Final Score: Mets 6, Phillies 3
Two-out walks can haunt a pitcher. One nearly came back to bite Phillies right-hander José Ruiz in the bottom of the sixth on Saturday. After getting two fly outs to start the inning, Ruiz walked Mets eight-hole hitter Harrison Bader. Luisangel Acuña then hit a ground-rule double, putting two runners in scoring position in a tie game. Ruiz escaped the jam, making a nice play after nearly botching a comeback grounder.
Leadoff walks can haunt pitchers, too. And one did in the bottom of the seventh.
Orion Kerkering has been a shutdown reliever for the Phillies for most of the second half. He’ll play an important role in October. But he didn’t have his best stuff on Saturday. The right-hander allowed three earned runs in a big seventh inning for the Mets.
Kerkering walked Starling Marte to begin his outing. Two batters later, he hit Pete Alonso with a first-pitch fastball. Kerkering’s command wasn’t there. With a pair of runners now aboard for the Mets, Brandon Nimmo poked a single to left field, plating Marte. Kerkering was able to get Tyrone Taylor to whiff at a sweeper for out number two. He was almost out of the inning. Until he wasn’t.
Another two-strike sweeper to the next batter, Francisco Alvarez, wasn’t whiffed at. The pitch was down and away. But it wasn’t down and away enough. Alvarez made contact and the ball floated out to left field. A diving Weston Wilson couldn’t make the catch. Two runs scored on the play, giving the Mets a 5-2 lead.
Kerkering hadn’t allowed an earned run in over a month. It was the second time this year he allowed three earned runs in an outing. The other came on July 24 against the Twins. Sometimes, guys don’t have their best stuff. Saturday was one of those days for Kerkering.
Highlights
- Kyle Schwarber hit his 15th leadoff home run of the year, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead one batter into the game.
- The Mets took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the second on a pair of home runs by Alvarez and Acuña.
- Nick Castellanos tied the game with a leadoff home run in the top of the fifth.
- The Mets nearly took the lead in the sixth, but Ruiz collected himself and made a great play.
- Alvarez’s two-out double in the seventh came on Kerkering’s 25th pitch of the inning.
- Back-to-back singles by J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott put runners on the corners with no outs in the top of the eighth for the Phillies. They came away with just one run on a ground out by Cal Stevenson.
- The Mets scored again in the bottom of the eighth on a bloop single by Alonso. Stevenson and Stott seemingly miscommunicated as the ball landed between them in shallow center field.
Notes
- The Phillies’ magic number to clinch the NL East is still one. They’ll send Zack Wheeler to the mound on Sunday night, eyeing their first division title in 13 years.
- Schwarber’s home run was his 900th career hit.
- Ranger Suárez pitched five innings and allowed two runs on five hits. His velocity was up, and he struggled with his command at times. Overall, he looked better than he has in recent outings.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Sunday, September 22 vs. New York Mets at Citi Field
- 7:15 p.m. ET
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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