Final score: Phillies 3, Mets 0—The worst timeline

The Mets’ impotent offense was silenced again in a 3-0 loss at Citizen’s Bank Park, as the Mets were swept by the Phillies in a critical series and now find themselves 2.5 games out of first place in the NL East. The Phillies got on the board early thanks to two solo homers off Taijuan Walker from Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto in the first inning. Walker settled down nicely after that, but Bryce Harper added another run for the Phillies with a solo homer in the sixth. It was the first time a Mets starter has lasted at least six innings since July 23, but even a three-run deficit is insurmountable for the Mets these days.

The Mets’ best chance to score against Zack Wheeler came in the bottom of the first when Brandon Nimmo led off the inning with a double. But as usual, the Mets came up empty with runners in scoring position and failed to drive him in. Wheeler went on to retire the next 22 Mets in a row before Michael Conforto walked with one out in the eighth inning. Nimmo also collected his second hit of the game with one out in the ninth. But Wheeler dispensed of both of those threats quickly and struck out eleven batters en route to his tenth victory of the season and a complete game shutout.

To add injury to insult, in the top of the fifth, Javier Báez grounded out to second, but never left the batters box as he appeared to hurt himself on the swing. He was removed from the game with left hip tightness.

GameThread Roll Call

1. MetsFan4Decades: 113
2. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 54
3. stickguy: 51
4. doctor prancer: 48
5. kidCoyote: 39
6. painiac: 35
7. Notonthebandwagon: 28
8. AnneInFlushing: 28
9. Rob Kohl: 22
10. BlockNTackle: 20

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