to win.

Starling Marte‘s long double off the wall was the punctuation. But this seven-run rally, like all comebacks of similar magnitude, took several Mets (and even a few Phillies) to make it possible.

Francisco Lindor‘s home run after Marte’s leadoff single from made the deficit respectable at 7-3. Pete Alonso‘s double and Jeff McNeil‘s one-out single set up New York in a position to bring it closer. Mark Cahna got the benefit of a liner that bounced off pitcher Corey Knebel and allowed Alonso to score. After a strikeout and the Mets having no margin for error, J.D. Davis doubled to left. McNeil came in and Cahna went to third – setting up the two climactic moments of an inning that had plenty of build-up. Brandon Nimmo delivered the tying two-run single and Marte took the next pitch nearly over the fence, but it was enough to put New York in front.

The previous 330 times the Mets were down by six runs entering their last at-bat they lost. The last time any such revival took place was on Sept. 13, 1997 at Shea Stadium against the Montreal Expos. It was just the third time in team history the Mets recovered from at least six down in the ninth to win, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

Edwin Díaz pitched a scoreless bottom half to secure the victory with the Adonis Medina being the unsung hero. The 25-year-old right-hander allowed one hit and no runs in 2.2 innings of relief and kept the game from getting further out of hand.

Of course, the prologue to any great comeback is a great deficit. The hole was dug early. A Lindor fielding error opened the door for Taijuan Walker to yield four Phillie runs in the first. Walker was tagged for back-to-back homers by Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos in the fourth to give Philadelphia its 7-0 advantage. That lead appeared very secure with Aaron Nola on the mound, pitching seven innings and allowing three hits.

The only run off him came in the sixth when Marte connected with the bases empty in the sixth. It was a seemingly meaningless home run that did nothing but keep the Mets from being shutout. Little did anyone know what that started.

The post OTD 2022: An Amazin’ Comeback in Philadelphia appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

David Wright stepped up to the plate in the top of the second inning at Citizens Bank Park preparing to take his first swing in 133 days.

Once a mainstay in the Mets lineup, “The Captain” missed over four months. Initially he was diagnosed with a hamstring injury. But it was soon discovered he suffered from spinal stenosis, the ailment which would ultimately cause the premature end to his career. It wasn’t a certainty at first he’d ever return to the field as an active player.

He had witnessed his team’s transformation into a frontrunner, especially as his return date drew near and New York had taken control of the NL East.

Now Wright was facing Phillies starter Adam Morgan. The 1-1 pitch went over the heart of the plate. David swung and did not miss. Not just a home run, it was a moonshot.

“I almost pulled a Wilmer Flores out there,” said Wright in reference to the Mets shortstop crying on the field that July when he thought he’d been dealt to Milwaukee. “You’ve got to keep your emotions in check. You’re proud you got back to this point; you’re happy; you’re satisfied. But at the same time, you realize we’re in the middle of a pennant race.”

Over the years, Wright led the Mets with both actions and words. On this night, his colossal home run was a cue for his teammates. What followed was the most prolific power display in franchise history.

Overcoming a rough outing from Jacob deGrom and a 7-2 deficit, New York made up the margin and then some.

Wilmer Flores led the charge with two homers, the first in the fourth (which also scored Wright) and the other in the fifth. Yoenis Céspedes also went deep. As did Juan Lagares, and Travis d’Arnaud, and Daniel Murphy, and Michael Cuddyer

In a 16-7 romp, the Mets established single-game team records with eight homers and 15 extra-base hits.

Wright would get his wish of returning to postseason play as the Mets finished and the franchise’s greatest third baseman was able to play into October. However, his days as a big-leaguer were numbered. After just 37 games in 2016, he was disabled list again. He then missed the entirety of 2017 and pretty much all of 2018 before returning at the end of the year for his emotional farewell.

Wright retired having delivered countless memories to Mets fans, and and August 24, 2015 in Philadelphia is certainly among the best.

The post OTD 2015: David Wright Hits Mammoth Home Run in Return appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Jeff McNeil is raking right now. He is arguably one of the hottest hitters in the league right now. And the second baseman was at the very peak of his powers yet again on Saturday. As he was once again was dominant at the plate against the Phillies.

All that trade speculation back in the winter regarding the possibility of McNeil being moved feels a long, long time ago now. Having struggled somewhat in 2021, the 30-year-old has carved out quite the bounce-back year and he’s been almost unstoppable for over a month now. He is doing it both offensively, and defensively.

Entering Saturday with one of the hottest bats in MLB, McNeil went to work to absolutely torment Phillies’ ace and former teammate Zack Wheeler in the first game of the doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park. After lining out in his first at-bat, McNeil hit a leadoff single in the top of the fifth to serve notice of what would follow. That hit in itself was vital in the overall context of the game in that McNeil and Tyler Naquin would go on to score on a Michael Perez single to give the Mets a 2-0 lead.

McHit. 🐿️ pic.twitter.com/Mu1775IVDp

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 20, 2022

Once again, the Mets were doing a nice job of making contact and putting the ball in play, and that was true in the sixth inning as McNeil again singled to score Francisco Lindor and advance Daniel Vogelbach to second. That hit increased the lead to 4-0 and it also chased Wheeler from the game. McNeil wasn’t done there, either. Despite the Phillies having a position player on the mound in the ninth, the veteran again did a good job of making hard contact again to hit another single into center field to drive in another run.

McNeil finished the first game of the doubleheader 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run, and he was also the only offensive player to come out of a frustrating second game with any credit. He had the only extra-base hit of the game for the Mets – a double in the ninth inning – and he also flashed that elite glove of his with a stunning diving catch to get out J.T. Realmuto and save two runs. It was just the latest in a long line of highlight-reel plays made by McNeil in the field this season.

Jeff McNeil 🤝 flying squirrel pic.twitter.com/e2ajAtepba

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 21, 2022

McNeil’s electric performance at the plate on Saturday only tells a fraction of the story. The infielder hasn’t only been red hot in August but he’s been hitting at an elite level since July. Coming out of the All-Star break, McNeil has a slash line of .365/.396/.567 with a .964 OPS, three home runs, 12 doubles, 14 RBI and four walks.

Just looking at August, McNeil is slashing .413/.444/.627 with a 1.071 OPS, to go along with 10 doubles, two home runs, three walks and 11 RBI. That’s the definition of getting it done at the plate at a high level. He’s now slashing .318/.371/.458/.830 on the year with seven home runs, 31 doubles, 27 doubles, 49 RBI and a 3.7 WAR. McNeil also recently put together an impressive 13-game hitting streak.

With 122 hits in 384 at-bats heading into Sunday and with a .318 batting average, McNeil currently ranks third in the National League batting title race behind Cardinals’ slugger Paul Goldschmidt (.341) and Freddie Freeman of the Dodgers (.321). McNeil ranks fourth overall in batting average in the majors.

Now, when it comes to a quest for a batting title, McNeil has some ground to make up the rest of the way. However, with the way he has been hitting both out of the All-Star break and in the month of August, don’t be surprised if McNeil does indeed catch up with the leaders in the clubhouse and claim a first career batting title. He looks unstoppable at the plate right now so you wouldn’t bet against it.

The post Jeff McNeil Continues To Perform At A High Level appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Credit: John Jones-USA TODAY Sports

The Mets (78-44) wriggled their way out of some jams Saturday night, but they struggled to overcome a lack of offense and an uneven performance in the field. They fell 4-1, dropping the nightcap of their doubleheader with the Phillies (66-54) after taking the first two games of the series at Citizens Bank Park. David Peterson and the bullpen dealt with traffic all night, and they did a solid job keeping it close, but the bats couldn’t rally back.

Phillies lefty Bailey Falter was shaky out of the gate, but the Mets could only scratch out one run against him in the first inning. Starling Marte reached on yet another hit by pitch, but he was nabbed by J.T. Realmuto trying to steal second. After Francisco Lindor‘s two-out single, Pete Alonso and Darin Ruf drew walks to load the bases. The lone run scored on a wild pitch. Nick Castellanos robbed Jeff McNeil of a hit to prevent further damage.

The Phillies didn’t take long to tie things up. On the second pitch Peterson threw, Kyle Schwarber smacked a double. Realmuto brought him in with a two-out single, knotting the score at one apiece. Peterson, who was topping out at 96 mph, struck out two batters with his high-80s slider.

The next threat came in the third, when Peterson gave up a single to Nick Maton and issued his first walk to Schwarber. He utilized his slider once again to strike out Rhys Hoskins for the first out. But he wasn’t so successful against Alec Bohm, who lined a slider just inside the left field foul line for a two-run double to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead.

Falter settled in against the Mets, retiring 10 in a row with only one strikeout.

Peterson continued to work around baserunners, allowing back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the fourth. After a sacrifice bunt, he was able to stay composed and induce soft contact from Maton and Schwarber, which held the Mets’ deficit at two.

Mark Canha led off the fifth inning with a single, looking to get something going. With two outs, Brandon Nimmo was hit for the Mets’ second hit batsman of the game. That gives the Mets 81 on the year, a pace of more than one every other game. Marte struck out as the Mets couldn’t cash in.

Hoskins hit a leadoff double against Peterson in the fifth, putting him in another tight spot. He recorded his fifth and sixth strikeouts, but a Castellanos infield hit kept the inning alive. After walking Jean Segura to load the bases, Peterson’s night came to an end with 100 pitches thrown.

Fellow University of Oregon alum Stephen Nogosek relieved Peterson and struck out Matt Vierling to escape the bases-loaded jam.

Nogosek retired the first two batters in the sixth and appeared to be cruising. He struck out Schwarber, but the ball got by James McCann to keep the inning going. After Hoskins walked, Bohm hit a soft ground ball that Brett Baty dropped for an error.

Once again, Nogosek found himself in a bases-loaded situation that was not entirely his doing. Realmuto put up a tough fight, then flicked one to right field that McNeil leaped and caught in full extension. He had to collect himself for a few seconds before getting off the ground, while Nogosek applauded in appreciation.

Left-hander Rob Zastryzny made his Mets debut in the seventh. He worked around a hit to throw a scoreless inning. Despite the Phillies outhitting the Mets 9-2, they still led by just a two-run margin.

Nimmo drew a walk in the eighth, as he continues to work out of a rare on-base slump. David Robertson got through the inning with a strikeout of Marte and pop outs from McCann and Lindor.

Zastryzny stayed in for the bottom of the eighth. Schwarber led off with a hit the other way, and Canha played it clumsily, which allowed Schwarber to go all the way to third. Mychal Givens came in and surrendered a run-scoring single to make it 4-1. It was the first run scored for either team since the third inning.

Darin Ruf nearly homered against Robertson in the ninth, but it missed the foul pole by inches and he struck out for the second out. McNeil kept things alive with a double down the right field line, and Canha drew a walk to bring the tying run to the plate. Baty chopped one to third base for the final out of the night. The Mets recorded just three hits in the loss.

Player of the Game

There wasn’t a ton for the Mets to celebrate in this game, particularly on the offensive side. McNeil, however, had the only extra-base hit, and also made the tremendous sixth-inning catch to keep the game close, so we’ll go with him. He’s been hot, now hitting .318 with an .829 OPS on the year.

On Deck

The Mets will wrap up their four-game set with the Phillies Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET. José Butto will be making his major league debut on the mound for New York. They’ll look to take three out of four over Philadelphia.

The post Mets Drop Nightcap To Phillies With Messy 4-1 Loss appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Sharing the eastern seaboard and the same division understandably creates a rift between fans and players alike, who over the years have exchanged words and sometimes fists. Many notable faces have seen it from both sides: Tug McGraw, Lenny Dykstra, and Zack Wheeler just to same a few. Proximity breeds hatred. And many, if not all, of these memorable games, give added reason for one side to only hate the other that much more.

June 21, 1964

Jim Bunning this day was perfect. The Mets this year? Not nearly. The Hall-of-Fame right-hander pitched his second no-hitter, became the first National Leaguer to toss a perfect game in the 20th century, and had what would be the only perfecto in the history of Shea Stadium (just two months old at the time). New York, which came into this Father’s Day doubleheader 20-45, was primed to be dominated by a pitcher of Bunning’s caliber. The dad of seven needed a mere 90 pitches to go the distance. He struck out 10 Mets batters, including six of the last nine and the last two in the ninth: George Altman and John Stephenson.

April 5, 1983

With 16, no pitcher has more Opening Day starts than Tom Seaver. He and long-time Phils ace Steve Carlton matched up on five occasions, none more memorable than when “The Franchise” returned home. At age 38, by baseball standards, he was an old Tom Seaver. But when he took the mound against Carlton and his Phillies—a glorious sun-drenched afternoon—a packed Shea Stadium got to witness something resembling the Tom Seaver of old. He shut out Philadelphia for six innings in a vintage performance despite a no-decision. The Mets’ failed to support their legend but broke through with a spurt of late offense in the seventh. That pair of runs was held up by Doug Sisk for yet another Opening Day win. Sisk got the win, but Seaver got the glory.

September 22, 1988

The Phillies delayed the Mets’ plan to clinch at Veterans Stadium in 1986 and ruined New York’s hopes of catching the St. Louis Cardinals with late-season victories, but Ron Darling would have none of it in ’88. Bob Ojeda‘s devastating off-field injury cast a pall over the inevitable celebration, but it was nonetheless a festive night. Darling made sure to be around until the finish, pitching a six-hit complete game in which he walked only one. He ended the 3-1 win (and simultaneously started the party at Shea) with a strikeout of Lance Parrish. Mookie Wilson went 3-for-4 while Gary Carter and Kevin McReynolds added two hits each.

Fight Nights – September 1989 and August 1990

The home finales for Keith Hernandez and Gary Carter were soon overshadowed by the tension between former teammates. Roger McDowell (traded earlier that year along with Lenny Dykstra) closed out the game by getting Gregg Jeffries to hit a grounder to back the mound. McDowell tossed to first for the out, Jeffries ran to first then turned and charged toward McDowell and wrestled the reliever to the ground. It was less than a year later before there’d be another bout with the same teams on the same canvas. This time the main combatants were Pat Combs and Dwight Gooden. With Doc at the plate, Combs’ first pitch of the fifth inning drilled him in the knee, perhaps in response to Gooden plunking two Phils earlier in the game. Doc wasted little time deliberating. He charged Combs immediately and initiated a conflict that went on for about 20 minutes.

July 25, 1990

The Mets built a 9-0 lead through six-and-a-half innings. The Phillies proceeded to tear that lead down. Almost. Two runs in the seventh, one run in the eighth, and six more in the ninth (after New York managed to score once in the top half) put the Mets on the doorstep of completely squandering its advantage. After several Met relievers failed to keep Phillie bats in check, John Franco entered. He initiated a key double play, but the tying run was still on third. Tommy Herr lined to Mario Diaz at shortstop. Exhale. In the immortal words of the legendary broadcaster and usually reserved Bob Murphy, the Mets “won the damn thing,” 10-9.

October 6, 1991

August/September 2007

Jimmy Rollins declared the Phillies the “team to beat” in the NL East, and the Mets couldn’t. New York’s difficulty in defeating Philadelphia proved to be devastating when the division race was said and done. The Phils swept the Mets in a four-game series at Citizens Bank Park in late August, coming back to win three times behind walk-off hiys by Chase Utley and Ryan Howard. A three-game sweep at Shea just a few weeks later was the springboard for Philly’s late-season surge and the Mets’ late-season collapse. Over the final 17 games, New York went 5-12 while Philadelphia went 13-4. And that’s how a seven-game lead becomes “home for October.”

May 1, 2011

This was a night in which Mets and Phillies fans could finally cheer together. As Daniel Murphy batted during a tied game in the ninth, “U-S-A!” chants were heard around Citizens Bank Park after news broke that Osama bin Laden, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, had been killed. The players and those in the respective dugouts were confused initially until word got around to them. New York won 2-1 in 14 innings behind Ronny Paulino‘s five hits and the game-winning RBI double in his first start as a Met. But it was of little consequence. As Terry Collins said afterward: “a good win for us, and obviously a huge win for America tonight.”

August 24, 2015

David Wright stepped up to the plate in the top of the second, preparing to take his first swing in 133 days. The result was not just a home run, but a moonshot. Wright’s thunderous return kickstarted a home run derby for New York. Rallying from an early 7-2 deficit, the Mets, playing their best baseball of the season, proceeded to fulfill Citizens Bank Park’s reputation. Wilmer Flores (twice), Yoenis Céspedes, Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud, Daniel Murphy, and Michael Cuddyer each went deep as the Mets established single-game team records with eight homers and 15 extra-base hits.

September 22, 2016

You know it’s a big home run when Gary Cohen invokes the double “outta here.” The Mets desperately needed every win they could get to keep pace in the Wild Card standings. They took the lead, fell behind, tied it, took the lead, and eventually trailed as the bottom of the ninth began. José Reyes, acquired in July, evoked memories of 2006 when tied the game at six with a three-run homer. But as was the theme of this night, the Phillies jumped ahead in the eleventh. Up came Asdrúbal Cabrera with two on and one out and the Mets down by 8-6. Cue Gare’s tremendous call and the awesome bat flip.

April & May 2022

Where do we begin? There’s been enough this year to last Mets fans the next five. Try picking a favorite. The Tylor Megill–Drew Smith–Joely Rodríguez–Seth Lugo-Edwin Díaz no-hitter on April 29? The ninth-inning comeback from down 7-1 on May 5? The sweep in late May capped by the heroics of Nick Plummer and Eduardo Escobar?

Why even choose? Let’s just enjoy it and hope there’s more to come.

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Baseball has no template for the prototypical player, but Bartolo Colón stretched those boundaries. Defying age and space, he came to Queens with 16 seasons, seven teams and a Cy Young Award on his resume.

His durability and capacity to adapt allowed him to prolong his career further than most major leaguers. And at Citizens Bank Park, in his first seasons with the Mets, he reached a feat few achieve in the modern era and fewer from his native Dominican Republic have attained.

Colón allowed one run on six hits over eight innings before leaving it into the hands of the bullpen, who nearly let it slip away. But with a 5-4 New York victory, the 41-year-old had notched win No. 200.

While Colón was laying down a string of scoreless frames, the Met offense gave its pitcher a solid lead to work with. Juan Lagares, Wilmer Flores, Curtis Granderson, and Daniel Murphy each produced RBI hits in a four-run fourth. Travis d’Arnaud added a solo homer in the fifth.

Colón finally relented in the seventh when former Met Marlon Byrd took him deep. But he retired the next eight in order to seemingly solidify the milestone victory.

It almost came apart in the ninth.

Lefty Dana Eveland started the inning, yielding a lead-off double to Chase Utley and a walk to Ryan Howard. In came closer Jenrry Mejia, who promptly gave up a single to Byrd. Grady Sizemore just missed a game-tying grand slam with a double off of the wall that drove in two. Carlos Ruiz then lined out to right field for the first out, Cody Asche produced an RBI groundout, and pinch hitter Reid Brignac to strike out looking to end the game — and the suspense.

Colón joined Juan Marichal and Pedro Martinez as the only Dominican-born pitchers to reach 200 wins. As far as major leaguers are concerned, he became the 92nd pitcher to get there. He would provide more moments during his time with the Mets — that home run in San Diego in 2016 foremost among them. His last major league appearance came in 2018 as a member of the Texas Rangers, at which he had totaled 247 victories.

The post OTD in 2014: Bartolo Colón Wins 200th Game appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good Morning, Mets fans!

On Tuesday evening, the New York Mets fell 4-1 to the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets are now 21-26, 2.5 games back of the third-place Phillies, and 6.5 games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves. After the game, Brandon Nimmo admitted that “everyone is a little down right now, as I think is appropriate.”

On Wednesday, the Mets will be facing off against the Phillies once again at Citizens Bank Park as ace Jacob deGrom (4-1, 1.67 ERA) will take the mound against a pitcher that has yet to be announced.

The game is set to begin at 7:05 PM EST, will be televised on SNY and ESPN, and can be heard on WCBS 880 AM. Let’s go Mets!

Latest Mets News

Major League Baseball announced that superstar Pete Alonso is featured in an episode of T-Mobile’s Beyond the Bases.

Latest MLB News

According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Major League Baseball and the MLBPA agreed to a bubble for the MLB playoffs. Rosenthal later added that families would be allowed to be part of the bubble.

The Texas Rangers announced that they have signed infielder Andrew Romine to a minor league contract.

According to Christ Cotillo of Masslive.com the Red Sox have released Jonathan Lucroy.

According to Brian McTaggart of MLB, Carlos Correa suffered a bone bruise but thankfully, nothing was broken.

Latest NL East News

The Phillies announced that they have designated infielder Ronald Torreyes for assignment.

Latest On MMO

Marshall Field believes that commissioner Manfred and baseball fans alike see great potential in Steve Cohen.

Thomas Hall thinks that J.D. Davis should revert back to his 2019 launch angle.

Rich Mancuso feels that time will tell for Steve Cohen.

On This Day In Mets History

Birthdays: Chris Carter turns 38, Desi Relaford turns 47 and Orel Hershiser turns 62.

2007: David Wright, homering in the seventh inning of a 10-6 loss to Philadelphia at Shea Stadium, becomes the 30th member of the 30-30 club.

Let’s go Mets!

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In the aggregate, the results of Steven Matz‘s start last night were as frustrating as they were expected: 4.1 innings, six runs (all earned), five hits, and a homer in a dismal 6-2 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.

He is now winless with four losses to his name and his ERA sits at 9.00 – the second-worst among 60 qualified starters (a run ahead of Detroit Tigers’ lefty Matthew Boyd). His 23 earned runs are the most of any starting pitcher in all of baseball.

Perhaps those who watched Matz at Citizens Bank Park last year, when he combined for just 9.1 innings and allowed 15 runs on 21 hits and six homers (.404 average, 1.331 OPS), saw this debacle coming all along. The lefty had already been on thin ice in the wake of back-to-back disasters against the Washington Nationals, though what may have hurt the most this time around was just how much more abruptly things seemed to unravel on him.

Whereas Matz had already allowed five runs by the end of the third in the prior go-around and couldn’t even record a fourth inning out in the start before that, he’d entered the fifth inning of last night’s contest having allowed just one run on a Jean Segura solo homer, one walk to Rhys Hoskins, and no other baserunners. He’d thrown 34 of his 56 pitches for strikes, and had strung together five punchouts on a medley of changeups and curveballs on the way there.

From the very first at-bat in the bottom of the first, Steven appeared to make a point of avoiding his fastball – a pitch that, in each of its three variations, had given him pronounced issues in his two duds against the Nationals. His three-up, three-down first included a pair of strikeouts and just four total sinkers across a 14-pitch spread. His first punchout of Andrew McCutchen came on a 3-2 changeup before he got Bryce Harper fishing on a curveball away.

The second inning saw a few more fastballs and some harder-hit offspeeds, and Matz ultimately hit his first snag with the homer to Segura on a loose changeup that ended up a couple of feet beyond the left field wall. Even then, the lefty made quick work of his next two hitters, ending with a fastball on the inside corner to ring up righty Phil Gosselin.

He maintained the tempo in the third inning, inducing a groundout to third and a popout to second before striking out McCutchen on another good changeup off the plate.

Philadelphia eked out a five-pitch walk courtesy of Hoskins to lead off the bottom of the fourth and moved him to second following a sacrifice bunt from Harper, but Matz again kept a lid on it: he forged ahead of J.T. Realmuto with a 95 mph 1-1 fastball before fluttering a 1-2 curveball to the backfoot for a swinging strikeout. Up against Segura for a second time, Matz kept the fastball inside to extract a routine flyout to center and escape trouble.

“I just wanted to slow the tempo down a little bit, and establish that down and away fastball – which I feel like I did,” Matz told reporters following the game.

“Even on some of those pitches that were balls that missed early on – and I was even throwing my fastball in, like I wanted to… It’s just [about] moving that fastball around and working off that with my changeup… I feel like I was able to do that today, honestly.”

Unfortunately for all parties, the game plan Matz had otherwise followed successfully began to fade in the fifth, and this time, the lefty couldn’t get out of trouble on his own accord. For all the credit Matz deserves for keeping a consistent tempo and executing early on, the roof really caved in once the Phils’ order came around for a third time, and it came to change the tone for the rest of the night altogether.

Things began with a stroke of bad luck, when Didi Gregorius‘ check-swing on a curveball away got the better of a shifted Met infield. Gosselin proceeded to lace a low changeup into shallow right, putting two on for rookie third baseman Alec Bohm. Bohm laid off a handful of harder fastballs (96-97 mph range) off the plate before coming away from his eight pitch at-bat with a walk, taking a 3-2 changeup inside to load the bases.

An F9 off the bat of Scott Kingery failed to move anyone up, though the veteran McCutchen came back to the plate smarter. In a tightly-contested 2-2 count, Matz proceeded to miss with two more low fastballs – the last in the dirt – to bring home a second run and keep the spot warm for Hoskins. One middle-away fastball later, the ball had rolled its way to the wall in right-center field.

“I look at that fifth inning and [they] got an infield single, [I] executed a pitch on 0-2 [to Gosselin] – single. Bohm fights me on a tough at-bat and I end up walking him, same thing for McCutchen,” Matz offered.

“I made a few good pitches, he fouled me off, I walked him, and then I made a bad pitch to Hoskins.”

All it took was just two bad fastballs in a row from Matz, though it still took a tense situation amidst a one-run deficit and melted it into a 5-0 Philadelphia lead. Team skipper Luis Rojas gave the lefty one more chance against Harper, but the line just kept moving, as Bryce scorched a middle-in changeup off the right field wall to score Hoskins and add a sixth run to the docket.

The ball came off the bat at 115 mph, and Matz promptly came out of the game to end a 28-pitch (17-strike) frame. In his stead, Jeurys Familia recorded two outs, stranding run number seven and stopping the bleeding.

“The first four innings, he was able to talk and tell the pitching coach what he was able to do,” Rojas indicated in the postgame roundup. “Nothing [concerning] as far as the emotional part… It’s a tough outing for him. We’ve had a few of those before the start tonight.”

The tough breaks that opened matters in the fifth are par for the course whenever Matz seems to have his worst innings, but the lefty’s continued inability to stay on an even keel and execute pitches this year seems to have officially hit its crescendo.

Even after cruising through four innings and seemingly a few more hitters from turning the page on a rough patch, the lefty couldn’t recover a feeling in time for the top of the batting order, and the five-batter span in which things escalated from safe to tumultuous to borderline unwatchable continued to weigh on a visibly unnerved Matz in his postgame discussion with reporters:

“It’s really frustrating. It’s really, really frustrating for me. I don’t know… I’m trying to stay positive. I’m trying to take the positives out of it. I just gotta execute better, and I gotta give the team a better chance to win. It’s just unacceptable.”

On taking the positive developments from each of his starts and moving on from the more damning aspects of these starts, Matz didn’t sugarcoat: “It’s very difficult… when you have results like this a few outings in a row, in your head you’re like ‘I gotta change something. Something’s gotta be different.’ That’s the battle for me.”

The good news for Matz, at least for now, is that the organization has virtually no pitching depth to reach back to, meaning what may otherwise call for relegation to the bullpen may just need to be resolved with more mental reps against more hitters.

Rojas voiced a similar sentiment, albeit much more supportively of the lefty:

“This just happens. As a staff, like we’ve done in the past, we’re gonna get together and we’re gonna talk and see what’s best for Matzy and see what adjustments he can make when he gets the ball again.”

Matz has come a long way from his days as a physically vulnerable arm with a quick temper, and his status as the team’s number two behind Jacob deGrom has solidified that. Unfortunately, in a strange season that has continued to spiral out of the Mets’ grasp, the future of the Mets’ rotation doesn’t appear so clear anymore.

If he wants to remain a part of the picture beyond the next two seasons, Matz will need to find a better way to work around the luck factor and eight-pitch walks. Pitchers failing to last five innings on a competitive ballclub with the season a third of the way through is, in fact, nothing short of unacceptable, no matter how dominant or back-to-form their first four innings of work.

The post Matz Run From Fifth Inning in Loud Loss to Phillies appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Good Morning, Mets fans!

Last night, Walker Lockett took the mound in Philadelphia after Jacob deGrom was scratched due to neck stiffness. The Mets came up just short against the Phillies though, by a score of 6-5.

Well after the Met game ended last night, Jeff Passan of ESPN reported that a Reds player tested positive for COVID-19. This is likely to cancel Saturday’s game between the Reds and the Pirates. It is unclear how long the cancellation will last, but MLB is sure to be extra cautious this team so as to avoid another breakout.

Tonight, Steven Matz (0-3, 8.20 ERA) is scheduled to make his start against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. Opposing him is the Phillies’ ace RHP Aaron Nola (1-1, 2.79 ERA). The game will be televised on SNY and broadcast from WCBS 880 AM.

Latest Mets News

Tyler Hendrickson of The 562, wrote a feature article on the New York Mets newest scout Glenn Walker who adds his own unique style to his scouting when at games. He is the scout who encouraged the Mets to draft Isaiah Greene after scouting his older brother while working as a scout for the Braves.

Latest MLB News

Jon Morosi of MLBNetwork reported the latest MLB COVID-19 update. The league and the Players Association have announced the past week’s positive test rate was 0.03% which includes four positive tests our of 12,301 samples. The four positive tests came from the St. Louis Cardinals.

After 15 days off, the St. Louis Cardinals will play their first game on Saturday in a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Their last game was on July 29th.

Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reported that the Cleveland Indians reinstated Mike Clevinger and Zach Plesac from the restricted list and optioned them. The two pitchers were put on the restricted list after violating MLB protocols while in Chicago last weekend.

After the altercation between the Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron and Ramon Laureano, the two involved were given suspensions — Cintron 20 games, Laureano six games — Laureano had appealed his suspension and got it reduced to four games rather than six according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Stephen Battaglio of the Los Angeles Times reported that Fox Sports has noted that there has been a 100% to 150% increase in views for live sporting events as compared to those dates last year. The article continues to prove just how popular live sports are now compare to last year and why they are more popular now.

Aaron Judge is going to the injured list with a strained calf as per Aaron Boone, according to Lindsey Adler of the Athletic.

Logan Morrison was designated for assignment on Monday by the Milwaukee Brewers, and since clearing waivers he has elected free agency rather than being outright.

Latest NL East News

Starlin Castro suffers a broken wrist and was placed on the 10-day injured list.

Latest on MMO

Tatiana Snedeker recapped David Peterson‘s start on Thursday afternoon.

Matt Mancuso wrote about Jeff McNeil‘s press conference with the media on Friday after his crash into the wall on Thursday.

Michael Mayer reported what was said during Jacob deGrom’s press conference on Friday prior to his scratched start.

Matthew Brownstein speaks with Mets Senior Alumni Relations Jay Horwitz.

On This Day in Mets History

Happy Birthday to Oliver Perez (39), Duffy Dyer (75), and Tommie Reynolds (79)!

Stay happy, healthy, and safe!

The post Morning Briefing: Reds Game Canceled Over Positive COVID-19 Test appeared first on Metsmerized Online.