Following a rain delay, the Mets beat the Phillies in a virtually stress-free game.
It’s not always sunny in Philadelphia. On a rainy night at Citizens Bank Park, the Mets handled Cole Hamels with ease, beat the Phillies, and improved to 15-11 on the season. It’s the first time they’ve been four games above .500 since the middle of the 2012 season.
Neither team scored through the first two innings, but Ruben Tejada doubled to lead off the top of the third. After a sacrifice bunt by Jon Niese and an Eric Young strikeout, Tejada came in to score on a single by Daniel Murphy.
In the fourth, Hamels retired the first hitter he faced but walked the next two: Chris Young and Curtis Granderson. Josh Satin then singled in a run to put the Mets up 2-0. After Travis d’Arnaud struck out on a pitch very, very far outside the strike zone, Tejada drew a walk, and Hamels walked Niese to force in the Mets’ third run of the game. With the bases still loaded, Eric Young grounded out weakly to second base to end the inning.
The Phillies scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on a two-out solo home run by Marlon Byrd, the first hit Jon Niese allowed in the game. The Mets answered quickly with a couple of runs in the top of the fifth. The first scored after Daniel Murphy singled, stole second base after David Wright made an out, and came around to score on a double into the right field gap by Chris Young. Cole Hamels retired Curtis Granderson but hit Satin with a pitch and walked d’Arnaud to load the bases. Ruben Tejada came up and singled, scoring a couple more Mets runs. On the night, Tejada went 2-fo-3 with a walk, easily one of his best games at the plate this season.
Niese went on to finish seven innings without giving up another run. He struck out five, walked one, and gave up just four hits. On the season, Niese now has a 2.20 ERA and 3.55 FIP with 24 strikeouts and 8 walks in 32.2 innings.
Daisuke Matsuzaka threw a scoreless eighth inning in relief, and Jose Valverde worked around a one-out Ryan Howard double to pitch a scoreless ninth.
The Mets and Phillies are scheduled to play again tomorrow at 7:05 pm, though the odds of a rainout are very high.
SB Nation GameThreads
* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* The Good Phight GameThread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Jon Niese, +18.9% WPA, Ruben Tejada, +16.9% WPA, Daniel Murphy, +14.3% WPA
Big losers: Eric Young, -13.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Josh Satin’s run-scoring single in the fourth, +12.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Marlon Byrd’s solo home run in the fourth, -8.8% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +21.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: +29.0% WPA
GWRBI!: Josh Satin