The Mets hit three straight home runs in the ninth to make things interesting, but they fell to the Phillies 5-3 on Saturday afternoon.
Here are the key takeaways …
1. The Mets put a pair of runners on base against Ranger Suarez in the first inning, as Brandon Nimmo and Javier Baez worked walks, but they left them stranded on base, an ominous start after Friday’s game.
But the Mets worked Suarez, a former reliever making his second start of the season, and ran his pitch count up. After walking Pete Alonso with two outs in the third, Suarez’s day was done. He threw 61 pitches in 2.2 innings, striking out three.
2. Luis Rojas wanted to stack his righties against Suarez, but with Suarez out of the game early, Rojas went to his bench early, pinch-hitting Michael Conforto for Brandon Drury in the fourth inning. He later pinch-hit Dominic Smith with two outs and nobody on in the seventh, but nothing seemed to spark the offense.
3. Tylor Megill was his typical stoic, locked-in self to get things started, retiring the first nine Phillies he faced in order. He allowed a leadoff double to Odubel Herrera in the fourth, but pitched around it to keep the game scoreless through four.
At the plate, Megill hit a double of his own in the fifth, but, as his been the case too often of late, he was left stranded on base.
4. Brad Miller broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning, tagging a solo home run off a Megill changeup. Later in the inning, after an Alec Bohm double and a Travis Jankowski walk, Herrera crushed a three-run homer into the upper deck in right, making it a 4-0 game.
Megill got off to a very strong start, but his four-run fifth inning ultimately doomed him. He was pulled after allowing four earned on five hits in 4.2 innings. He struck out five and walked just one, but he allowed a pair of home runs.
5. If there was a bight spot for the Mets (prior to the ninth inning, anyway), the bullpen behind Megill held the Phillies at bay for most of the afternoon. Yennsy Diaz allowed Miller’s second homer of the game in the eighth, but he, Miguel Castro and Drew Smith combined to allow just one earned run in 3.1 innings.
6. Conforto made sure the Mets would not be shut out on Saturday, as he smacked a solo home run in the ninth inning off Mauricio Llovera. And that blast turned out to be the first of three straight for the Mets, as Jonathan Villar and James McCann also took Llovera deep to make it a 5-3 game.
The Phillies then turned to Ian Kennedy to try to close things out, but he allowed a Kevin Pillar single and a Nimmo walk to put the tying runs on base. Alonso went down swinging on three pitches for the second out, and JD Davis went down on strikes to end the game.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets and Phillies close out their series on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. on SNY.
Taijuan Walker takes the mound against former Met Zack Wheeler.