The Phillies allowed an entire series worth of solo home runs in an 11-4 blowout loss to the New York Mets on Saturday night. New York smashed seven solo home runs, including back-to-back-to-back dingers off rookie starter Mick Abel, who pitched three innings with six hits. “Seventy-three pitches in three innings,” Rob Thomson said postgame. “That’s a lot for a young guy. We got to protect him. So that’s the reason he came out.” Philadelphia used five relievers to navigate the rest of the game after the short outing from Abel.
Game Recap
New York took a 1-0 lead before many Phillies fans were settled in their seats for the 7:15 PM EST first pitch. Brandon Nimmo smacked a solo home run to center field for the Mets first run of the game. Juan Soto and Pete Alonso both singled to continue the threat, but Abel wiggled out of the jam with just one run allowed in the first inning.
The Phillies responded by taking the lead right back in the bottom half of the first frame. Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm singled to start the threat, before both players scored on an Alec Bohm double for a 2-1 Phillies lead.
Abel pitched his only clean inning of the game in the top of the second before the Phillies added another run via small ball. Otto Kemp doubled and advanced the third on a wild pitch during Brandon Marsh’s at-bat for a 3-1 Phillies lead.
New York flipped the script on Abel in the third inning with three consecutive home runs from the top of their line – leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor, Nimmo, and Soto to surge to a 4-3 advantage in front of a stunned Philadelphia crowd. Lindor’s home run which started the rally broke an 0-for-20 slump at the plate, the second-worst hitless streak of his career. “He just didn’t execute his pitches,” Thomson said postgame. “Really left the ball out over the plate, and not up and out [of the strike zone].”
Phillies reliever Joe Ross entered the game with solid results across 2.2 innings, allowing four hits and one run.
Philadelphia used an error in the bottom of the fifth to scratch across a run in the bottom of the fifth for a 5-4 game, but it was the final score of the night for the home squad.
New York threatened but did not score in the sixth and seventh innings before sending nine batters to the plate in the eighth inning and scoring three more runs on Phillies pitching. Jared Young crushed a 441 foot home run for a 10-4 lead. Francisco Alvarez’s 452-foot moonshot finalized the score at 11-4 in the ninth inning.
Sunday Night Series Finale
The Phillies and the Mets complete their three-game series tomorrow night at Citizens Bank Park. The winner of the game will hold sole possession of the division lead in the NL East. Jesus Luzardo is expected to pitch for the Phillies against lefty David Peterson. Game-time for the series finale is 7:10 PM EST.
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
