Phillies, Hamels edged by Mets in 11

The Philadelphia Phillies were beaten in 11 innings by the New York Mets last night in the second of a four game set at Citizens Bank Park.

The Mets took a 1-0 lead in the 5th in a game where runs were hard to come by, with Lucas Duda hitting a fly ball to centre that Ben Revere couldn’t quite grab despite a desparate dive. Travis d’Arnaud then walked before Juan Lagares lofted a ball to shallow left which Dominic Brown couldn’t retrieve, loading the bases with 0 outs. Cody Asche then made a diving stop to prevent a hit from Wilmer Flores, but a run scored to make it 1-0 to New York.

The game was tied in the bottom of the 7th when Carlos Ruiz hit home run number 3 on the season out to left field against an otherwise stellar Dillon Gee, making the game 1-1.

It remained 1-1 until the top of the 11th when, after loading the bases with 1 out, Antonio Bastardo gave up a single to Lucas Duda, scoring Curtis Granderson to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. Bastardo declined to speak to the press after the game.

The result overshadowed a terrific opening ceremony in which legend Charlie Manuel was honored and Ruben Amaro Jr. was greeted with boos.

Cole Hamels was fantastic again, going 7 innings giving up 1 run on 5 hits, striking out 5 and walking 3. Once again run support meant that he wasn’t able to get the win, and the eventual loss went to Bastardo despite great relief from Jake Diekman, Ken Giles and Jonathan Papelbon to precede, and Justin De Fratus to follow.

Dillon Gee had the Phillies hitters’ number all night, going 7 innings also giving up just the 1 run, on 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 4. Josh Edgin, Vic Black and Dana Eveland provided scoreless relief, with the latter getting his first win of the season, and Familia came in for save number 2 on the year in the bottom 11th.

Carlos Ruiz and Jimmy Rollins were the only real bright spots on offense, both collecting 2 hits including Ruiz hitting a game-tying homer in the 7th. 6 of the Phillies in the lineup (including Hamels) were hitless, continuing the frustrating form of little run support for the pitchers to work with.

The Phillies move to 52-65 on the season, 12 games out of first place in the NL East, while the Mets move to 56-61, 4 games ahead of the Phillies and 8 out of 1st.

Tomorrow the Phillies send Kyle Kendrick (5-11, 4.74) to the mound to face Zack Wheeler (7-8, 3.48), first pitch from CB Park at 1:35 ET.