Hellickson, offense lead Phils to series win over Mets

Theo DeRosa

April 10 2016

By: Theo DeRosa, contributor

Final: Phillies 5, Mets 2

NEW YORK, N.Y. — Jeremy Hellickson continued his strong pitching as he out-dueled Matt Harvey to beat the New York Mets, 5-2, in Sunday afternoon's game at Citi Field.

The Phillies' offense proved productive enough to back its starting pitcher, a good sign as the season progresses.

Hellickson's single in the third inning — the Phils' starter got a hit himself before giving up any to the Mets — set up a Freddy Galvis sac fly to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. Odubel Herrera's two-run shot to right in the sixth added some insurance to Hellickson's strong start.

Yoenis Céspedes' two-run blast in the bottom of the sixth frame made it too close to comfort for the Phils, but another insurance run in the eighth helped the Phillies' bullpen hang on for the second game in a row as the Phillies took the series on the road from the defending NL champion Mets.

WP: Jeremy Hellickson (1-0, 1.54 ERA) ❖ LP: Matt Harvey (0-2, 4.63 ERA) ❖ SV: Jeanmar Gomez (2)

Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next

Game Summary

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
PHI	0	0	1	0	0	2	0	1	1	5	8	0
NYM	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	X	2	4	0

Jeremy Hellickson pitched very well on Sunday. The 29-year-old righty kept the potent Mets' lineup hitless through three innings, as Yoenis Céspedes delivered New York's first hit, a single, in the bottom of the fourth. In the sixth, though, David Wright doubled, then advanced to third on a wild pitch. Céspedes worked an 11-pitch at-bat, then homered to left to make it a 3–2 game and chase Hellickson. James Russell lowered his ERA from 81.00 to a mere 54.00 by getting the last out of the sixth for the Phils.

For the Mets, Matt Harvey didn't have his best stuff. He managed three strikeouts, but allowed six hits in as many innings. The biggest of these was Odubel Herrera's two-run blast in the sixth, which had given the Phillies a 3–0 lead. Jim Henderson pitched a scoreless seventh for New York.

After Hector Neris kept the Mets at bay in the seventh, the Phillies added an insurance run in the eighth. Ryan Howard hit a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to drive in Freddy Galvis. (Odubel Herrera was almost doubled off at second on the play, which would have wiped out the critical run.) Leading 4–2, the Phillies kept Neris in for the eighth inning. Neris pitched his second straight scoreless inning, moving the game on to the ninth.

Against Logan Verrett of the Mets, pinch hitter Andres Blanco added another Philadephia run with an RBI double to score Peter Bourjos, making it a 5–2 game.

Jeanmar Gomez, entrenched (for now) as the Phillies' closer, began the bottom of the ninth by giving up a single to David Wright. Gomez would settle down, getting three straight outs and closing out the game for his second save of the season.

After this important series win against the Mets, the Phillies return home to Citizens Bank Park. On Monday at 3:05 p.m., they will take on the San Diego Padres in a four-game series. Andrew Cashner will take on Aaron Nola in the Phils' 2016 home opener.

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Starting Pitchers