Final: Mets 9, Phillies 4
WP: Bartolo Colon (11-11, 4.68 ERA) LP: Jerad Eickhoff (1-1, 2.25 ERA) SV: Tyler Clippard (2)
Philadelphia, PA – The Philadelphia Phillies (50-77) have fallen to the division-leading New York Mets (70-56) for the eighth consecutive time, and the 11th time overall for the 2015 season.
Making his home debut, rookie right hander Jerad Eickhoff showed poised over six innings, but ultimately suffered the losing decision as the Phillies' eighth inning rally was not enough to overcome their opposition.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Mets | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1 |
| Phillies | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 3 |
Eickhoff fell victim to two unfortunate plays in the top of the first inning that resulted in a significant rally by New York.
During the first at-bat of the game, Phillies' center fielder Odubel Herrera committed a fielding error that allowed right fielder Curtis Granderson to advance to second base. The following play, center fielder Yoenis Cespedes reached on an infield single to put runners on the corners with nobody out.
The first run of the night scored off of a RBI groundout by second baseman Daniel Murphy. Later in the frame, a RBI-double by first baseman Michael Cuddyer and a RBI-single by left fielder Michael Conforto gave New York an early 3-0 advantage.
After retiring just one of his first seven faced batters, Eickhoff would go on to retire 16 straight until there was two outs in the top of the sixth inning. Conforto broke up the streak with a double to deep right field, and third baseman Juan Uribe followed by singling him home for the Mets' fourth run of the night.
Eickhoff's night would be complete after tossing six innings, which matches the right hander's total from his major-league debut Friday evening in Miami. Eickhoff allowed four runs, three of which were earned, on six hits and a walk.
Opposing right hander Hector Neris in the top of the eighth inning, Cuddyer hit the Mets' 10th home run of the series, as well as his 10th for the season, a two-run blast to left field.
Over two games and 2 1/3 innings pitched this series, Neris has allowed six runs on six hits, one walk and three home runs. The right handers' earned run average has risen exactly two runs, from 2.01 to 4.01.
Colon, 42, tossed seven shutout innings on 107 pitches. He allowed just five hits, one of which was a double, and two walks to yield an even 1.000 WHIP ratio. Facing the Phillies for the 12th time of his career, tonight was the first in which the right hander blanked Philadelphia.
The Phillies finally entered the run column in the bottom of the eighth, and they came up large.
With left hander Eric O'Flaherty on the mound, Herrera and first baseman Ryan Howard hit back-to-back singles to put runners on the corners with one out. The next batter, third baseman Andres Blanco, grounded out to third to allow Herrera to cross home plate.
O'Flaherty was pulled after allowing a walk to left fielder Cody Asche, in favor of right hander Carlos Torres.
Torres lasted just one batter, however, as he was substituted for Tyler Clippard following a two-RBI double by catcher Cameron Rupp. Against Clippard, pinch-hitter Jeff Francoeur knocked-in the Phillies' fourth run of the inning, and ultimately the game, a few batters later.
The Mets negated the Phillies' rally in the eighth by producing one of their own the next half-inning. With southpaw Elvis Araujo on the mound, shortstop Freddy Galvis committed errors in two consecutive plays, the latter of the which allowed the runner to score off of a Granderson double to right field.
This extra-base hit ended Araujo's streak of not allowing a hit to the last 38 batters that he faced, the longest streak for a big-league reliever this season. This was also the Phillies' longest streak since Antonio Bastardo held 41 consecutive batters hitless from June 5 to July 17, 2011.
Later in the top of the ninth, Cespedes hit a RBI-triple and Murphy hit a sacrifice-fly RBI to right field to put the Mets on top, 9-4.
Clippard retired the Phillies in order in the bottom of the ninth. In the process, the right hander earned his second save of the season.
Starting Pitchers
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bartolo Colon | 7.0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4.68 |
| Jerad Eickhoff | 6.0 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 2.25 |
- Colon: W; 107 pitches, 75 strikes; 6 groundouts, 5 flyouts; 28 faced batters
- Eickhoff: L; 97 pitches, 64 strikes; 4 groundouts, 5 flyouts; 26 faced batters
Out of the 'Pen
Mets
- Eric O'Flaherty (8th): 0.2 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 15.88 ERA
- Carlos Torres (8th, 1 batter): 0.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.83 ERA
- Tyler Clippard (8th, 9th): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 1.76 ERA
Phillies
- Jeanmar Gomez (7th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 2.93 ERA
- Hector Neris (8th): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 4.01 ERA
- Elvis Araujo (9th, 2 batters): 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.38 ERA
- Luis Garcia (9th): 0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.44 ERA
- Justin De Fratus (9th): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 5.87 ERA
At the Plate
Mets
- Yoenis Cespedes: 2-5, 2 R, 3B, RBI, .311 AVG
- Michael Cuddyer: 3-5, 2 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, .263 AVG
- Michael Conforto: 2-4, R, 2B, RBI, .271 AVG
Phillies
- Ryan Howard: 2-5, R, .242 AVG
- Andres Blanco: 1-3, 2B, RBI, BB, .312 AVG
- Cameron Rupp: 2-4, R, 2B, 2 RBI, .254 AVG
What's Next:
- Thursday, August 27, 2015: vs. New York Mets, 7:05 pm
- LHP Jon Niese (8-9, 3.80 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.67 ERA)
- TV: CSN; Radio: 94 WIP, 1210 WPHT, WTTM 1680 (Sp.)
Matt Rappa (@mattrappasports) is managing editor of Philliedelphia.com.
