Last night's loss didn't come much different than the 81 previous to it had this season. They played catch up all night, but the Phillies were never able to pull back even with the Mets. The reason the win was significant was it marked just the first time since 2002 that the Phillies would end a campaign with more losses than wins. Of course, there has never been a losing season to be particularly happy about it. However, with some of the young stars taking over the lineup, there are things to look forward to. With nine games remaining, the Phillies came into tonight's game hoping to take the final two games of their last home series of the year.
Tyler Cloyd received the nod to begin tonight's ballgame. On the other side of the field, Dillon Gee was handed the baseball. Gee would be the first to surrender runs in the contest. Dominic recorded a one out single in the second inning. Darin Ruf showed off some o his "speed" by hustling out an infield hit and sliding into first base. This put two runners on for Cody Asche. A fly ball to center field gave Brown an opportunity to come home, and a well-timed slide into home plate, combined with an apparent missed call by the umpire, gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
Cloyd would not give up his first run until the fourth, but the man that scored the run wa no surprise. David Wright would hit his second homerun in as many nights, a solo shot that tied the score at 1 a piece. New York would come through to score again in the sixth. Daniel Murphy led things off with a run of his own. Wright singled, and Cloyd hit Lucas Duda with a pitch. Juan Lagares stepped up next, and he lifted a ball to the deepest part of the ballpark, the corner in left-center field. Lagares' triple gave the Mets a 4-1 lead, and led to Ryne Sandberg briging Ethan Martin into the game. Travis d'Arnaud doubled a few batters later to advance he lead to 5-1.
Similar to last night's game, the Phillie moved to within one run of the Mets with a cluster of runs. In the bottom half of the sixth, Cesar Hernandez used his speed to secure a leadoff double. Jimmy Rollins followed up with a double of his own, scoring Hernandez. Chase Utley doubled as well, but a bad read by Rollins only allowed him to advance to third. Carlos Ruiz then grounded out to bring J-Roll in from the corner. A wild pitch and an excellent secondary lead by Utley brought in the fourth run of the game for the Phillies. A 5-4 lead for the Mets took them into the seventh.
Joe Savery would come on to get Murphy to line out in that seveth inning. David Wright was up next, and he would work a walk. Following ball four, crew chief Ron Kulpa called for the tarp because of heavy downpour. After a 90 minute delay, the game was officially called, and the Mets were given the win. A frustrating ending, to say the least, has the Phillies would have had three more opportunities to take the lead. However, the game went far enough, and the Phils were left with a second straight loss to the Mets. The home squad will have to try to salvage the final home game of the season tomorrow, when Cliff Lee will battle Carlos Torres at 1:35 on Fan Appreciation Day.
