The Phillies in this series have battled, not only from the pitching standpoint, but from the offensive side of the ball as well. This has lead to the Phillies winning in the eleventh inning on Friday night and their last at bat last night. Today, the Phillies send Cole Hamels (0-2 7.02 ERA) to the hill looking for his first win of the season and his 100th career win. The Mets countered with their ace, Jon Niese (2-2 1.82 ERA). Niese is having a very strong year after going 8-8 with a 3.71 ERA last season.
The Game: The Mets got on the board in the first inning. Eric Young lead off with a walk then stole second base. Daniel Murphy then worked a walk and David Wright hit a single to score Young. 1-0 Mets
The Phillies came right back in the second. Marlon Byrd worked a walk, but Domonic Brown grounded into a double play. Wil Nieves would then hit a double, and Cody Asche would go back to back with a double of his own to score Nieves. 1-1 Tie
In the fourth inning the Phillies took the lead. Ryan Howard led off with an infield single. Then Marlon Byrd would hit a double to put runners on second and third. Domonic Brown followed with a ball grounded to first and the throw went home, but Ryan Howard avoided the tag to take the lead. Wil Nieves then hit a rbi ground out to add to the lead. 3-1 Phillies
Cole Hamels battled and completed seven innings. That forced Hamels to throw a career high 133 pitches. Hamels also struck out 10 batters.
In the ninth inning, the Phillies got a much-needed insurance run. With two outs, Jimmy Rollins worked a walk; then Chase Utley hit his second triple of the year to score Rollins. 4-1 Phillies
With Papelbon unavailable today, Antonio Bastardo came in to close the game. Eric Young led off with a double down the left field line, followed by a two run home run by Daniel Murphy. Bastardo then got David Wright to strike out. Chris Young then hit a double to left. Sandberg then removed Bastardo to bring starter Roberto Hernandez to get the last two outs. Bobby Abreu then hit a single off the glove of a diving Chase Utley to put runners on first and third. Hernandez got Lagares to ground out, but allowed the tying run to score. Hernandez got Anthony Recker to strike out but the Phillies head to extra innings. 4-4 Tie
In the bottom of the eleventh, Chris Young hit an infield singled to second. Then Zack Wheeler bunted him over. Jeff Manship then intentionally walked Juan Lagares. Then Anthony Recker hit an infield single. Ruben Tejada then hit a walk off single. 5-4 Mets Final
Notable Offensive Stats:
Jimmy Rollins 1-3, R, 3 BB
Marlon Byrd 2-3, R, RBI, BB
Wil Nieves 2-4, R, RBI
Cody Asche 2-4 RBI, BB
Impact: It was very important to see Cole Hamels get back on track. Even though he had to battle the whole game, this a game Hamels can build off of. The problem was the bullpen that has been over worked and the lack of a right handed reliever led to them blowing a three run lead in the ninth inning blowing the save. This is unacceptable.
Up Next: Tomorrow the Phillies have the day off as they head home to face NJ native Mike Trout and the Angels on Tuesday. Phillies will send Cliff Lee (3-3 3.64 ERA) who is coming off a rough start in Toronto where he gave up six runs and two home runs. The Angels have yet to announce their starter for the game. The Phillies will play 16 of their next 19 games at home.
Andrew Shipotofsky is writer for Philliedelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Ashipotofsky
