By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
New York, NY – The Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets continue their four-game series at Citi Field tonight as Jeremy Hellickson opposes right-hander Gabriel Ynoa.
Philadelphia is coming off of one of their worst losses of the season last night, blowing a 6-4 lead in the 9th and an 8-6 lead in the 11th only to lose on an Asdrubal Cabrera walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the 11th. Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez continued to struggle, allowing the game-tying home run in the 9th to Jose Reyes, inflating his ERA this month to 17.42. Edubray Ramos surrendered the game-winning blast to Cabrera.
The Phillies and Mets used a total of 49 players on Thursday night, with New York utilizing 27, including nine pitchers, so both teams will be looking for their starters to go deep into the game this evening in Queens. The Mets are tied with the Giants atop the National League Wild Card race, ahead of the Cardinals by a half game.
Starting Pitching Matchup:
| Philadelphia Phillies (69-84) | New York Mets (81-72) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RHP | Jeremy Hellickson | RHP | Gabriel Ynoa | ||
| (12-9, 3.57 ERA) | (1-0, 9.00 ERA) | ||||
Jeremy Hellickson is coming off of his second career shutout, an 8-0 win over the Marlins that saw him strike out five and allow just three hits. In four starts during the month of September, the 29-year-old right-hander is 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA. He last faced the Mets on August 27 and lasted just four innings after giving up five runs on seven hits. Hellickson has made four starts against New York this season, going 1-2 with a 6.75 ERA in 20 innings.
Gabriel Ynoa will make just his second big league start after appearing in six games out of the bullpen for the Mets. Last time out, he lasted 4.2 innings against the Twins, allowing one run on four hits in a 3-2 Mets win. Ynoa went 12-5 with a 3.97 ERA in 25 starts with Triple-A Las Vegas this season. Steven Matz was originally supposed to start tonight, but he was scratched due to left shoulder soreness.
Starting Lineups:
| Philadelphia Phillies (69-84) |
|
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position | Player | Bats | Position | Player | Bats | |||||
| 1 | 2B | Cesar Hernandez | S | 1 | 3B | Jose Reyes | S | |||
| 2 | RF | Roman Quinn | S | 2 | SS | Asdrubal Cabrera | S | |||
| 3 | CF | Odubel Herrera | L | 3 | LF | Yoenis Cespedes | R | |||
| 4 | 3B | Maikel Franco | R | 4 | CF | Custis Granderson | L | |||
| 5 | 1B | Ryan Howard | L | 5 | 2B | Kelly Johnson | L | |||
| 6 | C | Cameron Rupp | R | 6 | RF | Michael Conforto | L | |||
| 7 | SS | Freddy Galvis | S | 7 | 1B | Lucas Duda | L | |||
| 8 | LF | Cody Asche | L | 8 | C | Travis D'Arnaud | R | |||
| 9 | P | Jeremy Hellickson | R | 9 | P | Gabriel Ynoa | R | |||
Game Notes:
- Ryan Howard returned to the lineup for the first time since September 16 last night and blasted a solo home run in the fifth to tie the game at 2-2.
- In 20 games during the month of September, Cesar Hernandez is hitting .325 with a .445 on-base percentage.He has two triples and has scored 14 runs. He's tied for the Major League lead in triples with 11 after hitting one on Thursday night.
- Yoenis Cespedes is 6-for-14 against Hellickson in his career with three homers and six RBIs. Curtis Granderson, on the other hand, is 5-for-27 with eight strikeouts against the Phillies right-hander.
- After last night's bullpen implosion, the Phillies relievers have a combined 4.63 ERA this season, tied with Minnesota for 25th in baseball. They've given up 76 home runs, which is tied second-worst in the league behind the Reds pen, who have given up 96 homers.
Broadcast Information:
- First pitch: 7:10 p.m.
- TV: CSN
- Radio: 94 WIP
What's Next:
- Saturday, September 24th, 2016 at New York Mets, 7:10 p.m.
- Citi Field
- RHP Alec Asher (1-0, 2.16 ERA) vs. LHP Sean Gilmartin (0-0, 4.76 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP
