Obviously, the title can seem a bit misleading when you account for this being a Phillies-centric website for Phillies fans. This isn’t about the Phillies winning or how.
New York Mets first baseman Jared Young collided headfirst into pitcher Nolan McLean’s knee and went down cold for several minutes. The stretcher came out immediately and eventually Young was able to open his eyes and give a thumbs up as he was being carted off the field. The Mets announced later that Young had feeling in his extremities
and was taken to a hospital for further evaluation.
There is no good transition for this, but the game had been going and ended up finishing so there is a recap needed for it.
The Phillies worked a few baserunners over the first four innings of the night but with little success when it mattered. With two outs in the first, Bryce Harper took a first pitch sinker right up the middle for a single, followed by a Luis Arraez walk to put runners on first and second. On the next pitch, Alec Bohm hit a soft groundball to Jared Young that ended the Phillies threat. In the second, Bryson Stott led the inning off with a single, but a Justin Crawford double play ended the inning.
It wasn’t until the fifth inning where the Phillies were able to string things together. Brandon Marsh snapped an 0 for 15 with a bloop single in front of Carson Benge for a leadoff it. After a Justin Crawford sacrifice bunt and Garrett Stubbs groundout, the top of the Phillies order went to work.
Kyle Schwarber was able to work a five-pitch walk. Then, Trea Turner saw seven pitches against McLean, fouling off a few comeback sinkers while being able to foul a high and inside fastball with two strikes. He did just enough and McLean did not have enough command and walked him on an uncompetitive sinker.
Bryce Harper’s at bat was not impressive, hitting a soft groundball on a sinker off the plate but Turner’s speed beat Lindor’s toss to second base and the Phillies took a 1-0 lead.
It was enough for Aaron Nola, who continues to run hot with the Phillies needing it most. Even with slightly diminished velocity, he worked quickly with curveballs, sinkers, and changeups to keep the Mets from recording a hit for five and a third straight innings.
The final two innings of Nola’s seven-inning shutout were his toughest. In the sixth, it was the bottom of the Mets order trying to give a veteran team some life in a meaningless September. Brett Baty fouled three straight full-count off-speed pitches from Nola to work a walk on the tenth pitch of the at bat.
After falling behind 3-1 to Nick Morabito, Nola threw a well-located curveball for a strike but Morabito slapped a single past Trea Turner to put runners on first and second with one out.
On what ended up being a very frustrating night for Francisco Lindor, he grounded out to Luis Arraez for an inning ending double play.
In the top of the 7th, the Phillies once again played small ball. Trea Turner worked a one-out walk, then reached third base when Francisco Alvarez decided to try and back-pick him and threw the ball well past Mark Vientos’s first base glove. After a Harper walk, Luis Arraez hit a flyball to center field that doubled the Phillies lead to two.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Mets tried starting a two out rally with back-to-back singles from Carson Benge and Mark Vientos but rookie center fielder AJ Ewing got on top of a cutter and grounded out to Trea Turner.
During both the sixth and seventh innings, Don Mattingly warmed up Alex McFarlane twice but he never appeared. With him probably being down for the rest of the game, Mattingly had Jonathan Bowlan get up and come in for the 8th.
Bowlan showed some life that inning, his fastball velocity was back to the 97+ range he had before September started and he struck out Francisco Alvarez and Nick Morabito on well-placed fastballs, albeit with a Brett Baty walk in-between.
In the middle of a battle with Francisco Lindor, Bowlan threw a slider and immediately started grabbing at his side. He threw one more pitch, a 93 mph fastball that had no finish and had to exit the game immediately. The Phillies later said he was removed with right groin tightness.
Tim Mayza entered, likely because Alex McFarlane warmed up twice before, and walked Francisco Lindor on his first two pitches, resuming the battle. On his first pitch to Juan Soto, Mayza was able to get a groundball to first that ended the Mets best chance of coming back.
With an insurance run in the ninth and a Jhoan Duran save, the Phillies have the same record as the Chicago Cubs and are one game up on the San Diego Padres for the fifth seed.
But still, it’s not all quite good news. Who knows exactly what happened with Jonathan Bowlan and it’s fair to point out his September issues but Bowlan has been a key fixture in the late innings for the Phillies bullpen all season. The Phillies already put Jesus Luzardo on the injured list on Tuesday, and his status for the rest of the season is up in the air. Now they see Jonathan Bowlan have to exit. Who knows how things go there but the Phillies’ pitching staff is getting thinner and thinner.
