The Mets won their first road series since early June by taking the rubber game against the Phillies today: Mets 6, Phillies 1. The offense had 14 hits and seven walks, and Nolan McLean only allowed two hits and two walks as he shut out the Phillies for six innings.
At the top of the first inning, Bo Bichette worked a two-out walk after 11 pitches to bring up Francisco Lindor, who smacked a two-run home run into right field. Carson Benge then tapped a ground ball to Alec Bohm, who couldn’t get his
glove on it properly, allowing Benge to reach first base for a single. Jared Young was then hit by a pitch that caught him right under his arm to continue the inning. Marcus Semien was up next and struck out for the third out. Meanwhile, McLean started strong by working a 1-2-3 inning while facing the top of the Phillies lineup in the bottom of the first inning, keeping the score Mets 2, Phillies 0.
After Brett Baty lined a single into right field to lead off the second inning, Luis Torrens rolled an RBI double down the left-field foul line. It barely stayed fair, but Baty slid into home to score easily. Juan Soto walked after a nine-pitch at-bat, and Bichette tapped a fly ball into center field to load the bases. Lindor lined an RBI single into right field to score Torrens and keep the bases loaded. Benge dumped a sac fly into right field to Gabriel Rincones, Jr., who paused to flip his sunglasses down before catching the ball. Despite the smooth move, Rincones could not get the ball home before Soto scored an additional run. Young lined out to first base to end the top of inning, but not before the Mets had increased their lead to 5-0.
After Brandon Marsh grounded out, Alec Bohm reached first base safely by rolling to touch the base before Young tagged him. However, the ball came back and hit McLean on the shin before any of that happened. Fortunately he was able to stay in the game and continued to pitch after being checked by the trainer, but walked Bryson Stott immediately after. However, J.T. Realmuto followed that by grounding into a double play, which ended the second inning.
With two outs at the top of the fourth, Bichette lined a single into right field, and Lindor drew a walk, but Benge grounded out to end the Mets’ opportunity to pad their lead even more. During the bottom of the fourth, the seventh pitch of Marsh’s at-bat was called a foul ball, despite the fact that he never touched the ball with his bat. It did not matter one pitch later, when he grounded out to end the inning, but it was still annoying as the play was not reviewable. Regardless, the score remained Mets 5, Phillies 0 at the end of the fourth inning.
Tyrone Taylor came in to pinch-hit for Young at the top of the fifth, and smacked a ball into right field. It seemed like Rincones was going to catch it until he bonked himself on the fence, allowing Taylor to reach second base. But after Semien struck out for the third time in a row, Taylor attempted to steal third base and was caught after he overslid. Baty grounded out to Harper to end the Mets’ fifth-inning bid there. McLean retired the side in order yet again at the bottom of the fifth inning and kept the score 5-0 to move into the sixth.
Torrens started the sixth with an opposite-field single, and A.J. Ewing got his first hit of the day on an infield hit for a single. Soto drove an RBI single up the middle into center field for his first hit of the game, and Ewing made it to third base easily. With no outs yet, and runners at both corners, the Phillies made a pitching change from Tim Mayza to Max Lazar to face Bichette. Bichette grounded into a force out at second, but a miscommunication by the Phillies seemed to prevent the double play, and Bichette made it to first base safely. Unfortunately, Ewing remained at third base, so no runs scored despite the opportunity. Lindor drew another walk to load the bases, still with only one out. However, Benge struck out and Taylor grounded out to leave the bases loaded with no additional runs scored.
Having only thrown 73 pitches, McLean came back out for the sixth inning. After striking out the first two batters, he allowed a double to Trea Turner, only the second hit he had allowed all day. He allowed his second walk, to Kyle Schwarber, right after that. McLean got out of trouble by striking out Harper, though, and ended an excellent outing with the score Mets 6, Phillies 0.
Torrens drew a two-out walk, and Ewings dribbled a single into right field that allowed Torrens to slide into third base. Seth Johnson replaced Lazar to face Soto, who flied out to end the top of the seventh. A.J. Minter came out to replace McLean for the bottom of the seventh, and after retiring Marsh, allowed a home run to Bohm that soared into left field. Bryson Stott then hit a blooper into right field for a single, and Realmuto smacked a ground ball into right field for another single, the third hit in a row with one out. Edmundo Sosa came out to pinch-hit for Rincones and grounded into a double play to end the seventh inning and minimize the damage: Mets 6, Phillies 1.
Lindor whacked a double into center field in the eighth inning, and Benge worked a four-pitch walk to follow him. Taylor walked as well, and the bases were loaded with one out again. Semien struck out again to earn the golden sombrero. He was also the only Mets hitter to play the full game and not get a hit (Young also did not get a hit but only had one chance at the plate). Afterwards, Baty grounded out to again strand the runners with no additional runs. Huascar Brazobán replaced Minter at the bottom of the eighth inning and walked Turner after 11 pitches. However, he struck out Schwarber and Harper after that to end the inning.
Jhoan Duran came out for the ninth inning for the Phillies, as he had not had much work for several days. With two outs, Soto lined a single into center field, but was left there when Bichette grounded out. Cionel Pérez pitched the ninth inning for the Mets. Marsh smacked a line drive into right field for a leadoff single and trotted along to second base on a wild pitch by Pérez. Nevertheless, Pérez shut down the rest of the Phillies’ hitters and the game ended with a win for the Mets.
The Mets travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers tomorrow at 7:40 PM ET. Freddy Peralta will face his old team for the Mets, and Jacob Misiorowski will pitch for the Brewers.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Francisco Lindor, +24% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -6% WPA
Mets pitchers: +21% WPA
Mets hitters: +29% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Lindor’s 2-run home run in the first inning, +18.1 % WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Marcus Semien called out on strikes to end first inning and strand runners, -3.3% WPA
