By Brandon Apter, Sports Talk Philly editor 
Final: Mets 9, Phillies 8 ❖ Attendance: 35,759
New York, NY - The Phillies led 6-4 in the ninth and 8-6 in the eleventh, but the Mets overcame both deficits to earn a 9-8 win in game one of the series opener at Citi Field on Thursday night. They have a half game lead in the National League Wild Card race.
Philadelphia was ahead by two in the ninth, but Jeanmar Gomez gave up the game-tying two-run homer to Jose Reyes, blowing his sixth save of the season. Gomez has allowed 12 earned runs in 6.2 innings during the month of September, which equals out to a 17.42 ERA. The Phils took another two-run lead in the top half of the eleventh, but New York got a three-run blast off the bat of Asdrubal Cabrera to secure the walk-off victory.
Ryan Howard and Cameron Rupp hit back-to-back home runs in the fifth, but the Phils fell behind 4-3 in the seventh. Maikel Franco belted a three-run homer in the eighth, putting the Phils ahead by two. That home run snapped a 27-game homerless drought for Franco. A.J. Ellis hit an RBI-single in the top of the eleventh to put the Phils ahead again, but Edubray Ramos couldn't preserve a two-run advantage in the bottom half of the frame, leading to the Mets walk-off victory.
It was a crazy game, with a total of 49 players being used between the two teams.
The Phillies and Mets continue their series on Friday night as Jeremy Hellickson is set to oppose right-hander Gabriel Ynoa.
WP: Jim Henderson (2-2, 4.50 ERA) ❖ LP: Edubray Ramos (1-3, 3.83 ERA)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
Scoring Summary
After setting the Mets down 1-2-3 in the first, Adam Morgan allowed a lead-off single to T.J. Rivera and that was followed by a two-run homer off the bat of Curtis Granderson to give New York at 1-0 lead.
Cesar Hernandez led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a Roman Quinn RBI ground out, cutting the lead in half. In the fifth, Ryan Howard blasted a solo home run to center field to tie the game and Cameron Rupp followed with a solo homer of his own on the very next pitch to give Philadelphia a 3-2 lead.
Pinch-hitter Ty Kelly drew a walk with one down in the bottom half of the fifth. Two batters later, Asdrubal Cabrera singled, putting runners on first and second for Yoenis Cespedes. He singled to right, scoring Kelly, to tie the game at three a piece. Morgan struck out T.J. Rivera to end his outing, his eighth punch out of the night.
New York took the lead in the seventh against Phils reliever Michael Mariot. Jose Reyes drew a two out walk and Asdrubal Cabrera singled, putting runners on the corners for none other than Yoenis Cespedes. Mariot hung a breaking ball in the middle of the plate and Cespedes laced it down the left field line for an RBI double, giving the Mets a 4-3 lead.
Philadelphia pulled ahead in the eighth. Cesar Hernandez singled and moved to second on a Roman Quinn bunt. Odubel Herrera followed with a single, moving Hernandez to third. Maikel Franco worked a full count in the next at-bat and belted a three-run home run to right center field, putting the Phillies up by two, 6-4.
Jeanmar Gomez came on for the ninth and his struggles continued. Brandon Nimmo singled and two batters later, Jose Reyes hit a two-run homer to tie the game at 6-6. That was Gomez's sixth blown save of the year. Hector Neris got the final two outs of the inning, sending the game to extra innings in Queens.
The Phillies went back in front in the eleventh inning. With runners on the corners and two out, A.J. Ellis blooped an RBI single to right field, scoring Freddy Galvis from third to give the Phils a 7-6 lead. Maikel Franco walked with the bases loaded to force in another run, making it 8-6.
New York came back again in the bottom half of the eleventh off of Edubray Ramos. He walked Michael Conforto with one down and Jose Reyes followed with a single. Asdrubal Cabrera ended things with a walk-off three-run homer, winning the game for the Mets 9-8.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Morgan | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 1 | 5.57 |
| Seth Lugo | 5.0 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2.61 |
Phillies
- Maikel Franco: 2-5, HR, R, 4 RBI, BB, .250 AVG
- Ryan Howard: 1-2, HR, R, BB, RBI, .195 AVG
- Cesar Hernandez: 2-3, 3B, 2 R, 3 BB, .293 AVG
Mets
- Asdrubal Cabrera: 3-6, HR, R, 3 RBI, 2 K, .281 AVG
- Yoenis Cespedes: 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI, BB, K, .287 AVG
- Jose Reyes: 2-5, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, BB, K, .269 AVG
Phillies
- Luis Garcia (6th): 1.0 IP, 1 K, 5.40 ERA
- Michael Mariot (7th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 5.50 ERA
- Frank Herrmann (7th): 0.1 IP, 7.50 ERA
- Joely Rodriguez (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
- Jeanmar Gomez (9th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 K, 4.28 ERA
- Hector Neris (9th): 0.2 IP, 1 BB, 2 K, 2.44 ERA
- Severino Gonzalez (10th): 1.0 IP, 2 K, 5.68 ERA
- Edubray Ramos (11th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 EER, 1 BB, 3.83 ERA
Pirates
- Sean Gilmartin (6th): 0.2 IP, 4.76 ERA
- Erik Goeddel (6th): 0.1 IP, 4.55 ERA
- Fernando Salas (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 K, 4.12 ERA
- Addison Reed (8th): 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2.08 ERA
- Hansel Robles (8th, 9th): 1.1 IP, 2 BB, 2 K, 3.67 ERA
- Josh Edgin (9th): 0.1 IP, 1 K, 6.75 ERA
- Jeurys Familia (10th, 11th): 1.2 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K, 2.57 ERA
- Jerry Blevins (11th): 0.0 IP, HBP, 2.90 ERA
- Jim Henderson (11th): 0.1 IP, 1 BB, 4.50 ERA
What's Next
- Friday, September 23, 2016: at New York Mets, 7:10 p.m.
- Location: Citi Field – New York, NY
- RHP Jeremy Hellickson (12-9, 3.57 ERA) vs. RHP Gabriel Ynoa (1-0, 9.00 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Location: Citi Field – New York, NY
