Phillies 7 Mets 6 (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA)
Series status: Tied 1-1
WP - Jeff Hoffman (1-1)
LP - Tylor Megill (0-1)
Seat on the Korner: Nick Castellanos
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.
The Phillies' right fielder had a big day, with three crucial hits, including the sixth-inning home run that tied the game and the game-winning single in the bottom of the ninth. The first big hit followed Bryce Harper's two-run homer; the game-winner after a walk to Harper. It could be argued that the Mets pitched around Harper and that Castellanos made them pay. But the statistics suggest against wanting to face Castellanos. As much as Harper historically kills the Mets, Castellanos is no slouch, either: a .291 career average against the Mets, with 9 home runs and 29 RBI in 53 games going into this game. He also hit safely in each of his last six regular season games against the Mets.
What might he say in an interview? Here's a peek:
Need to Know
The Mets got out of Citizens Bank Park with a split, which is no mean feat, since the Phillies finished with the best home record in baseball: 54-27, or a .667 winning percentage. The Phillies have the same winning percentage all-time in postseason games at Citizens Bank.
Meanigless stat of the day: The Mets are 10-10 all-time in the second game of a postseason series.
It was the 14th anniversary of Roy Halliday's no-hitter against the Reds in Game 1 of the 2010 NLDS.
After generally having trouble throwing out runners in the playoffs, Francisco Alvarex nailed Bryson Stott trying to steal to end the fourth.
Bryce Harper, who usually kills the Mets with his bat, made three key fielding plays to take away propective hits and runs.
After Monday off, the series resumes at Citi Field for another late-afternoon sart, 5:08 p.m. Is Fox saying the series in not ready for prime time? Or is it pandering to the West Coast audience?
Turning Point
In a game where the Mets jumped out to an early lead, lost it and regained it only to lose it again, the turning point is quite simple: Nick Castellanos' game-winning, two-out single in the bottom of the ninth off Tylor Megill.
Three Keys
Sparkling Sevy....Until
Luis Severino cruised through five and two-thirds innings, and had two strikes on Trea Turner before Turner singled through the hole in left. Up came Bryce Harper, who looked bad in two previous at-bats against Severino, and, after throwing a ball, got two quick strikes. A four-seam fastball worked the count to 2-2, and then Harper hit one 431 feet to dead center to make the score 3-2. You could almost feel it coming; Harper, who usually kills the Mets, was due. After getting an early strike on the next batter, Nick Castellanos, Severino hung a sweeper and Castellanos hit it 425 feet to left center to tie the game.
Was Severino tired, especially after breaking hard to first to take a toss from Pete Alonso to retire Kyle Schwarber on a grounder? The roof fell in after that. Or was he just tiring, period? At any rate, his pitching line looks good, but also makes you muse for how much better it coud have been for him and the Mets had he been able to punch out either Turner or Harper.
The strategy works....then backfires
Trying to replicate the success of bringing in Edwin Diaz earlier in the game to face the heart of an opponent's lineup, rather than saving him for the ninth inning to close, manager Carlos Mendoza called in Diaz in the seventh to face Kyle Schwarber with two on and two out.
Diaz struck Schwarber out to end the inning, but unlike the series finale against Milwaukee, when he was lights out in the eighth, Diaz struggled after striking out Trea Turner. He walked Bryce Harper -- the Fox announcers contended he pitched around Harper, but to people who have seen him pitch throughout the season, it appeared to be one of those times Diaz didn't have good command of his pitches. Diaz then gave up a single to Nick Castellanos and a triple to Bryson Stott, giving the Phillies a lead. Mendoza then pulled Diaz and brought in Tylor Megill, who gave up an infield single to JT Realmuto (it's arguable over whether Mark Vientos, had he fielded the ball cleanly, could have thrown out Stott, who ran on contact). And with no better options in a tie game, Megill was left to pitch the ninth.
Power Goes to Waste
The Mets finally hit some home runs: four of them, including two by Mark Vientos. Vientos' first homer gave the Mets a 2-0 lead, and his dramatic home run in the ninth tied the score at six. In-between, Pete Alonso continued to channel Dave Kingman as a homer-or-nothing guy with a bases-empty blast in the sixth and Brandon Nimmo hit an also dramatic seventh-inning dinger to briefly retake the lead for the Mets at 4-3. But the Mets were somewhat uncharacteristically (at least for the playoffs) feeble with runners in scoring position: 0-for-7, spread among seven different players.
Comments