Final Score: Phillies 5, Mets 3
The resilient Phillies are now winners of seven straight games for the first time since Sept. 2012.
When Ranger Suárez struggled to get through three innings, JD Hammer and Héctor Neris stepped up to get the Phillies to the eighth inning without a run on the board. When Alec Bohm made an error at third, Odúbel Herrera saved a run with a running catch in left field. When Mauricio Llovera surrendered three consecutive home runs, Ian Kennedy came in and blew the Mets away with his fastball.
With Rhys Hoskins, Andrew McCutchen and Didi Gregorius all out with injuries, the offense stepped up and led their team to victory. The reward for lifting up your teammates? It’s a 1.5 game lead over the Mets heading into the series finale with Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler scheduled to take the mound.
Both teams got their first hits in the fourth inning. Mets starter Tylor Megill impressed both at the plate and on the mound. He had a perfect game going until the fourth inning and in two at-bats, Megill saw 17 pitches. He laced a double to left, giving the top of the Mets order a chance to drive him in. Unfortunately for the Mets, Brandon Nimmo and Pete Alonso couldn’t get a hit off of Hammer. The Mets are now 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position in this series.
Then things began to unravel for the Mets rookie pitcher. The fifth began with a solo shot from Brad Miller into the Mets bullpen. With two outs and two on, Odúbel Herrera crushed a first-pitch fastball that landed in the second deck of right field. Overall, the Phillies sent nine men to the plate in the fifth and scored four runs in the fifth after getting just one hit through four.
With Archie Bradley unavailable, Girardi decided to go with Llovera to close out the game with a five-run lead. Back-to-back-to-back home runs from Michael Conforto, Jonathan Villar and James McCann against Llovera gave way to the closer Kennedy.
The tying run reached base, but Kennedy was able to get six swinging strikes and fend off the Mets’ comeback.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Tylor Megill: 4 2/3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO, 2 HR, 79 pitches
Megill came off his worst outing in the big leagues last time out, allowing four earned runs in five innings against the Marlins. While his changeup was solid through four, Megill ran into a big inning that tarnished his line. Like their playoff odds, the Mets’ starting rotation is trending in the wrong direction.
Ranger Suárez: 2 2/3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 61 pitches
Suárez had an uncharacteristic 27-pitch first inning in which he walked two hitters. Thankfully, Mets hitters struggled to catch up to his pitches in the zone. Of his nine whiffs induced, six were on his sinker. He topped out at 96.1 mph on his sinker in the second inning and maintained a velocity in the mid 90s, which is a good sign moving forward.
Phillies Nugget Of The Game
Through the first month and a half of the season, the Phillies couldn’t find a way to get Mets leadoff hitter Brandon Nimmo out. He went 10-for-28 with eight walks in his first nine games against Philadelphia this year. So far in this series, Nimmo is 0-for-7 with three walks.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Sunday, August 8 vs. New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park
- 1:05 p.m. ET
- TV: TBS, NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
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