The Mets' fourth win in a five-game series came easily.
After going to extra innings in three straight games in Philadelphia, the New York made certain that they would only play nine against the Phillies on the fifth game of a five-game series. They scored first, maintained a lead throughout, and turned a somewhat close game after eight innings into a blowout in the ninth. While a sweep of the series would have obviously been ideal, but it’s hard to complain about the Mets beating the Phillies four times in one series at Citizens Bank Park.
Early in the game, Matt den Dekker was the star. The Mets had gotten on the board first with back-to-back one-out doubles from Bobby Abreu and Lucas Duda in the top of the second inning, but the Phillies came very close to tying the game in the bottom of that inning. Ryan Howard led off against Bartolo Colon and very nearly hit a game-tying home run, but Matt den Dekker—filling in for the defensively-talented Juan Lagares—robbed Howard at the center field fence.
And that wasn’t all. With the Mets still just ahead one-nothing in the bottom of the third, the Phillies had a runner on second with one out. Ben Revere singled to center, but den Dekker threw out Reid Brignac at home plate with ease. There’s no telling what would have transpired had den Dekker not made the pair of great plays, but neither team scored through the end of the fifth inning.
The Mets did score, however, in the top of the sixth. Appropriately enough, den Dekker singled to begin the inning. Daniel Murphy singled, too, and David Wright followed up with a well-struck double to center field that landed for a double and scored both baserunners. A Curtis Granderson fly out to left field and a Bobby Abreu walk later, Phillies starter Roberto Hernandez was pulled in favor of relief pitcher Mario Hollands. Lucas Duda hit what could have easily been an inning-ending double play, but Chase Utley botched the batted ball and failed to record even one out.
The Mets had the bases loaded. They hadn’t had much success in that situation over the past few weeks, but Wilmer Flores hit a relatively soft double down the right field line to score two more runs and gives the Mets a 5-0 lead. The Phillies got out of the inning without experiencing more damage, but the Mets would not give up the lead.
Philadelphia made things interesting for a few moments in the bottom of the sixth. Colon walked Cesar Hernandez to start the inning and surrendered a double to Chase Utley to put runners on second and third with nobody out. But Colon limited the Phillies to one run on a Ryan Howard ground out before getting out of the inning.
Neither team made much noise in the seventh inning, but the Mets once again got into a bit of a jam in the eighth. Terry Collins opted to leave Bartolo Colon in to start the inning despite a relatively high pitch count, and he gave up back-to-back singles before Collins went to the bullpen. The left-handed Dana Eveland, who joined the Mets yesterday and hadn’t pitched in the big leagues in quite some time, got Chase Utley to fly out and struck out Ryan Howard. With runners on first and third, Jeurys Familia came into the game and allowed the runner on third to score on a wild pitch, but he retired Marlon Byrd to end the eighth with the Mets’ three-run lead intact.
The game was close when the ninth inning started, but it was a blowout by the middle of the inning. Jake Diekman was on the mound for the Phillies and issued a walk to Chris Young, struck out den Dekker, gave up a single to Daniel Murphy, and walked David Wright to start things. With the infield in, Curtis Granderson singled to score the Mets’ sixth and seventh runs of the night.
Philadelphia turned to Phillippe Aumont, who walked Eric Campbell to load the bases. He struck out Lucas Duda, but Wilmer Flores came up next and hit a long grand slam to puts the Mets up 11-2. It was that kind of moment that makes a Mets fan laugh audibly at home while listening to or watching the game.
Terry Collins turned to Carlos Torres with a nine-run lead, and he set down the Phillies in order to end the game. The Mets won four of five in Philadelphia. It was not a dream.
SB Nation GameThreads
* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* The Good Phight GameThread
Win Probability Added
Big winners: Bartolo Colon, +24.8% WPA, Lucas Duda, +12.1% WPA
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Lucas Duda’s double in the second, +10.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Chase Utley’s double to put runners on second and third with nobody out in the sixth, -6.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +33.8% WPA
Total batter WPA: +16.2% WPA
GWRBI!: David Wright