Eickoff On, Dazzles in Shutout to Seal Sweep of Mets

Jerad Eickoff exhausted both his rookie eligibility and the Mets today, striking out ten while scattering four hits and one walk across seven innings, en route to a 3-0 Phillies win and a series sweep of the first place Mets.

Eickhoff? More like Eick-“on”, har har har

Eickhoff allowed a double to Kirk Nieuwenhuis in the second for the first hit of the game but seemed to be in cruise control after that. Kelly Johnson would get a pair of singles off of Eickhoff and Nieuwenhuis would double again in the seventh, but it never felt like the Mets were a threat to score in today’s game.

According to FanGraphs, Eickhoff’s performance today was worth 0.4 WAR, making Eickhoff as or more valuable in one game than 23 other players that took the mound for the Phillies. Eickhoff’s record improved to 3-3 on the season while his ERA dropped to 2.65. Jerome Williams pitched a scoreless eighth to earn a hold while Luis Garcia picked up save number two with a scoreless ninth.

Bats Quiet But Deliver

The Phillies were out-hit six to five by the Mets but made the most of their opportunities. First baseman Darin Ruf took lefty starter Sean Gilmartin

deep in the fourth with a two-run shot while Andres Blanco, in the midst of a career year at age 31, went deep as part of an eventual double switch off of lefty reliever Dario Alvarez. The three other hits came off the bats of Odubel Herrera and Jeff Francoeur, who each doubled, while Chooch contributed a single.

With the sweep of the Mets, the Phillies could drop the Mets into a tie with the Dodgers for home field in that NLDS series with a Dodgers’ win tonight. The Phillies are now one and a half games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the National League and that margin ahead of them for the 2016 number one draft pick. They resume play tomorrow in the final series of the season against the Miami Marlins.