The New York Mets just lost their sixth game in a row, and somehow that’s only the team’s second-most depressing streak of the night.
25 consecutive Mets batters were retired to conclude a 6-4 loss on Thursday at Citizens Bank Park, as New York blew a four-run lead and suffered a devastating sweep at the hands of the division-leading Phillies. The Mets, who once boasted baseball’s best record on June 13, now cling to just a 1.5-game lead on the final N.L. Wild Card spot with 15 games left to play
in the regular season.
After scoring just six runs across the previous three games of the series, the Mets’ offense began Thursday by breaking out for four runs in the first inning. Francisco Lindor, Juan Soto, Mark Vientos, Brandon Nimmo, and Starling Marte each drilled hits off Philadelphia lefty Jesús Luzardo, with the frame only coming to an end on a line drive double play off the bat of Jeff McNeil.
David Peterson started out looking sharper than in recent starts, working around trouble in the first and second innings before striking out three batters in the third. The Mets seemed poised to seize a cathartic victory, with Luzardo en route for an early exit and Peterson putting together a vintage effort after allowing 12 runs in his previous two starts.
But Luzardo had other plans. McNeil’s double play ended up representing the first in a stunning string of 25 consecutive Mets retired to close the game. After his disastrous start, Luzardo was flawless, throwing seven more innings on just 74 pitches while recording his sixth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
While the Mets’ lineup froze, the Phillies’ bats got to work. Otto Kemp cut the Mets’ lead in half with a two-run homer in the fourth before Bryce Harper, who entered the game with a career 1.006 OPS against Peterson, hit a two-out double in the fifth to make it a 4-3 game. Peterson exited with a line of 5.0 IP, 3 ER, 8 K, and 1 BB.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the wheels came off the figurative bullpen cart. Making his second appearance back from the Injured List, Reed Garrett gave up back-to-back doubles to Nick Castellanos and Otto Kemp before retiring a batter, tying the game. Garrett recorded two outs but couldn’t put the inning to bed as Harrison “Chipper Jones” Bader laced an RBI single for his tenth hit of the series.
Brooks Raley entered to try and put out the fire, but he fanned it instead. Raley walked Kyle Schwarber to load the bases before Harper hit a bullet that Pete Alonso couldn’t handle at first base, driving in another run. The Mets’ 4-0 lead had morphed into a 6-4 deficit. Tyler Rogers and Edwin Díaz each turned in a scoreless inning of work, but the damage was already done.
To say the Phillies’ six runs went unanswered would be an understatement. Philadelphia’s entire offensive production — six runs, eleven hits, and three walks — came after the Mets had mustered their final baserunner of the night, with Jhoan Duran striking out the side in the ninth to seal the Phillies’ victory. It would be crushing enough to lose six games in a row at this stage of the season, or be handed a four-game sweep by a division rival, but the magnitude and attitude of the Phillies’ performance has to sting a bit extra as the possibility of a playoff rematch looms. Whatever rivalry blow the Mets delivered with their three-game sweep at Citi Field late last month, the Phillies just returned with added force.
This series is by no means a knockout punch. The Mets still control their own destiny, a sentiment which may frighten those with memories of 2007 and 2008 (or even 2022), but nonetheless holds true. All it takes is one more hot streak to seal their spot in October, regardless of what the Giants and Reds do.
The team now gets to return to Flushing — where they’ve played at a 101-win pace this season — for one final homestand, starting tomorrow night as Jonah Tong takes the hill against (checks notes) two-time Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom. And if Harrison Bader has taught us anything this week, it’s that there’s nothing to fear about facing former Mets.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Starling Marte, +7.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Reed Garrett, -33.4% WPA
Mets pitchers: -41.2% WPA
Mets hitters: -8.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Starling Marte’s two-RBI double in the first inning, +10.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Harrison Bader’s go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning, -16.7% WPA
