By: Brandon Apter, contributor 
Final: Mets 7, Phillies 2 ❖ Attendance: 44, 099
New York, NY - For the fourth straight game, the Phillies (0-4) could get nothing going on the offensive end of things and their bullpen struggled to get hitters out, leading to a loss at the hands of the defending NL Champion Mets (2-1). Philadelphia has scored two runs or less in three of their first four games and the bullpen has allowed 15 earned runs in 10.2 innings, good for a 12.99 ERA. Both Daniel Stumpf and James Russell have 81.00 ERA numbers while David Hernandez lowered his to 16.20 after a scoreless outing today. Meanwhile, the offense is hitting just .212 through four games.
At 0-4, this is the Phillies worst start since 2006. A loss tomorrow would give Phillies their worst start since 1934 (0-7). Combined with their minor league affiliates, the Phillies organization as a whole is 0-9.
The Phillies and Mets continue their series on Saturday at 7:10pm. Vince Velasquez will get the nod for Philadelphia while Bartolo Colon starts for New York. Colon went 4-1 with a 2.81 ERA in five starts against the Phillies in 2015.
WP: Jacob DeGrom (1-0, 1.50 ERA) ❖ LP: Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 3.60 ERA)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| PHI | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| NYM | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
Jerad Eickhoff struggled with command early in the game, but managed to escape some trouble with limited damage. After stranding a runner on second in the top of the first, Eickhoff hit a batter to lead off the second, Asdrubal Cabrera reached on a missed catch error by Freddy Galvis and Travis D'Arnaud drew a walk, loading the bases with none out. Jacob DeGrom hit an RBI-groundout to put the Mets on the board, but Eickhoff got Curtis Granderson to pop out and David Wright to ground out to end the inning down by just one.
New York added on two more in the sixth. Lucas Duda hit a lead-off double and scored on an RBI-single off the bat of Neil Walker. Michael Conforto followed with an RBI-double to plate Walker, making it a 3-1 Mets lead. Neil Walker added an RBI-singles in the seventh to score David Wright before Conforto drove in two to make it a 6-1 Mets lead. Travis D'Arnaud kept the inning going with a two-out RBI-single, scoring Neil Walker. 7-1 Mets.
The Phillies got a run in the eighth. With runners on the corners and one out, Cesar Hernandez lined an RBI-single to center field to score Peter Bourjos from third base, cutting the deficit to five, 7-2.
Former Phillies reliever Antonio Bastardo allowed a single in the ninth, before retiring Andres Blanco, Tyler Goeddel and Cameron Rupp to end the game.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jerad Eickhoff | 5.0 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.60 |
| Jacob DeGrom | 6.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 3.00 |
Phillies
- Cesar Hernandez: 2-4, RBI, .364 AVG
- Odubel Herrera: 1-4, RBI, .133 AVG
- Jerad Eickhoff: 1-2, 2B, R, K, .500 AVG
Mets
- Michael Conforto: 2-3, 2 2B, R, 3 RBI, .444 AVG
- Neil Walker: 2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 K, .333 AVG
- Lucas Duda: 1-2, 2 R, 2 BB, .300 AVG
Phillies
- Dalier Hinojosa: 0.2 IP, 9.00 ERA
- Daniel Stumpf: 0.1 IP, 81.00 ERA
- James Russell: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 81.00 ERA
- David Hernandez: 0.2 IP, 1 H, 1 K, 16.20 ERA
- Hector Neris: 1.0 IP, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
Mets
- Jim Henderson: 1.0 IP, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
- Hansel Robles: 0.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 K, 0.00 ERA
- Jerry Blevins: 0.2 IP, 0.00 ERA
- Antonio Bastardo: 1.0 IP, 2 K, 0.00 ERA
What's Next
- Saturday, April 9, 2016: at New York Mets, 7:10 p.m.
- Citi Field – New York, NY
- RHP Vince Velasquez (2015: 1-1, 4.37 ERA) vs. RHP Bartolo Colon (2015: 14-13, 4.16 ERA)
- TV: CSN, MLB Network Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Citi Field – New York, NY
