Final: Mets 9, Phillies 5
WP: Carlos Torres (5-5, 3.95) LP: Hector Neris (2-2, 4.44)
Philadelphia, PA–A 5-5 game for eight grueling innings between the Phillies and the Mets in tonight's series finale was finally decided in the 13th with a Mets offensive explosion fueled by costly Phillies errors that led to an 9-5 lead that the Mets would hold in their sweep of the Phils at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies struck first when cleanup hitter Jeff Francoeur–yes, you read that right–delivered a two-run single with the bases loaded to put the Phillies on the board against Mets starter Jon Niese with one out in the third, scoring Aaron Harang and Andres Blanco. Aaron Altherr, following Francoeur, brought home Odubel Herrera from third on an RBI groundout before Darin Ruf smashed a two-run opposite-field shot to put the Phillies up 5-0 with a crooked number on the board.
The Phillies' lead wasn't long for this world, however–struggling starter Aaron Harang gave up a two-run shot to former Philly farmhand Travis d'Arnaud in the fourth to close the gap to 5-2, then allowed a second two-run blast to the red-hot Yoenis Cespedes, recently acquired by the Mets, in the fifth, and proceeded to allow Kelly Johnson a solo shot of his own to tie the game. Harang, who had started off the season fairly well, saw his ERA rise to 4.79 after allowing nine hits and five runs in six innings.
Niese settled down for the Mets following a disastrous third, going six innings himself but ceding just five hits, five runs, and five walks, a very numerically balanced performance from the starter.
Jeanmar Gomez entered the game from the Phillies' bullpen in the seventh, putting two runners on but stranding them with a big strikeout of Michael Conforto to end the frame. With two outs in the top of the eighth, Gomez allowed a very close double to Curtis Granderson (Pete Mackanin challenged the tag play at second, but Granderson was ruled safe after review) and left for Ken Giles, who entered with four outs left in a tie game to face Cespedes. Giles got out of the inning by inducing a groundout to Freddy Galvis at short.
Mets reliever Hansel Robles allowed a one-out double to Altherr in the bottom half of the frame, but escaped without lasting damage after Ruf struck out and Carlos Ruiz grounded out.
Giles, staying in for the ninth, faced the 3-4-5 hitters in the Mets' lineup (Daniel Murphy, David Wright, and Kelly Johnson). He allowed a leadoff single to right, got two outs on balls to center, and struck out d'Arnaud on a perfect slider on the outside corner to send the game to the bottom of the ninth in a 5-5 tie.
Sean Gilmartin, relieving Robles for the Mets, retired Freddy Galvis, Cody Asche, (brought into the game to play left field as Odubel Herrera was taken out and Altherr moved to center) and Cesar Hernandez quickly using a stream of sub-80mph sliders and curveballs to keep the Phillies' hitters guessing and send the game into extras.
Giles, still pitching in the tenth after having thrown just 19 pitches in his first 1.1 innings of work, retired three Mets in order, including Gilmartin, who stayed in for the bottom of the inning. Domonic Brown pinch-hit for Giles with one out, working the count full before striking out. Carlos Torres relieved Gilmartin to get Jeff Francoeur to ground out on a ball that deflected off Torres, was snagged by a diving Daniel Murphy at first, and flipped back to Torres for a 1-3-1 putout, moving the game to the 11th.
Elvis Araujo, pitching for the Phillies in the 11th, walked Curtis Granderson on four pitches, threw one ball to Yoenis Cespedes, and left with a groin injury. Luis Garcia promptly replaced Araujo but only succeeded in finishing off the walk Araujo had begun, to put runners on first and second with no one out. A clutch 4-6-3 double play off the bat of Daniel Murphy got two huge outs and advanced a runner to third for David Wright, who walked to put runners on the corners. A huge strikeout of Kelly Johnson ended the Mets' arduous half of the 11th without any runs on the board.
Carlos Torres dealt with Altherr, Ruf, and Ruiz quickly in the bottom of the 11th, sending the game to a 12th frame.
Hector Neris, on for the Phillies in the 12th, struck out d'Arnaud, got Conforto to ground out and Ruben Tejada to pop out for a quick half-inning. Torres, remaining in the game for the Mets, retired two Phillies but allowed a single to Cesar Hernandez with two outs. Hernandez stole second and went to third on a throwing error by d'Arnaud, but was stranded at third when Blanco grounded out to third.
Neris started off the 13th poorly when pitcher Carlos Torres hit an infield single to short and Granderson singled to left with no outs. Yoenis Cespedes flied out, but Daniel Murphy stepped up for the Mets, driving a two-run double to left and scoring two runs as well as advancing to third on a throwing error by Galvis. David Wright followed with a ball badly fielded by Neris for an error as Murphy scored to put the Mets ahead 8-5. After a groundout and an HBP, Conforto added to the damage with an RBI single to fix the score at 9-5. Justin De Fratus, the sixth Phillies reliever tonight, came in for Neris and promptly retired Ruben Tejada, but not before some damage had been done.
Jeurys Familia, the Mets' closer, entered in the 13th. He quickly retired Ryan Howard (pinch-hitting for De Fratus), but Jeff Francoeur reached on a one-out single before being caught at second on a forceout off the bat of Aaron Altherr. Darin Ruf, the Phillies' last hope, mercifully struck out to end the 4 hour, 35 minute game.
After being swept by the Mets, the Phillies host the mediocre San Diego Padres for three games, beginning tomorrow at 7:05 when Aaron Nola takes on Ian Kennedy.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jon Niese | 6.0 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 3.95 |
| Aaron Harang | 6.0 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4.79 |
- Niese: No-decision; 103 pitches, 57 strikes; 8 groundouts, 1 flyouts; 23 faced batters
- Harang: No-decision; 109 pitches, 65 strikes; 7 groundouts, 5 flyouts; 29 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Mets
- Logan Verrett (7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.30 ERA
- Hansel Robles (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.67 ERA
- Sean Gilmartin (9th): 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO, 0 HR, 2.25 ERA
- Carlos Torres (10th): 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.66 ERA
- Jeurys Familia (13th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 1.72 ERA
Phillies
- Jeanmar Gomez (7th) : 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 2.86 ERA
- Ken Giles (8th) : 2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 1.56 ERA
- Elvis Araujo (11th) : 0.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.38 ERA
- Luis Garcia (11th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, o HR, 3.38 ERA
- Hector Neris (12th): 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, o HR, 4.44 ERA
- Justin De Fratus (13th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 5.84 ERA
At the Plate:
Mets
- Yoenis Cespedes: 1-6, BB, HR, R, 2 RBI, .295 AVG
- Daniel Murphy: 3-6, BB, 2B, R, 2 RBI, .287 AVG
- Travis d'Arnaud: 1-5, BB, HR, R, 2 RBI, .278 AVG
Phillies
- Darin Ruf: 1-6, HR, R, 2 RBI, .235 AVG
- Jeff Francoeur: 2-5, 2 RBI, BB, .274 AVG
- Aaron Altherr: 2-6, HR, R, RBI, .250 AVG
What's Next
- Friday, August 28: vs. San Diego Padres, 7:05 pm
- RHP Aaron Nola (4-1, 3.59 ERA) vs. RHP Ian Kennedy (8-11, 4.01 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Theo DeRosa (@Derosatheo11) is a contributor to Philliedelphia.com.
