Phillies 12 Mets 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 85-69
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP - Christopher Sanchez (11-9)
LP - David Peterson (9-3)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Alec Bohm went 4-for-5 with four RBI to lead the Phillies to a 12-2 win and a clinched playoff berth. It's the second time in Bohm's career that he had four hits and four RBI.
Need to Know
With the win, the Phillies have clinched a playoff berth for the third straight season, and can clinch the N.L. East title with one more win over the Mets this weekend.
With the Braves loss to the Miami Marlins, the Mets remain two games clear in the WC3 spot.
David Peterson came into tonight's game 3-0 and a 1.40 ERA in his last 3 home starts, and started out well tonight. But Peterson was pulled after 3 and 2/3's innings having given up five runs (four earned) on eight hits while striking out four.
J.D. Martinez went 0-for-3 to reach 32 straight at-bats without a hit.
Jose Iglesias' leadoff home run was the first leadoff homer of his career. It also gave him a 14 game hitting streak.
Eddy Alvarez pitched in relief in the 9th and got his first major league strikeout as he K's Weston Wilson to lead off the inning. He gave up a hit to Kyle Schwarber and hit Trea Turner with a 45 mph beach ball, but retired Bryce Harper on a flyout to left to end the inning.
Francisco Lindor missed his 5th straight game tonight, but participated in baseball activities including batting practice, and has a chance to return to the lineup on Saturday.
Turning Point(s)
It was a tough game for Pete Alonso. In the second inning, David Peterson led off the inning by giving up singles to Bohm and Nick Castellanos. But on the first pitch to JT Realmute, Peterson got him to pop up for what should have been a simple first out as the ball stayed up there forever. But Alonso raced out to right field (not even short right field) and got turned around before taking a stab at the ball and missing for what turned out to be an error to load the bases. A run would then score on a sac fly to make it 2-1 and get the Phillies going.
Then in the 5th after Bohm and the rest of the Phillies blew the game wide open at 8-2, the Mets had a chance to get back into it. A two out double by Iglesias followed by walks to Starling Marte and Mark Vientos loaded the bases for Alonso to get the Mets back into it with a hit, or maybe even a grand slam. But Alonso, as is his nasty habit, swung at an outside changeup for strike two before getting caught looking to end the inning and end the Mets last best chance to win this game.
Three Keys
We're Gonna Get High, High, High
Peterson wasn't pitching all that horribly, and the key to his early success was the high fastball. He struck out Schwarber and Harper on it in the first inning, and in the second inning, he used it to get out of the inning by striking out Weston Wilson.
But when the Phillies, including Weston, starting catching up to it, it made Peterson look very ordinary. And when Peterson was getting hit, he was getting hit hard ... and it was off speed stuff that got him into trouble. It was partly why Carlos Mendoza made the decision to go to Adam Ottavino in the 4th.
Otto Got Blottoed
Mendoza got aggressive, managing this game like it was the playoffs in the 4th pulling Peterson with the game still in the balance. The problem was that so early in the game, Mendoza pretty much had to roll the dice with Ottavino, hoping that he could get just one out so that a lefty could come in to face Bryce Harper to lead off the 5th inning. It's one of the few tough spots that Mendoza could really use Ottavino who, unfortunately, couldn't get Trea Turner out. And after a walk to Bryce Harper, it led to this:
At Least Atlanta Lost
The Mets dodged a bullet tonight. If they do reach the playoffs over Atlanta, the Braves will rue losing to teams like the Miami Marlins as they did tonight.
The Mets have been on the wrong end of a few playoff chases where there have been multiple losses down the stretch to bad teams. It seems that the Braves are living that reality this season, as they lost to not only a second division team, but a team that lost 20-4 the previous night.
If the Mets can somehow gain one more game on Atlanta this weekend, they can go into their series with Atlanta where even just one win would put them in an excellent spot to end the season in a playoff spot.
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