The Mets and Giants continued their series on Wednesday night. As the series stood heading into Wednesday night’s matchup, the Giants led the series 1-0. It was Taijuan Walker on the mound for the Mets against Johnny Cueto for the visiting Giants at Citi Field. It was an odd game, a comedy of errors in parts of it, but the results were familiar. The Mets lost to the Giants 3-2.

The game was a pitchers’ duel early as no runs were scored until the Giants struck first in the fourth and the Mets answered in the fifth. The story of the night, however was Walker for the Mets who threw six innings, giving up just two hits, three runs, two earned runs, one walk, three strikeouts, and one home run home. He also had two hits from the left side of the plate.

After a phenomenal outing, Walker was pulled with two on in the seventh in what many thought was a questionable move to the bullpen by Luis Rojas who is taking heat for pulling the dominant Walker early in the seventh. Aaron Loup then gave up a double immediately to drive in the runs for the Giants and put Walker in line for the loss that he would go on to receive. But Walker was dominant on Wednesday night and almost un-hittable for most of the game.

Pete Alonso hit a one-out single in the bottom half of the inning, but the Mets failed to produce as the game quickly headed to the second.

The Mets tried to get action started in the bottom of the second as Javier Baez and Dominic Smith singled back-to-back, but Jonathan Villar grounded into a double play and Patrick Mazeika struck out to end the inning as the Mets continued to struggle with runners in scoring position.

Taijuan Walker with his first hit as a left-handed batter! pic.twitter.com/Wrcm0Phx85

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 25, 2021

The Giants struck first in the top of the fourth as Kris Bryant hit a solo-home run off of Walker with two outs to give the Giants a 1-0 lead in the fourth. That home run was Bryant’s 23^rd home run of the season.

Prior to Bryant’s home run, Javier Baez made a spectacular diving play to get the second out of the inning.

EL MAGO 🎩🎩🎩 pic.twitter.com/y9LaXCWCDt

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 25, 2021

The Mets could not answer as they went down quiet in the bottom half of the inning with Michael Conforto being the only player to reach base in the inning with a one-out walk.

The Mets then answered in the bottom of the fifth. They started things off with a one-out walk by Villar. Then two batters later Walker hit his second left-handed hit of the night to improve to 2-2 on the night and put two runners on with two out. Brandon Nimmo walked, which then brought up Pete Alonso, who reached on a throwing error that scored Villar to tie the game at 1-1. That would be all the Mets produced in the fifth as the game headed to the sixth tied 1-1.

Taijuan Walker is 2-for-2 tonight. pic.twitter.com/roAbB4Js1X

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 26, 2021

As Walker continued to cruise through the Giants’ lineup, he retired the Giants in order once again in the bottom of the sixth. He was through six innings and gave up just one hit through those six.

Tony Watson replaced Jose Alvarez on the mound for the Giants in the sixth.

The Mets took then lead in the bottom of the sixth. Conforto singled to lead off the inning. Two batters later Smith doubled to right field to score Conforto and give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Villar then followed with another single, but Mazeika grounded into a double play to end the inning.

Dom Smith rips a double to drive in Michael Conforto and the Mets have a 2-1 lead! pic.twitter.com/89XPiLPEQE

— SNY (@SNYtv) August 26, 2021

Things began to unravel a bit for Walker and the Mets in the seventh. Bryant reached on an error and Alex Dickerson singled on a fly ball to right field to advance Brant to second.

Loup then replaced Walker on the mound for the Mets. Crawford immediately doubled off of Loup on the first pitch to score Bryant and Dickerson and give the Giants a 3-2 lead. He would eventually get out of the inning without further damage.

The Giants went to their bullpen again in the seventh as Dominic Leone replaced Tony Watson on the mound for the Giants. He pitched well in his first inning of relief, allowing just a one-out single to Nimmo and striking out Lindor and grounding Alonso into a double play to end the inning.

Seth Lugo replaced Loup on the mound for the Mets in the eighth. After giving up a lead-off double to Darin Ruf, he retired LaMonte Wade by a double play and flew out Brandon Belt to end the inning.

Tyler Rogers, the submarine pitcher replaced Leone on the mound for the Giants in the bottom of the eighth. He retired the Mets in order to keep the Giants’ lead intact heading into the ninth inning.

Trevor May replaced Lugo on the mound for the Mets in the ninth. He retired the Giants in order to bring the Mets back to the plate quickly. The Mets needed to score to keep the game alive.

The Mets looked to remain alive in the ninth. Villar singled with one out and then Brandon Drury reached on an error to put two-on with one out. Lindor popped out for the second out of the inning. Nimmo then walked and bases were loaded for Alonso who popped out to end the inning and the game as the Giants went on to beat the Mets 3-2 on Wednesday night. With that win, the Giants take 2-0 series win to win the series as well.

Watson (5-3) gets the win for the Giants, Walker (7-9) gets the loss for the Mets, and McGee collects his 29th save for the Giants.

The Mets and Giants conclude their series Thursday night at 7:10 pm EDT. Carlos Carrasco (0-2, 8.82 ERA) takes the mound for the Mets against Alex Wood (10-4, 4.11 ERA) for the Giants as the Mets look to salvage at least one game against the Giants this series.

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The Mets were back in black on Friday night against the Dodgers as the two clubs opened a weekend series in New York. It was Tylor Megill (1-2, 3.49 ERA) taking the mound for the Mets at Citi Field against Julio Urias (13-3, 3.33 ERA) on the mound for the Dodgers. The Mets staked the Dodgers to a 4-0 lead before showing their grit and tying things up in the seventh. The game went into extras and in the top of the tenth, Will Smith, who has had some enormous clutch hits for Los Angeles this season, hit a 2-run homer to lift the Dodgers to a 6-5 win. The game was witnessed by the largest crown at Citi Field in two years (38,395).

Megill struggled in the top of the first to open his outing. After Trea Turner grounded out to open the inning, Max Muncy doubled on a line drive to right field to put a runner in scoring position with one out for the Dodgers. Megill struck out Will Smith for the second out of the inning, but then gave up an RBI double to Corey Seager that plated Muncy to put the Dodgers on top 1-0. Megill struck out AJ Pollock to end the frame.

Things began to unravel for Megill in the third as the Dodgers tacked on a run. The inning opened with back-to-back singles by Turner and Muncy, followed by a sacrifice fly by Smith that scored Turner to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 2-0.

Brandon Nimmo collected the Mets’ first hit of the game in the bottom of the third, a two-out single to left field, but that was the only offense produced by the Mets in the inning.

The Dodgers continued to add on in the fourth inning. After Megill collected his sixth strikeout of the night, he gave up a one-out single to Bellinger, a walk of former Met  Billy McKinney, and a hit by pitch to load the bases. Turner then hit a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Bellinger to extend the Dodgers’ lead to 3-0.

James McCann led-off the bottom of the fifth with a lead-off single to get the Mets in business offensively. Albert Almora walked a couple batters later to put two on with one out for the Mets. With two runners on, the Mets failed to produce any runs, keeping the Dodgers in the lead 3-0 after five innings.

Drew Smith replaced Megill on the mound for the Mets in the sixth. The Dodgers quickly got to Smith as they tacked on another run. Chris Taylor led off the inning with a lead-off double. Two batters later McKinney hit the Dodgers’ third sacrifice fly of the night to center field to score Taylor and extend the Dodgers’ lead over the Mets to 4-0.

Corey Knebel replaced Urias on the mound for the Dodgers in the sixth. Nimmo produced the only offense of the inning and just the third Mets hits of the game, a lead-off single that was spoiled by three consecutive outs after that, leaving Nimmo stranded at first.

Yennsy Diaz replaced Smith on the mound for the Mets in the seventh. He retired the Dodgers in order in his first inning of work for a smooth first inning.

Brusdar Graterol replaced Knebel on the mound in the bottom of the seventh for the Mets. He got two quick strikeouts to open the inning before the Mets made the comeback they had been looking for all night.

The comeback started with a double by Michael Conforto to right field that knocked Graterol out of the game. Justin Bruihl came in to take the mound for the Dodgers to face Dominic Smith. Smith singled to center field to score Conforto and get the Mets on the board. It was 4-1 Dodgers with two outs in the seventh. Nimmo then walked, a wild pitched advanced Smith to third and Nimmo to second. Pete Alonso was intentionally walked to load the bases. Jeff McNeil then came up clutch with a two-out single that scored Smith and Nimmo to bring the Mets within one of the Dodgers in an exciting seventh inning for the Mets.

With the Mets down by just one, the Dodgers again went to their bullpen and brought in Blake Treinen to replace Bruihl on the mound.

A passed ball by catcher Smith allowed Alonso to score and tie the game before Treinen got the Dodgers out of the inning.

But the Mets did the job they needed to in the seventh as it was a brand-new ballgame heading into the eighth inning.

Miguel Castro came in to replace Diaz on the mound for the Mets in the eighth. He gave up just one single in the eighth, but kept the Dodgers at bay to keep the game tied heading to the bottom of the eighth with the Mets coming to bat with momentum.

Travis Blankenhorn tried to get the Mets started in the eighth with a one-out single, but the Mets failed to bring across any runs and Blankenhorn was picked off to end the inning.

The Mets and Braves headed to the ninth with a tied ballgame. Edwin Diaz replaced Castro on the mound for the Mets in the ninth.

After allowing a lead-off walk of McKinney, Diaz retired the next three batters he faced as the game headed to the bottom of the ninth for a walk-off opportunity for the Mets with the game tied 4-4.

Kenley Jansen replaced Treinen on the mound for the Dodgers in the bottom of the ninth. He retired the Mets in order to force extra innings.

Jeurys Familia replaced Diaz on the mound for the Mets in the tenth to face Smith with the automatic runner on second. Familia gave up a quick two-run home run to Smith the put the Dodgers back in front 6-4 in the 10th with no outs. After giving up a walk, Familia settled in and got out of the inning without allowing further damage.

Jansen came back out to pitch the tenth for the Dodgers. Alonso was the automatic runner on second.

Jeff McNeil hit a deep fly out to open the inning that was deep enough for Alonso to advance to third. Davis then walked to put two runners on for the Mets with one out. Villar then grounded out to third, but collected an RBI as Alonso scored to again bring the Mets within one run of the Dodgers. It was a 6-5 game with two outs and a runner on second for the Mets. The Dodgers then intentionally walked McCann to put two runners on. Nido then flew out to end the inning as the Dodgers went on to defeat the Mets in the opening game of the series 6-5 over the Mets.

Jansen (2-4) took the win for the Dodgers, while Familia (6-3) took the loss for the Mets.

The Mets and Dodgers will continue their series on Saturday at 7:10 PM. It will be Taijuan Walker (7-7, 3.89 ERA) on the mound for the Mets against Walker Buehler (12-2, 2.13 ERA) on the mound for the Dodgers.

The post Dodgers Defeat Gritty Mets, 6-5, as Will Smith Stars appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

With first place in the NL East on the line, the Mets and Phillies opened a crucial weekend series in Philadelphia. The Mets were coming off a poor series in Miami, losing three out of four, largely on their inability to get a big hit. Venues change, but the result did not as the Mets carried their poor play to Philly in a 4-2 loss that knocked them out of first place for the first time in 90 days.

Marcus Stroman and Kyle Gibson put on a pitchers duel show on Friday night. Both starters pitched well, with Stroman coming out of the game in the sixth and the Phillies going to their bullpen in the seventh. Stroman struck out five and Gibson struck out three as pitching was the story of the night through five innings..

The Phillies struck first in the second courtesy of Didi Gregorius who hit a solo home run to right field to give the Phillies an early 1-0 lead. Stroman settled in after that, collecting two more strikeouts to bring his strikeout count to three on the day.

The Mets then answered back in the top of the third. Walks to Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso put two runners on with two outs for Dominic Smith who proceeded to hit an RBI single to right field that scored Nimmo to tie the game 1-1.

Both pitchers gave up hits, but no runs in the fourth inning as the pitchers duel continued in Philadelphia. Gibson gave up a single to Michael Conforto in the top of the fourth, and Stroman gave up a two-out triple to Gregorius in the bottom of the fourth, but both pitchers left the runners stranded and alleviate any runs being scored in the inning.

Jeff McNeil led off the top of the fifth with a single to try to get something started for the Mets, but they left him stranded and continued to fail to score runs through five innings.

The Phillies retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth. Brad Miller led the inning off with a lead-off triple. Later in the inning Gibson singled to left field to score Miller and give the Phillies a 2-1 lead over the Mets.

Stroman then collected the last two outs of the inning to avoid any more damage. He collected two strikeouts in the inning to bring his strikeout count to five

Aaron Loup replaced Stroman on the mound for the Mets in the sixth. He gave up a single and a walk in the seventh but collected two strikeouts to get out of the inning.

Hector Neris replaced Gibson on the mound for the Phillies in the seventh and was effective.

Seth Lugo spelled Loup on the mound for the Mets and through a nice inning.

Edwin Diaz came in  for the Mets in the eighth and he once again struggled in relief.  Jean Segura singled on a ground ball to third and Bryce Harper followed with his 19th home run of the season, a two-run home run to center field that scored Segura and extended the Phillies’ lead over the Mets to 4-1 in the. Diaz would force a ground-out, work around a fielding error and collect a strikeout of Andrew Knapp to end the frame.

Ian Kennedy came in to pitch the ninth for the Phillies.

Jonathan Villar hit his eleventh home run of the year in the top of the ninth to give the Mets their second run of the night to bring the score to 4-2 in the ninth and give the Mets some life. That was all the Mets produced, however as the Phillies went on to defeat the Mets 4-2 on Friday night and take over first place in the NL East and drop the Mets to second place.

Gibson (8-3) was credited with the win for the Phillies, Stroman (7-11) took the loss, and Kennedy (17) was credited with the save for the Phillies.

The two clubs will continue their series on Saturday at 4:15 PM ET. It will be Tylor Megill (1-1) for the Mets vs Ranger Suarez (5-3) for the Phillies as the Mets look to try to regain first place in the NL East.

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The New York Mets opened the second half of the season in Pittsburgh with a dud. After not scoring in the final eight innings on Sunday against the same Pirates, the Mets scored only one lone run on Friday and fell to the Bucs, 4-1.

The Mets had their chances throughout the lackluster performance, as they had Pirates starter Chad Kuhl on the ropes in several innings but could not get the big hit when needed. New York went 0-for-12 with RISP.

Pittsburgh took the lead in the second inning on a two-RBI single by Adam Frazier off of Mets starter Marcus Stroman. Stroman would only give up those two runs in the game but took the loss to fall to 6-8.

The Mets had chance after chance and finally broke through in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Jonathan Villar. The Bucs led at this point 2-1.

The fifth was eventful to say the least, but mainly with extra-curricular activity. Stroman hit Reynolds by a pitch to put a runner on. Ben Gamel singled on a bunt to Stroman, but was then thrown out at second after a throwing error by Stroman. John Nogowski lined out to end the inning, but then tensions rose as the teams were exiting the field.

Nogowski and Stroman appeared to have words for each other, which led to benches clearing. The bullpens also emptied. The exchange lasted a couple minutes before things cleared up and play resumed. Stroman was seen running down into the dugout prior to the tussle ending, and play resumed in the sixth with the Pirates up 2-1.

The Pirates went to their bullpen in the sixth; Chasen Shreve replaced Chad Kuhl. He didn’t last long. He gave up a lead-off double to Pete Alonso and a one-out walk to Michael Conforto two batters later. After a mound visit, Shreve struck out Villar for the second out.

That ended his outing as Chris Stratton replaced Shreve on the mound for the Pirates in the sixth inning with two outs.

Stratton came in and retired James McCann to end the inning.

The Mets followed suit in the bottom of the sixth. They called on Drew Smith to replace Stroman on the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the sixth.

Stroman’s final line: 5.0 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 2.79 ERA

Smith’s day did not start well. He gave up a lead-off home run to Wilmer Difo that extended the Pirates’ lead over the Mets to 3-1. Stallings then singled off of Smith before he popped out Newman to get the first out of the inning

Smith then settled in, retiring Rodolfo Castro (pinch-hitter for Stratton) and Frazier to end the inning.

The Pirates went to their bullpen again in the seventh. Austin Davis replaced Stratton on the mound for the Pirates in the seventh. He retired the Mets in order.

The Mets went to their bullpen as well in the seventh. Jeurys Familia replaced Smith.

Smith’s final line: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 1 HR, 3.16 ERA

Familia struck out Hayes to open the inning, but then gave up a home run to center to Bryan Reynolds that extended the Pirates lead over the Mets to 4-1. Familia then struck out Gamel and retired Nogowski to get out of the inning.

David Bednar replaced Davis on the mound for the Pirates in the eighth with the Mets coming to bat in a situation in which they needed to put runners on try to score some runs.

Miguel Castro replaced Familia on the mound in the eighth for the Mets as they went to their bullpen in the bottom half of the inning.

Familia’s final line: 1.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 3.95 ERA

Castro was strong in his relief outing on Friday night. He gave up a one-out walk to Stallings after lining out Difo, but retired Newman (strikeout) and Oliva to end the inning.

The Mets came to bat in the top of the ninth needing to score three runs to tie the game and four to win.

Richard Rodriguez replaced Bednar on the mound for the Pirates in the ninth and closed it out and get the win for Pittsburgh.

Stroman (6-8) was credited with the loss, Kuhl (3-5) was credited with the win, and Rodriguez was credited with his thirteenth save of the season.

The Mets and Pirates will continue their series Saturday at 7:05 PM.

The post Mets Show Little Fight in 4-1 Loss to Bucs appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

After a come-from-behind win in game one of Friday night’s doubleheader against the Phillies, the Mets were looking for a two-game sweep in the night-cap of Friday night’s twin-bill.

Left-handed pitcher David Peterson (2-55, 5.07 ERA) got the ball for the Mets in game two against left-handed pitcher Matt Moore (0-1, 6.64 ERA) of the Phillies. After a battle of the right-handed pitchers, game two was a battle of the lefties on the mound.

It was another Friday night pitchers duel, but in the end, it was the Phillies who were victorious in game 2 as the two clubs split the doubleheader at Citi Field.

After hitting Odubel Herrera to put the lead-off hitter on first in the top of the first, Peterson settled in and forced Rhys Hoskins into a double play and grounded out Bryce Harper to end the inning.

Moore came to the mound for the Phillies for his first inning of work in the bottom of the first and retired the Mets in order with a strike out of Jeff McNeil, fly out of Francisco Lindor, and a fly out of Pete Alonso.

Peterson continued to settle in in the top of the second. He struck out Andrew McCutchen to open the inning, and forced Alec Bohm and Luke Williams into ground outs to end the inning.

Moore came out and answered the strong second inning that Peterson had. He retired Dominic Smith on a lineout and Kevin Pillar on a ground out for the first two outs of the inning before giving up a walk to Luis Guillorme. Moore then forced Almora into a fly out to end the inning.

The Phillies tried to get their offense started in the third inning. After a fly out by Ronald Torreyes, Rafael Marchan singled to center field. Moore then attempted to get on with a bunt and tried advancing Marchan, but Marchan was thrown out at second in a fielder’s choice. Peterson then struck out Herrera to end the third inning.

The Mets then tried to answer by putting a runner on in the bottom half of the fourth. Catcher Patrick Mazeika led off the inning with a single to left field to get the Mets started. In similar fashion to Moore in the third, Mets’ pitcher David Peterson attempted to bunt. He got thrown out at first, however he did his job moving Mazeika to second. But McNeil popped out and Moore forced Lindor to fly out to end the inning.

Peterson returned to the mound for the Mets in the fourth. He walked Hoskins to put the lead-off batter on base and then forced Harper to fly out for the first out of the inning. Peterson then forced McCutchen into a groundout. Hoskins was out at second and McCutchen reached and advanced to second on a throwing error by McNeil trying to turn a double play. Bohm then flew out to end the inning.

The Mets tried to get some action started in the bottom of the fourth. Pete Alonso led off with a single to center field. Smith then lined into a force out, Pillar grounded out, and Guillorme grounded out to end the inning.

The game remained scoreless heading into the fifth inning.

Peterson forced Williams to bunt into a ground out to open the inning, followed by a ground out of Ronald Torreyes. Torreyes was robbed of a single on a great play from Lindor who made a great grab to throw Torreyes out at first. Peterson then gave up a two-out single to Marchan. Peterson then struck out Moore to end the inning and take the game to the bottom of the fifth.

Moore continued to look strong in the fifth. He struck out Almora to open the inning. But then Mazeika singled on a line drive to center field to get the Mets started. It was their third hit of the night and Mazeika’s second. He was 2-for-2 on the night. Peterson came up behind Mazeika and grounded into a force out. Mazeika was out at second and Peterson reached first. The Mets had two outs with one on for McNeil who was 0-2 so far on the night. He would line out to Harper in right field to end the inning.

The scoreless tie continued as game two between the Mets and Phillies headed to the sixth.

Peterson forced Herrera to line out to open the inning and struck out Hoskins for the second out of the inning. But Bryce Harper opened the scoring as the Phillies struck first in game two. Harper hit a long solo home run to center field off of Peterson to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning. That was Harpers 11th home run of the season and it came off of a pitch that was left high in the zone that Harper was able to get a hold of.

Things began to unravel a bit for Peterson in the sixth as he then walked McCutchen with two outs. After a mound visit, Peterson settled down enough to strike out Bohm to end the inning and get out of the sixth inning.

Moore’s night was done after five innings. Joe Girardi went to the bullpen in the sixth replacing Moore on the mound with Connor Brogdon.

Brogdon forced Lindor to pop out to open the top of the bottom of the sixth with a quick first out. With one out, Pete Alonso singled to center field to put a runner on base for the Mets. Alonso was continuing to have a great night. He was 2-3 in game two through six innings. The Mets had one out and one on for Dominic Smith, but he proceeded to ground into a double play.

As Brogdon exited the field in the sixth, he was met by umpires for his first “foreign substance check” of the night.

Trevor May replaced Peterson on the mound for the Mets in the seventh.

Peterson’s final line:

6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO, 1 HR, 4.95 ERA

Facing his first batter of the night, May forced Williams to ground out for the first out of the inning. He then got Torreyes to ground out for a quick two outs. May then popped up Marchan for the final out of the top of the seventh.

The Mets needed late inning heroics as they were facing a must-score bottom of the seventh inning to keep the game going, down by one run to the Phillies. They needed one out to tie it and two to win it. They had Pillar, Guillorme, and Almora due up in the bottom of the seventh.

Archie Bradley replaced Brogdon on the mound for the Phillies in the seventh.

Billy McKinney pinch-hit for Pillar. He got the Mets’ offense kick-started with a lead-off single to left field. Guillorme then reached on a fielding error by the Phillies on a ground ball to third to put runners on first and second with no outs  in the seventh for the Mets.

With the tying and winning runs on board, Michael Conforto came in to pinch-hit for Almora. Bradley walked Conforto to load the bases.

The Mets had bases loaded, no outs, and Patrick Mazeika coming to the plate. The Phillies also brought their infield in. Bradley struck out Mazeika for the first out of the inning. That brought up pinch-hitter James McCann who was 0-for-3 in game one. McCann hit a deep fly to center field that scored McKinney to tie the game.

With runners on the corners and two outs McNeil grounded out to send game to extra innings yet again.

There were a lot of changes in the eighth. McKinney remained in the game at center, Travis Blankenhorn replaced Conforto in right, Sean Reid-Foley replaced Trevor May on the mound for the Mets.

Brad Miller pinch-hit for Archhie Bradley. Rafael Marchan started on second for the Phillies as the automatic runner on second.

Reid-Foley grounded out Miller, but allowed Marchan to advance to third. Herrera then grounded out, but Guillorme being forced to get the out at first allowed Jankowski to score to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the eighth. Howskins then flew out to right field to end the inning.

The Mets went down in order in the eighth and the Phillies took game two 2-1.

Game three of the series is Saturday at 4:10PM. It will be Jacob deGrom taking the mound for the Mets against Zach Eflin for the Phillies.

The post Mets Drop Game 2, Split Doubleheader With Phils appeared first on Metsmerized Online.

The Mets and Phillies opened their weekend series with a double-header on Friday night at Citi Field. Game one featured right-handed pitcher Aaron Nola for the Phillies versus right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker for the Mets. Heading into Friday night’s matchup, Nola was 5-4 with a 4.12 ERA. Walker was 6-3 with a 2.42 ERA.

It was a pitcher’s dual through five innings, but late-inning heroics by the Mets were the decisive factor of game one as the Mets claimed the walk-off win, 2-1 over the Phillies in game one of the doubleheader.

Walker came out in the top half of the first for the Mets and threw a routine one, two, three inning retiring the Phillies in order with a bunt ground out of Odubel Herrera, a strikeout of Rhys Hoskins, and a fly out of Bryce Harper to end the inning.

The Mets put runners on to start the bottom half of the first against Nola. Nola opened the inning hitting Jeff McNeil and then gave up a double to Francisco Lindor to put runners on second and third with no outs. However, the Mets would not be able to answer as Nola settled in with three strikeouts in a row of Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, and Dominic Smith to end the inning.

Walker continued to look strong in the second. He popped out J.T. Realmuto, struck out Alec Bohm, and forced Travis Jankowski to fly out to end the top half of the second.

Nola continued to look very strong in the bottom of the second as he retired the Mets in order with three straight strikeouts of James McCann, Kevin Pillar, and Luis Guillorme to end the inning. That brought Nola’s strikeout count to six strikeouts through just two innings of work.

Walker looked solid again in the third. He struck out Ronald Torreyes to open the inning and grounded out Nick Maton before giving up a two-out single to Nola, who started his day at the plate as strong as he was starting it on the mound. Walker got out of the inning with a strikeout of Herrera. Walker had four strikeouts through three innings of work as the pitchers dual continued at Citi Field.

The Mets once again went down very quiet in the bottom half of the third as Nola continued to look very impressive. He struck out Walker, McNeil, and Lindor to end the inning and bring his strikeout count to nine strikeouts through just three innings of work.

Walker came back out in the top of the fourth and continued to pitch well. A ground-out of Hoskins and strikeout of Harper got two quick outs for the Mets before Walker gave up a two-out single to Realmuto. No damage was done, however, as Walker grounded out Bohm to end the inning. He had five strikeouts through four innings of work.

The Mets showed signs of life in the bottom half of the fourth. After Michael Conforto struck out to open the inning, Alonso continued his hot-streak since returning from the injured list with a double to right field to get the Mets started. Smith grounded out to advance Alonso to third, but a strikeout of McCann ended the inning as the Mets continued to struggle to figure out Nola, who’s strikeout count was 11 through four innings of work.

The scoreless tie ended in the fifth inning as the Phillies opened the scoring. Walker started the inning off well with a lineout of Jankowski and groundout of Torreyes before walking Maton to put a runner on. But it was Nola with an RBI double that scored Maton to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead over the Mets. Maton was 2-2 with a single and RBI double as he showed that Shohei Ohtani isn’t the only pitcher who can produce at the plate. An impressive day for Maton continued on the field and at-bat.

After a mound visit Walker got out of trouble with a fly out of Herrera. But not before the Phillies took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth.

The Mets looked to answer in the bottom half of the fifth, but Nola continued to stay strong. Pillar reached on a fielding error by Bohm to open the fifth, but a groundout of Guillorme, lineout to Billy McKinney (pinch-hitting for Walker) and a strikeout of McNeil got Nola out of the inning. His strikeout of McNeil was his twelfth (12) strikeout of the afternoon.

Walker’s day was done after the fifth inning as Miguel Castro replaced Walker on the mound for the Mets in the top of the sixth. Walker was in line to be credited with the loss unless the Mets could come back to tie or win the game.

Taijuan Walker’s final line:

5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 0 HR, 2.38 ERA

Castro was looking to have a better outing than his last one and redeem himself a bit. He had a strong first inning of relief. He flew out Hoskins and struck out Harper before giving up a two-out walk to Realmuto. A ground out of Bohm ended the inning to keep the Phillies from extending their score as Castro kept the Mets in the game.

The Mets had failed to produce offensively through the first five innings, accumulating just two hits. With just a seven-inning game due to the doubleheader, the Mets needed to get started offensively in the sixth. The inning started well for the ‘Amazins with a little help from the Nola who showed his first signs of struggle. He hit Francisco Lindor to put the lead-off runner on and then forced Conforto into a ground out that moved Lindor to second. Alonso followed Conforto and was walked by Nola to put runners on first and second with one out.

That would end Nola’s day as Joe Girardi went to his bullpen and replaced Nola with Jose Alvarado on the mound for the Phillies with runners on first and second, Lindor representing the tying run.

Nola looked very impressive Friday afternoon for the Phillies. He struck out 12 and walked just one, giving up just two hits over 5.1 innings of work and 99 pitches thrown.

Alvarado walked the first batter he faced, Dominic Smith to load the bases with James McCann coming to bat with just one out in the bottom half of the sixth. Alvarado got the second out of the inning with a strikeout of McCann, a big strikeout and out for Alvarado.

With the bases still loaded, Pillar came to bat for the Mets who were still looking for their first run of the day. However, Pillar left the bases loaded as Alvarado forced him into a ground out to end the inning. The Mets left the bases loaded as the Phillies kept the 1-0 lead heading into the seventh inning.

Castro came back out for the seventh inning for the Mets for his second inning of work. He struggled in his second inning of relief as he walked Janksowski to put the lead-off hitter on base. He forced Torreyes into a groundout to collect the first out of the inning, but walked Maton to put runners on first and second. That ended Castro’s outing as Luis Rojas went to his bullpen, replacing Castro with Drew Smith on the mound for the Mets in the seventh to get the final two outs of the game.

Smith did his job, ending the inning with a fly out of Williams and a line out of Herrera.

The Mets came to bat in the seventh needing to get started offensively to either send the game to extra innings or win it. Guillorme reached on a throwing error by Alvarado and advanced to second to open the inning. Albert Almora came in to pinch-hit for Drew Smith. Almora struck out for the first out of the inning. McNeil followed Almora with a ground out for the second out of the inning to advance Guillorme to third.

Francisco Lindor came to bat after McNeil with two outs and came up clutch! Lindor hit an RBI single on a sharp line drive to center field to score Guillorme and tie the game at one in the bottom of the seventh. That was Lindor’s second hit of the day. He was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

With two outs in a tie game in the seventh, Joe Girardi went to the Phillies’ bullpen, replacing Alvarado on the mound with Ranger Suarez to face Michael Conforto who was 0-3 on the day. Suarez grounded out Conforto to send the game to extra innings.

The Mets made defensive substitutions in the eight. Pillar moved to right field from center field, Albert Almora remained in the game at center field, Seth Lugo replaced Smith on the mound for the Mets.

Odubel Herrera started the inning on second base as the automatic base runner. Lugo struck out Rhys Hoskins to open the inning and intentionally walked Harper to put runners on first and second with one out in the top of the eight. After starting putting runners on first and second, Lugo struck out Realmuto and Andrew McCutchens (pinch-hitting for Ranger Suarez) to end the inning and keep the Phillies from scoring.

With the automatic runner on second, the Mets put another runner on and it was Dominic Smith coming up clutch with an RBI single to win the game for the Mets, defeating the Phillies 2-1 in game one of Friday night’s double header.

Game 2 was set to follow game one approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one. David Peterson was set to take the mound for the Mets in game two against Matt Moore for the Phillies

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