The Mets logged their sixth straight victory thanks to another strong pitching performance and a big late-inning rally that provided some insurance.
The Mets won their sixth straight game by a score of 5-1, securing the series victory from the NL East rival Phillies at Citi Field. Griffin Canning navigated traffic on the base paths almost every inning, but limited the damage to one run over five innings of work. The Mets held onto a narrow lead through most of the game, but a big three-run inning off the Phillies bullpen in the seventh provided some much-needed cushion for the bullpen to finish the job.
Both teams were getting runners on base at a prolific clip early, but the Mets did a better job taking advantage of their opportunities against Cristopher Sánchez. The Phillies had some hard contact against Griffin Canning in the first inning, but Canning kept them off the board. Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the first with a single. Juan Soto then hit a sharp grounder that erased Lindor at second, but reached first base safely as the Phillies were unable to turn two. Soto advanced to second on a Pete Alonso grounder back to the pitcher and then Mark Vientos laced a double down the left field line to plate the game’s first run. Though the Mets did not score again that inning, Sánchez had to work hard; he threw a wild pitch and walked Starling Marte before the inning finally came to an end when Sánchez struck out Luis Torrens.
The Phillies responded by tying the game in the top of the second. J.T. Realmuto hit a one-out double and then Alec Bohm hit a ball back to the mound that went off Canning’s glove into no-man’s land, allowing Bohm to reach safely and Realmuto to advance to third. Johan Rojas then singled up the middle to drive in Realmuto and tie the game. But Canning limited the damage to just the one run by retiring the next two batters.
The Mets bounced back right away by taking the lead again in the bottom of the frame. And this time it was the bottom of the order that started the rally. Luisangel Acuña drew a one-out walk and José Azócar, who would go on to have a multi-hit game in just his second start as a Met, singled to advance Acuña to third. Sánchez then threw to first and had Azócar picked off, but as Azócar got in a rundown between first and second, Acuña broke too far from third base and was tagged out trying to scramble back to the bag. It was a poor base running decision by Acuña, but a perfectly executed play by the Phillies’ infield. But, the play turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Because Azócar was now standing on second base with first base empty, Bryce Harper was playing off the bag and Lindor singled right past the bag to drive in Azócar for the go-ahead run. Had Harper been holding Azócar on, Lindor’s single would have likely been a groundout—possibly even a double play.
Canning responded by putting up a goose egg in the third, which would be his only 1-2-3 inning of the night. Cristopher Sánchez was taken out of the game after just two innings due to left forearm soreness, which is not good news for the Phillies. Joe Ross came in the game in long relief and did his job, pitching three scoreless innings with three strikeouts. Canning worked around leadoff singles in both the fourth and fifth to keep the Mets in front and then yielded to Huascar Brazobán, who delivered a scoreless sixth thanks in part to a really nice turn by Acuña on a double play grounder by Realmuto. A.J. Minter followed with a 1-2-3 seventh inning, punctuated by a strikeout of Bryce Harper.
The Mets dealt the final blow to the Phillies in the bottom of the seventh—and the damage came with two outs. With one out, Lindor hit a grounder back to the pitcher Tanner Banks and Banks made an errant throw to first, which allowed Lindor to advance to second base. Banks then retired Soto on a comebacker to the mound that deflected to Trea Turner at short, who threw out Soto at first. Lindor advanced to third on the play. Banks was removed from the game in favor of righty Orion Kerkering. Pete Alonso then delivered as he has all month long with an RBI double that drove in Lindor to extend the Mets’ lead to 3-1. Mark Vientos then worked a walk and Carlos Mendoza pinch hit Jesse Winker for Starling Marte. Kerkering threw a wild pitch that advanced the runners to second and third and then with first base now open, Winker was walked intentionally to load the bases for Luis Torrens. Torrens, who has been slumping after his hot start to the season, came through in the clutch with an RBI single that plated two more runs.
And 5-1 is where the score would remain. Ryne Stanek took the mound for the eighth and walked Kyle Schwarber to lead things off, but Nick Castellanos then flew out to center and Tyrone Taylor caught Schwarber napping and doubled him off first base with a laser to Pete Alonso. Stanek then walked Max Kepler, but retired J.T. Realmuto on a fly out to end the inning. José Buttó then polished off the victory with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.
The Mets are now 11-1 at home. The Mets will try to go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon with David Peterson facing off against old friend Zack Wheeler.
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Box scores
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Fangraphs
Big Mets winner: Griffin Canning, +16.6% WPA
Big Mets loser: Luisangel Acuña, -10.9% WPA
Mets pitchers: +36.9% WPA
Mets hitters: +13.1% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Vientos’ RBI double in the first, +10.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Johan Rojas’ game-tying RBI single in the second, -7.2% WPA