After a close win on Friday night, the Phillies drop their second in New York.
Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper (3) is tagged out at second base by New York Mets second baseman Brett Baty (7) trying to stretch a single into a double during the sixth inning at Citi Field.
The Phillies dropped Saturday’s matchup against the New York Mets, 6-2, as Alan Rangel allowed four runs in the sixth inning.
Saturday afternoon’s contest began after a rain delay, with storms cutting through the Philadelphia-New York region and pushing first pitch back to 5:20 p.m. Tim Mayza opened for the Phillies, allowing one hit over 1.1 innings before Rangel took the reins.
Establishing and losing the lead
The second time through the lineup, Trea Turner walked to put a runner on base in the third for the Phillies. With two outs, Bryce Harper slapped an opposite-field home run, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead.
Rangel worked a few quiet innings for the Phillies before falling into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth. With one out, the stars of the Mets turned the tide starting with back-to-back singles into right field from Juan Soto and Bo Bichette.
Rangel walked Jared Young, who would become the last batter he would face before Don Mattingly went back to the bullpen. Jonathan Bowlan then entered, walking Mark Vientos to load the bases for the Mets. Bowlan allowed a single to A.J. Ewing, letting Soto score to make the score 4-2 in favor of the Mets. All four runs were charged to Rangel’s line, who ended the day having pitched 4.0 innings of four-run, four-hit, four-strikeout baseball.
Backhus backs away
After a scoreless top of the seventh for the Phillies, Kyle Backhus entered to keep the Mets’ lead to two. Two batters into the inning, the Mets increased their lead. After a leadoff single from Carson Benge, Soto tripled into center field, scoring Benge. Bichette then finished the scoring for the inning on a sacrifice fly, giving the Mets a 6-2 lead. Backhus’ season ERA increased to 6.35 on the night.
Seth Johnson worked a quiet eighth inning as the Phillies sought to once more come from behind in the ninth inning.
A change to the script
Recently the script to a Phillies’ win has been simple: allow some runs earlier in the game and then take the lead in dramatic fashion in the ninth inning. Simple, yet palpitation inducing.
The script got tossed into the rainy Queens night as the sole batter to reach base on the inning was Bryson Stott, who reached on a one-out walk. Edmundo Sosa lined out before Gabriel Rincones Jr. struck out against closer Devin Williams as interim manager Andy Green won his first game for the Mets 6-2.
The Phillies’ offense on the evening could be summarized in two words: Bryce Harper. Harper went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in the third inning to give the Phillies their two runs. Turner scored having walked earlier in that inning while Brandon Marsh, Justin Crawford, and Rafael Marchán had the Phillies’ other three hits.
Topping off the road trip
With a 4-2 record on the current road trip, the Phillies will look to close out the trip with a series win over the Mets Sunday afternoon. Jesús Luzardo will pitch for the Phillies in the 1:40 p.m. start.
Keywords
Philadelphia Phillies,
New York Mets,
Bryce Harper,
Juan Soto
