Phillies Walkoff Mets to Steal Finale
By Matt Veasey
Final. 4. 3. 5. 6
The Philadelphia Phillies won the finale of a three game series with the New York Mets on Wednesday night.
Thanks to a 5-4 walkoff victory over the visiting New York Mets in the final game of their 10-game homestand, the Phils moved to 7-9, just a game behind the defending NL champions in the division standings. The club went 5-5 over this past week and a half of play at Citizens Bank Park.
For a second consecutive series against an anticipated NL East power rival, the Phillies found a way to steal the finale and salvage a game. It took 11 innings, but the club finally reached the double-digit mark in hits for a game, snapping a club-record 15-game streak of single-hits games to start the season.
The Fightin’ Phils did not receive a strong starting pitching effort in this one. Jeremy Hellickson was roped around for 10 hits over 4.1 innings, allowing four earned runs, though he did have a tidy 6/1 K:BB ratio.
The Mets jumped on Hellickson for a pair of runs in the top of the 2nd inning to take an early lead, displaying some of the power that has been their hallmark in this series. Lucas Duda led off with a double and moved to 3rd base when Neil Walker followed with a single.
Asdrubal Cabrera then drove what appeared to be a two-run homer to right, but a review showed fan interference on the ball, turning the play into a ground rule double, saving the Phils two runs. Unfortunately, Hellickson then uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Walker to score one anyway.
The Phillies evened things up right away in the bottom of the frame thanks to a two-run homer off the bat of shortstop Freddy Galvis off Mets’ veteran starter Bartolo Colon. The 42-year old righty allowed just four hits over his six innings, but the Phillies did get to him for three earned runs.
That third earned run off Colon came in the bottom of the 4th inning when Ryan Howard led off with a walk, moved to 2nd on a base hit from Carlos Ruiz, to 3rd base on a fielder’s choice grounder by Galvis, and then scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of David Lough. The still-popular ‘Chooch’ had three hits on the day.
The Phils’ 3-2 lead didn’t last long, as Hellickson surrendered back-to-back one out solo home runs to Yoenis Cespedes and Duda in the top of the 5th inning. It was the third consecutive game in which the Mets clubbed back-to-back homers, with Duda involved in all three instances.
New York held their one run lead into the bottom of the 7th when the Phillies knotted it up once again. Lough lined a one-out double off Mets’ reliever Jeremy Blevins. Then with two outs, Peter Bourjos, who suffered the indignity of being dropped to the 9th spot in the starting batting order by manager Pete Mackanin, delivered the game-tying run with an RBI single to right.
The game then moved along into extra innings, the first extra-inning game played by the Phillies this season. With one out in the bottom of the 11th, Galvis sliced a double to right field. Lough was then intentionally walked, and both runners moved up thanks to a wild pitch by Mets’ reliever Hansel Robles.
Then with two outs, Bourjos again delivered, this time with a game-winning infield single. He drilled a hard grounder over the 3rd base bag that David Wright fielded well. But moving away into foul territory, Wright was forced to make a long throw across his body. The throw was strong, but the speedy Bourjos beat it easily as Galvis crossed the plate with the winning run.
The Phils will now enjoy the day off on Thursday as they travel to Milwaukee for a weekend series at Miller Park with the Brewers. That series begins a stretch in which the club will play 16 of their next 19 games on the road.