More mental mistakes and poor defense doom Mets in 5-1 loss to the Phillies in Philadelphia on Friday night.
Here are the takeaways…
– Kodai Senga had a tough-luck first inning. Brandon Nimmo dropped a blooper, scored an error, from Kyle Schwarber to lead off the first. Following a Trea Turner walk and Nick Castellanos strikeout, Bryce Harper blooped a single to left field to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. A sac fly put the Phils up 2-0 before Senga got out of the opening frame after 28 pitches.
Senga settled down, getting through the Phillies lineup without another run. But that changed in the sixth when the Phillies knocked him out of the game after two singles put runners on the corners with one out. Josh Walker came in for relief and got Brandon Marsh to fly out to the left side, but it dropped between Francisco Lindor and Tommy Pham. Lindor had a beat on it, but miscommunication let it fall and allowed a run to score. A Turner two-run single put the Phillies up 5-1 before the Mets finally got out of the inning.
It took Senga some time to find his ghost fork. But when he did, the Phillies were left off balance. Senga finished Friday pitching 5.1 innings, giving up four runs (two earned), five hits, three walks while striking out six.
– Pete Alonso nearly missed his 24th home run of the season when he led off the second inning. His ball hit the small fence at the top of the left-center field wall. The first baseman settled for a double but the Mets could not bring him home. Daniel Vogelbach struck out, and Pham and Jeff McNeil grounded out to end the inning.
Nimmo would make up for his error with a solo blast in the third inning to cut the Phillies lead to 2-1 at the time. The one run was all Taijuan Walker would give up. The right-hander took it to his former team, going six innings while giving up three hits, one run, one walk and striking out five. The Mets were stuck on three hits.
– Vinny Nittolicalled up for Taylor Megill, made his Mets debut Friday and pitched a clean eighth inning, giving up just one hit in the frame.
– During the game, the Mets traded an infielder Eduardo Escobar to the Angels for two minor league pitching prospects. Lindor would be mic’d up on the Apple TV+ broadcast and spoke about what Escobar meant to him.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets continue their three-game series against the Phillies on Saturday at 4:05 pm
Max Scherzer (6-2, 4.04 ERA) will be on the mound for the Mets and he’ll go up against LHP Christopher Sanchez (0-0, 3.24 ERA).