Mets lose to Phillies, falling just short of a ten-run comeback

Somehow, the Mets almost came back from a 10-0 deficit against the Phillies on Saturday night. They gave up all ten of those runs in the first four innings of the game, and they went on to score eight. The way the team has pulled off dramatic wins lately—hell, there was even a dramatic loss thrown in earlier in the week—it really seemed like they were going to do it again.

After Sean Gilmartin and Rafael Montero were torched for five runs apiece, Gilmartin in just two-thirds of an inning, the rest of the Mets’ bullpen kept the Phillies off the board the rest of the way. That allowed the offense, which consisted of plenty of players who had begun the game on the bench, to turn a game that shouldn’t have ever been close into a near-victory.

A combination of Phillies miscues and Mets hits turned into four runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Mets scored a couple more in the sixth. They got one more in the eighth when Gavin Cecchini hit his second run-scoring double of the night. And they had opportunities in those innings to score more. And in the ninth, they got a solo home run from Jay Bruce—Jay Bruce—and then had two runners on base with Lucas Duda coming up as the potential run. That’s when it really felt like the ten-run comeback might be completed, but it wasn’t to be, as Duda popped out and Travis d’Arnaud grounded out.

The fact that the Mets even came close to winning the game was incredible. They’ll be in a Wild Card spot on Sunday morning no matter what, but here’s hoping the loss itself doesn’t cost them in the long run. It would have been absurd game to win. It’s just hard not to imagine what Citi Field would have looked like if they had.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: none
Big losers: Sean Gilmartin, -40.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Gavin Cecchini doubles to cut the deficit to three in the eighth, +10.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Maikel Franco hits a three-run home run in the first, -18.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -41.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: -8.2% WPA
GWRBI!: Darin Ruf