It was far less dramatic, and the circumstances have certainly changed, but Asdrubal Cabrera hit another three-run home run in the 11th inning to give the Mets a 7-4 victory over the Phillies.
Seth Lugo got the start in place of the ill Jacob deGrom and was on a pitch count. He got into trouble early but worked out of it in the first. However, he continued to fall behind Phillies batters but he did not walk any of them. The trouble came in the second inning when Maikel Franco blasted a home run to left, and Cesar Hernandez got a hit Jose Reyes could not quite reach to that drove in the second run of the inning.
Since he was constantly behind batters, the pitch count rose rather quickly and Lugo was out after four innings. He allowed six hits and two runs and struck out four in his last start of the year. Not great but good enough and he left with the lead.
Henderson Alvarez got the start for the Phillies and walks did become an issue for him. A couple of double plays helped him out early, but in the fourth he issued back-to-back walks to Kevin Plawecki and Dominic Smith. That brought up Amed Rosario, who pulled a ball down the third base line and Plawecki scored on the double. Smith was right behind him but he had to go back to third after a fan interfered with the ball.
Nobody was getting to Brandon Nimmo’s ball the next inning. Rhys Hoskins decided to get a sure out at first on Asdrubal Cabrera’s ground ball instead of going for a potential double play. Nimmo took full advantage of coming up with runners in scoring position. After just missing a home run in his first at-bat, he blasted a ball to center for his first career triple. That gave the Mets their first lead of the game at 3-2.
It remained a one-run ballgame even though the Mets tried to add to the lead in the sixth. Juan Lagares attempted to tag from third on a fly ball, but was out even though the throw was up the line. Catcher Jorge Alfaro was shaken up on the play and had to be removed from the game.
The Mets finally did add on a run the next inning when Cabrera hit an RBI double to give them a two-run lead.
Up to that point, the bullpen was doing fairly well. Chasen Bradford, Josh Smoker, and Paul Sewald kept the Phillies off the board. However, when Sewald went out there for the seventh he completely lost the strike zone. With one out he walked the bases loaded and departed from the game. He was relieved by Jamie Callahan, who allowed two of the inherited runners to score and the game was tied.
After Callahan left the game the bullpen again settled down. Jerry Blevins retired the only batter he faced and AJ Ramos struck out two in his one inning of work. That left the game in the hands of young Jacob Rhame who pitched two solid innings of relief. He did not allow any baserunners and struck out two.
Despite going on a home run tear, Rhys Hoskins has still not hit a home run off Met pitching. He almost changed that against Rhame in the 10th inning. It was rather windy in Philadelphia and the wind was knocking balls down all night long. The wind got a hold of Hoskins’s ball and it ended up in Nimmo’s glove right in front of the wall.
Then came the 11th inning with the game still tied. Phillip Evans pinch-hit with one out and singled. Norichika Aoki walked but Jose Reyes struck out and reliever Adam Morgan was almost through the inning. This is the same Adam Morgan that got that start two years ago in David Wright’s first game back and the Mets hit a record-setting number of home runs in that game. Morgan is also a lefty and Cabrera has been scorching hot as a right-handed hitter. Manager Pete Mackanin stuck with Morgan and not even the wind could not stop Asdrubal Cabrera’s blast to give the Mets the lead.
That left it up to Jeurys Familia to pick up the save and it sure looked like his nasty slider was back. He had no issues dispatching the Phillies and struck out two as he picked up the save. That also meant that Rhame earned his first major league victory when this game was over.
Summer has come and passed and seven years have gone so fast. The Terry Collins era is down to its final game and only uncertainty remains as October begins.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Asdrubal Cabrera +52.4%, Jacob Rhame +27.1%, AJ Ramos +10.5%,
Big losers: Jamie Callahan -17.8%, Paul Sewald -14.3%, Juan Lagares -12.4%, Travis d’Arnaud -11.2%
Teh aw3s0mest play: Asdrubal Cabrera home run in 11th
Teh sux0rest play: Rhys Hoskins single in seventh
Total pitcher WPA: +24.9%
Total batter WPA: +25.1%
GWRBI!: Asdrubal Cabrera