PHILADELPHIA _ If Monday night was a representative preview of what the Mets-Phillies season series will be like _ and, more generally and significantly, what the NL East competition is going to be like _ then make sure to rest up when you can and have plenty of snacks ready.
The Mets beat the Phillies, 7-6, in an 11-inning game that took 4 hours, 29 minutes.
Rhys Hoskins gifted the Mets the winning run when Michael Conforto's grounder to first deflected off his glove to second baeman Cesar Hernandez, who threw it into the ground. Juan Lagares scored from second.
Mickey Callaway refrained from using his best reliever, closer Edwin Diaz, in several critical moments. That wound up working out when Diaz handled the bottom of the 11th, striking out Bryce Harper, Hoskins and J.T. Realmuto to end it.
The game lasted that long because of an eventful eighth inning. Jeurys Familia got a lucky 5-4-3 double play _ a 106.5-mph bullet from Maikel Franco found Jeff McNeil's glove _ and got pulled with the bases loaded and two outs, the Mets clinging to a one-run lead. Instead of going to Diaz, who hadn't pitched since Thursday, for perhaps the biggest out of the game, Callaway picked Robert Gsellman.
Gsellman walked Jean Segura on four pitches, forcing in the tying run.
And that was only the end of the game. Earlier, Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Nola matched up in a potential pitchers' duel that never was. Fifteen of 16 starting position players, including everybody on the Mets' side, had at least one hit. And 25-mph winds blowing out to right field meant a steady stream of garbage strewn about the field, capturing well the essence of a game that should not be described as crisply played.
So, yes, this division looks like a doozy. One-tenth of the schedule already complete, the Mets (10-6) sneaked a half-game ahead of the Phillies (9-6) for first place for at least a day.
"It's a great division, like we've been talking about since the offseason," Callaway said. "It's going to be a challenge. We feel like we're up to that challenge.
"Our ultimate goal is to win a championship. And playing in what I feel is probably the best division in baseball, is going to help us fulfill that goal if we can get to where we want to get. You get in the playoffs, and you've been playing great teams all year, you're going to be better suited to get through those tough teams that you're going to play in the playoffs, and get to where you want to get, and that's to win a world championship."
The Mets never trailed, but were never quite in control.
Nola allowed three runs in the third, including a pair on Wilson Ramos' two-out single, but Syndergaard gave up the lead in the bottom half of the inning. The Mets got two more in the fourth, on Robinson Cano's two-out double, but Syndergaard gave it right back, again, on Franco's two-run homer.
Nola lasted only four innings, allowing five runs, seven hits and three walks. Syndergaard edged him out, barely, with five runs allowed in five innings. He allowed nine hits and three walks and struck out a season-high nine.
Four starts into his season, Syndergaard has pitched nothing like his typical when-healthy self. He has a 5.63 ERA (and a 1.13 WHIP).
