Final Score: Mets 10, Phillies 9
Sunday’s season series finale against New York was arguably as grotesque as any of the other previous 18 matchups between the Phillies and Mets this season. Maybe the epic six-run collapse in the ninth was worse. Or the one time they were no-hit at Citi Field. How about the Nick Plummer home run against Corey Knebel?
This one however, was a long and painful trudge to the final out. It was a four-hour and 26-minute long contest with a 46 minute rain delay in between.
The Phillies surrendered three leads and lost 9-8. On the day prized reliever Seranthony DomÃnguez was placed on the injured list, the Phillies bullpen blew two saves in a single game for only the second time this season.
Two clutch home runs from Mark Canha late in the game were the difference between a series split and 1-3 series loss.
Down 7-4 in the seventh, Canha launched a first-pitch fastball against Connor Brogdon over the left field wall to tie the game. Brogdon wasn’t sharp in his first back-to-back outing since June.
With David Robertson pitching in the ninth inning on consecutive days, Canha went deep again to put his team on top, 9-8. Brandon Nimmo added on with a home run against Tyler Cyr, who made his major league debut. It turned out be an extremely valuable insurance run.
Then the impossible happened. No, the Phillies did not come back against lights-out closer Edwin Diaz. They actually did have a chance against him. The first two batters reached after Diaz threw just two pitches. Bryson Stott hit one to the warning tracks and pinch hitter Darick Hall had the tying run in scoring position, but Diaz struck him out to end the game. An earned run scored against Diaz in an outing for only the seventh time this season.
Had the Mets not come back, the defining moment of the game would have been Jean Segura’s pinch-hit home run in the eighth against Trevor May. It was Segura’s 12th career home run against the Mets.
It’s already been long established that the Mets have embarrassed the Phillies this season. With thousands of boisterous Mets fans in the stands, Sunday’s loss made some painful truths even more evident. The Phillies may be good enough to get into the playoffs, but they don’t have a chance in the world against the Mets, a team the Phillies would have to beat if they want a storybook ending to this season.
Manager Rob Thomson, of course, disagrees with that assessment.
“We’re gonna face them again, hopefully,” Thomson said. “Playoff baseball is a little bit different than the regular season, but I think for the most part, in the last two series, we played them pretty tight.”
Gibson struggles with command
Kyle Gibson battled through command issues in his shortest outing in a month. After the Phillies put up a four spot in the first, Gibson allowed two unearned runs after some sloppy play by the Phillies defense. With one out and Daniel Vogelbach on base after a lead off walk, Canha hit a grounder to Alec Bohm that likely would have been a force out at second had Bohm not bobbled the baseball.
The extra out given to the Mets came back to bite the Phillies. Mets catcher Michael Perez drove in his fourth RBI of the series on a two-run base hit to center. Bradley Zimmer misplayed the ball, forcing a play at the plate after one run already scored. Stott threw a nearly perfect one hopper to J.T Realmuto, but he couldn’t catch it and apply the tag on Brett Baty. Gibson was pulled after 105 pitches through 4 1/3 innings.
The Phillies also wasted a six RBI, two three-run home run performance from Bohm.
Bohm’s first bomb came in the bottom of the first against Mets starter Jose Butto, who gave up three runs before recording an out in his MLB debut.
His second three-run shot came once again with the game all tied up. Butto threw Bohm a 1-1 hanging changeup that the Phillies third baseman took the other way. The 348-ft shot, which hit off the right-field foul pole, was the shortest Phillies home run since June 1.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Realmuto’s first inning double was the 200th of his career.
- At four hours and 26 minutes, Sunday’s game was only four minutes shy of being the longest nine-inning game in National League history.
- The Phillies’ lead in the wild card standings over the Brewers shrunk to 1.5 games. The Padres, who won against the Nationals, now have a half game lead over the Phillies for the second wild-card spot.
- Sunday marks only the third time the Phillies have lost under Rob Thomson while scoring four or more runs.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Monday, August 22 vs. Cincinnati Reds at Citizens Bank Park
- 7:05 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP
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