Phillies, Adam Morgan aim to play spoiler against Wild Card-contending Mets

By Matt Rappa, Sports Talk Philly editor

FLUSHING, N.Y. — The Philadelphia Phillies' (69-83) final road trip of the season will get underway in the first of a four-game set against rookie RHP Seth Lugo and the division-rival New York Mets (80-72) Thursday evening at Citi Field.

Southpaw Adam Morgan and the Phillies could play spoiler this series, as the Mets are currently in a three-way tie with the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants for first place in the National League Wild Card standings. The Phillies have already been successful this month in distancing another division rival from postseason contention, with two series victories against the Miami Marlins from Sept. 5-7 and 16-18.

The Phillies are coming off of a two-game home sweep of the Chicago White Sox, in which they defeated both 2011 American League All-Star James Shields and perennial Cy Young Award candidate, Chris Sale. The Mets enter the series coming off of being swept by the National League-worst Atlanta Braves in a three-game series. Former Phillies outfielder Ender Inciarte robbed Yoenis Cespedes of a two-run walk-off home run in the series finale Wednesday evening.

Seven of the Phillies' final 10 games this season will be against the Mets, four away and three at home from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 to conclude Pete Mackanin's first full season as a major league manager. The Phillies have won four of their last five games.

Starting Pitching Matchup:

Adam Morgan — Age: 26;

• Last Start: Sept. 16, 2016, vs. MIA: ND, 4 1/3 IP, 7 H, 2 R, ER, 2 BB, 4 SO
• Career vs. NYM: (0-1), 2 G, 8 2/3 IP, 15 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 2 BB, 11 SO, 7 HR, 11.42 ERA

Through two career starts against the Mets — the last occurring on August 26 at Citi Field — Morgan has surrendered seven home runs through 8 2/3 innings.

The Tampa, Florida, native is 2-4 with a 5.84 ERA and 1.459 WHIP ratio through 49 1/3 innings on the road this season. He has not surrendered a home run in three straight starts.

Seth Lugo — Age: 26;

• Last Start: Sept. 17, 2016, vs. MIN: ND, 5 IP, 4 H, R, ER, 4 BB, 2 SO, HR
• Career vs. PHI: N/A

Lugo's first nine big league appearances from July 1 to August 17 came as a reliever out of the bullpen, posting a 2.65 ERA, five earned runs in 17 innings, and a .185/.273/.222 opposing slash.

The Shreveport, Louisiana, native made his first career start on August 19, filling in for injured LHP Steven Matz (shoulder). Throwing 6 2/3 innings away against the Giants at AT&T Park, Lugo allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk en route to a losing decision. In his five starts since, however, Lugo is 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA and 20-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio through 30 innings.

Starting Lineups:

Broadcast Information:

• First pitch: 7:10 p.m.
• TV: CSN
• Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP

Game Notes:

• The Phillies are just one of three Major League clubs this season with six or more players with 15-plus home runs, joining the Cardinals (7) and Washington Nationals (6): Maikel Franco (22), Ryan Howard (22), Tommy Joseph (21), Freddy Galvis (20) and Odubel Herrera (15). It is just the second time in franchise history that the Phillies have accomplished this feat, joining 2004: Jim Thome (42), Bobby Abreu (30), Pat Burrell (24), David Bell (18), Placido Polanco (17) and Mike Lieberthal (17).
• Phillies starting pitchers have allowed three earned runs or fewer in 18 consecutive games for the first time since June 27 to July 17, 1989.
• Since Sept. 8, Herrera ranks fourth in Major League Baseball in batting average (.410). He has raised his batting average from .275 to .288 over his last eight games. Assuming Herrera plays in each of the final 10 games with an average of four at-bats per contest, he would need to collect 17 hits to match his 2015 batting average, .297.

Standings:

What's Next:

• Friday, Sept. 23, 2016: at New York Mets, 7:10 p.m.
• Citi Field
  
• RHP Jeremy Hellickson (12-9, 3.57 ERA) vs. LHP Steven Matz (9-8, 3.40 ERA)
• TV: CSN; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP