The Mets had to win tonight’s game to be able to split the final series against the Phillies. Clay Holmes was taking the mound for the Mets, and the Phillies had their Cy Young candidate Cristopher Sánchez getting the start.
The Mets had a quiet first inning, with the exception of a Juan Soto single and stolen base (his 31st of the season). The Phillies got things going early, with a single, walk, and hit by pitch loading the bases with no outs. J.T. Realmuto singled to drive in Harrison Bader as the first run,
before Holmes finally recorded his first out. Max Kepler was hit by a pitch with the bases still loaded to drive in the Phillies second run. Holmes recovered after that, getting out of the inning without another run scoring, but the Mets were in a hole early.
After the Mets went down in order in the second, the Phillies had another busy inning. Bader hit a one-out double, continuing to be a thorn in his former team’s side, and Kyle Schwarber walked to put two runners on. But Holmes stranded both to keep the Phillies lead at two runs. The Mets once again went out quietly in the third inning, and with the exception of a lead-off Brandon Marsh single, the Phillies did the same in the bottom of the inning.
In the top of the fourth, Juan Soto hit a ball to deep center and was eventually ruled to have hit a double on fan interference. Pete Alonso hit a one-out single to put runners on the corners, and a Starling Marte single drove in Juan Soto as the Mets’ first run to cut the Phillies lead to a skinny one run. Brandon Nimmo ended the inning on a double play. In the bottom of the inning, Kyle Schwarber drew a two-out walk, but otherwise the Phillies offense was quiet.
The Mets were once again set down in order in the fifth inning, in stark contrast to the bottom of the inning for the Phillies. Realmuto led off with a single, then a Marsh double drove in Realmuto as the Phillies third run and drove Holmes from the game. Gregory Soto came in to pitch in relief, and he immediately gave up a single to Kepler that drove in Marsh. But Gregory Soto was able to pull it together afterwards, and the Mets got out of it only down three runs.
Mark Vientos drew a two-out walk in the top of the sixth, but otherwise the Mets offense remained dormant. In the bottom of the inning, the Phillies got two quick baserunners on a Bader hit by pitch and a Schwarber single. Bryce Harper hit a force out that gave the Phillies runners at the corners, then Realmuto was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Marsh hit a single that scored Bader and kept the bases loaded, then Kepler singled that drove in Harper and Realmuto, which got Gregory Soto pulled from the game in favor of Ryne Stanek. Otto Kemp hit a sacrifice fly that drove in Marsh, and Bryson Stott walked to threaten more action. But Stanek got the final out to end the inning after the Phillies scored four runs to balloon their lead to seven.
Orion Kerkering replaced Sánchez in the seventh inning. Marte led off with a single, then the Mets got two outs. Cedric Mullins hit for Jose Siri and walked to put two runners on. Brett Baty hit Luisangel Acuña, but he struck out to end the inning and strand the two baserunners. Stanek had a relatively quiet inning, with the exception of a Bryce Harper home run, but at that point what did it matter?
José Alvarado came in to pitch for the Phillies in the eighth, and with the exception of a Juan Soto solo home run he pitched a quiet and stress-free inning. Ryan Helsley came in for the bottom of the eighth because, hey, how much worse could it get? Max Kepler hit a one-out solo home run, then back-to-back singles from Otto Kemp and Stott put two runners on, and a Helsley wild pitch moved them both into scoring position. Donovan Walton drove in the Phillies last run on a groundout before Helsley was able to get out of the inning without any more damage.
Lou Trivino came in to close the game for the Phillies. He got two quick outs, then Hayden Senger (in to bat for Francisco Alvarez) singled…then Cedric Mullins singled…then Brett Baty singled to drive in Senger. Ronny Mauricio (who came in to replace Lindor in the eighth) walked to load the bases again, but Juan Soto hit a long fly out to center to end the game.
The Mets officially lost their final regular season series against the Phillies, and they had one game to keep it from being a sweep. They also kept seeing their Wild Card lead erode further and further as the Giants and Reds got closer and closer. They need to do something, wake up in some way, to try and hold onto their playoff hopes, which are a far cry from the dominant machine they looked to be in the first couple months of the season.
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Big Mets winner: Juan Soto, +9.3% WPA
Big Mets loser: Clay Holmes, -17.3 % WPA
Mets pitchers: -26.5% WPA
Mets hitters: -23.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Starling Marte’s RBI single in the fourth, +7.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Brandon Nimmo’s double play in the fourth inning, -11.2% WPA
