GAME RECAP: Mets Beat Phillies 9-4
For the third time this season, the Mets own a winning streak of
at least half a dozen games. They grabbed their sixth straight win with a 9-4
victory over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night, extending
their National League East lead over the Nationals to 6 1/2 games -- their
largest since leading the Phillies by seven games with 17 to go in 2007 -- and
putting themselves on pace for exactly 90 wins. "You've got to win games
you're supposed to win, there's no question about it," Mets manager Terry
Collins said. "Right now, we'll take it." A continued offensive
renaissance resulted in three first-inning runs off Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff and plenty of late insurance. Michael Cuddyer homered and drove in three runs, Michael Conforto delivered another multihit game and
the Mets plated six-plus runs for the fifth time in their last six games,
giving Bartolo Colon plenty of
cushion throughout his seven scoreless innings. "I'm not happy about the
loss," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "You never want to lose
games. The Mets have had our number all year. We want to beat them, especially
with a game tomorrow. We need to salvage something out of this series." The
Mets wound up cashing in much of their insurance when the Phillies rallied for
four runs off Eric O'Flaherty and Carlos Torres in the eighth, highlighted by Cameron Rupp's two-run double. But Tyler Clippard nailed down the final out of the
eighth and the Mets cruised from there. The Phillies have lost eight
consecutive games to the Mets and 11 of 12 this season.
OTHER
NOTES FROM THE DAY:
- The righty allowed three runs, two
earned, in the first inning but quickly recovered and allowed just four
runs over six innings. In a stretch that began with the final two outs of the
first, the rookie retired 16 straight Mets hitter, five of which were
strikeouts, before a Conforto double and a Juan Uribe single gave the Mets their fourth run
of the night in the sixth. Eickhoff, who threw six scoreless innings in
his Major League debut on Friday, fell to 1-1. "I thought [Eickhoff] did an
outstanding job after that first inning," Mackanin said. "He
basically had a quality start tonight. He turned himself around and
pitched very well through the sixth inning."
- The Phillies' offense lay dormant for
most of the night against Colon. In the eighth, against the Mets' bullpen,
the Phillies showed some signs of life as they manufactured four runs on
four hits, a walk and an error. Clippard ended the threat when he got Darnell Sweeney to
strike out swinging with two on. "We fought back," Mackanin
said. "We were kind of listless the whole game. Mainly because Colon
really knows how to pitch. That's the first time I've really seen him use
more than a fastball. He generally cuts you up with a fastball, but
tonight he used all of his pitches."
- The Phillies are confident that rookie third baseman Maikel
Franco will return to the lineup before the end of the season. Franco, who
is on the 15-day disabled list with a broken left wrist, received
encouraging news on Tuesday and looks to be two weeks away from possibly
hitting off a tee.
- The Mets have won 11 of 12 against the Phillies this year,
including a current eight-game winning streak. The Mets have been
particularly strong at Citizens Bank Park, where they are 26-8 since 2012.
- David Wright will return to the lineup after getting
Wednesday night off following two starts upon his return from the 60-day
DL on Monday. Wright went 0-for-4 with a walk on Tuesday after he hit a
home run in his first at-bat on Monday.
NEXT
GAME:
The Mets will look to
continue their strong play away from Citi Field and complete a sweep of the
Phillies behind Jon Niese in the final game of a four-game series at Citizens
Bank Park. New York has found an offensive rhythm recently and has tied a club
record for any month with 40 homers in August. The Mets have won six games in a
row -- all on the road -- and own a 6 1/2-game lead on the second-place
Nationals in the National League East. Niese, who has a quality start in 12 of
his last 14 games, is 10-6 lifetime against the Phillies with a 2.77 ERA. This
year he is 2-0 with a 0.68 ERA against Philly while allowing just one earned
run in 13 1/3 innings. He is 5-0 in his last seven starts against the NL East
rivals. The Phillies will go with Aaron Harang, who went seven innings and
allowed just two runs at Miami in his last start. Harang had struggled in his
three previous starts, allowing 18 runs in just 15 innings of work in three
consecutive losses.
PHILS PHACTS:
Settling Down – With a relatively young roster, the Phillies will be using the final six
weeks of the season to gauge just what type of team they can field in 2016 and
beyond. More to the point, the last month of evaluations won't be just about
successes and failures. Instead, for a team that is clearly in a rebuilding
phase, the biggest concern will be how this collection of players handles both
scenarios. On Wednesday night, right-hander Jerad Eickhoff made just his second
Major League start and first at Citizens Bank Park in a
9-4
loss to the National League East-leading Mets.
The Mets entered the game as one of the hottest hitting teams in baseball in
August and looked to bring the rookie crashing down to earth after he went six
scoreless innings in his debut against the Marlins just five days ago. "I
think he was a little nervous [making his first start at home]," Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin said. "For sure, I was getting nervous [after
Eickhoff's pitch count hit 40 in the first inning]. We have a strapped bullpen.
We can't keep going to the bullpen every night as much as we do. Obviously, he
wasn't the guy in the first inning we saw in Miami. After that, he was." "I
just needed to get settled," said Eickhoff, the team's
No.
15 prospect. "The first start at home,
there are some jitters. I think that's what I was getting rid of in that first
inning. I knew my pitch count was up there so I just wanted to attack the zone,
pitch to contact." For Eickhoff and the Phillies, the game started ominously
when center fielder
Odubel Herrera dropped
a fly ball deep at the warning track in left-center. The Mets scored three runs
in the frame on their way to their eighth straight win over the Phillies, but
Eickhoff's recovery spoke louder than the final result. While it's hard to say
one dropped ball changed the entire game, it certainly didn't help. Especially
after Eickhoff used an economical 57 pitches over his final five innings. "Those
things make a difference," Mackanin said of the dropped ball. "We
talk about the fact that the only ball hit hard that inning was the [
Michael Cuddyer double that brought home the second
run]. The fly to center was well hit, but it should have been caught. "But
the more important thing is he came out of it. As poorly as he located his
pitches in that first inning, he located extremely well the rest of the
game." Eickhoff went six innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on
six hits and a walk while striking out six. After the shaky first, he recorded
16 straight outs and kept the Mets guessing until a double by
Michael Conforto in the sixth and a single by
Juan Uribe scored the fourth run. "After the
first, I was able to get my slider over," said Eickhoff, who became the
first Phillies rookie to record 16 straight outs since Mike Grace recorded 17
straight on May 12, 1996, against the Braves. "I was able to locate it off
the plate when I needed to and then the occasional changeup." "He's a
pretty solid guy," Mackanin said. "He really doesn't need
reinforcement. He's got a lot of confidence."
Reacting To A Slump – Over the last month, the Phillies have made it clear that
they are in full rebuilding mode. Mired in last place since the opening week of
the season, the Phillies have traded several major components to one of the
franchises most successful periods, including a World Series title in 2008.
That has afforded playing time for young players such as
Freddy Galvis and
Odubel Herrera, both of whom were in the lineup on
Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park against the Mets.
Cesar Hernandez has also seen a lot of playing time,
but he started the night on the bench after a five-game slump that saw him hit
.048 (1-for-21). Manager Pete Mackanin isn't concerned about the 25-year-old,
and in fact, saw this as a chance to get a better feel for the young
infielder's mental makeup. "We have to find out how he's going to react to
[the recent slump]," Mackanin said. "We have to see if he's going to
rebound. I think he's going to be fine. "When you think about it, he
didn't play a lot early in the year. He has 300 and some at-bats. He plays in
the winter, too, so physically he's fine and is used to it. You get tired
mentally more than physically, but he's going to come out of it." Hernandez
has played in a career-high 110 games so far this season and has hit .266 with
50 runs scored and 29 RBIs. Much of April saw him used as a late-game
replacement, but with the injuries and subsequent trade of
Chase Utley to the Dodgers, he started 32 of 33 games
since the All-Star break until Wednesday night. "You see it all the
time," Mackanin said. "[Galvis] hit [.355] in April and then it came
down to .250. But he worked through it and is hitting [.273] for the year. You
have to find a way to work through it."
Bowa Cites Safety – Phillies bench coach Larry Bowa has been around the game
long enough to know he's going to hear from Major League Baseball over the next
few days. "It will say, 'Dear Larry, I miss you,'" a clearly
sarcastic Bowa said on Wednesday afternoon. "[Chief baseball officer Joe
Torre's] going to say, 'After further review,' and then I'm going to let him
know what the situation was." In Bowa and veteran outfielder
Jeff Francoeur's mind, the quick pitch thrown by Mets
reliever
Hansel Robles in the
seventh inning of the Phillies' 6-5 loss to New York on Tuesday endangered
hitter
Darin Ruf. Ruf had
stepped into the box with his head down, and as home-plate umpire Dan Bellino
signaled no pitch, it still came to the plate. "That's exactly what went
down," said Bowa, who was ejected from the game and also had words with
Mets first baseman
Daniel Murphy. "It
had nothing to do with us getting [beaten badly] for two nights. You're going
to hurt somebody. That's all it is. "And the umpire said, 'I called no
pitch.' It doesn't matter. The pitch was on the way. So if Ruf looks up. Yeah,
he threw a strike. But they make mistakes throwing the baseball. They throw one
up and in, and the guy turns around, the ball [could be] 10 inches from his
face. There's no reason for that." On the surface, the ejection didn't
have anything to do with the recent struggles the Phillies have had against the
Mets, against whom they are just 1-10 this year. At the same time, it certainly
didn't help and has to weigh heavily on a relatively young team that is not
only playing the role of spoiler but fighting for jobs next year and beyond. "This
is the big leagues ... we're playing for jobs, positions," Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin said. "We got beat up the last couple of days. We
want to win. Nobody likes it. I don't expect the players to be in a good mood.
We want to win and there is a lot of emotion. We've seen it over the years, it
just comes out. "The only grudge I have against [the Mets] is we want to
beat them a few times. That's the bottom line. You want to win every night.
It's more fun when you win."
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies have returned to their lackluster ways and regained their grip on last
place in the NL East with a record of 50-77. Given the departures, aging stars,
injuries, and bipolar performances this season, this could still end up
being the worst team in franchise history… at least that is something to hope
for this year! All time, the Phillies are 48-51-1 on this day.
