Mets lose back-and-forth affair in Philly

The Mets, after winning the series in Miami, headed to Philadelphia to face the Phillies, their division rivals and the current holders of the first Wild Card spot in the National League. While the Mets were on a bit of a roll, they also were pitting David Peterson against one of the most potent offenses in baseball in 2023. And the Phillies had Ranger Suárez pitching, who has been one of Philadelphia’s better pitchers for the past few years, and has always been pretty good against the Mets.

The Mets half of the first inning was quiet, while the Phillies’ was anything but. Back to back walks to lead off the Phillies side immediately put Peterson in a bad spot. Bryce Harper getting a one out single loaded the bases, but a J.T. Realmuto strikeout made it look like Peterson might escape from his jam. Alas, Nick Castellanos hit a single to drive in two runs, and despite the inning ending the next batter, the Mets were immediately put in a hole.

In the top of the second however, the Mets were able to answer. Francisco Lindor led off with a single, then stole his 29th base of the year. A Jeff McNeil on-out double drove Lindor in, lessening the Mets deficit to a single run. Then, Brett Baty hit a two-out single which drove McNeil in, tying the game. The game remained tied until the bottom of the third inning. Alec Bohm hit a solo home run to put the Phillies ahead again. Then, following back to back singles from Harper and Realmuto, Castellanos hit a sacrifice fly to give the Phillies some breathing room.

The Mets answered in the top of the fourth. After McNeil hit a leadoff triple, Francisco Alvarez hit a sacrifice fly to bring the game within a single run. This would be the last run to cross the plate for a couple of innings, until the top of the sixth when Mark Vientos hit his third home run in two days to tie the game. The tied score lasted until the very first batter of the bottom of the inning, when Castellanos absolutely demolished a home run off Jeff Brigham (in his second inning) to put the Phillies ahead again by a run. The game remained quiet for the next few innings.

The Mets best chance at a comeback came in the top of the eighth inning. Craig Kimbrel came out to pitch for the Phillies, and Lindor led off with a single and another steal, his 30th of the season. McNeil got a one-out single to put runners on the corners. But an Alvarez pop out and Baty strike out stranded the two runners and left the Mets with three outs to score at least one more run to prolong the game. After a quiet bottom of the eighth, the Phillies sent Jose Alvarado out for the save opportunity. Despite a Brandon Nimmo one-out double against Alvarado, the Mets were unable to score against Alvarado, losing the game.

The loss put the Mets at 82 for the season, guaranteeing them a losing record on the season. Nothing really matters anymore, they’re out of it, playing out the string and hoping for a good draft pick. The 2023 Mets, where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter!

SB Nation GameThreads

Amazin’ Avenue
The Good Phight

Box scores

MLB.com
ESPN

Win Probability Added

FanGraphs

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Jeff McNeil, +30.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Francisco Alvarez, -24.2% WPA
Mets pitchers: -21.5% WPA
Mets hitters: -28.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Vientos’ third inning solo home run, +16.0% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Nick Castellanos’ solo home run in the sixth, -16.4% WPA