NEW YORK — The Phillies left Citi Field hitless and humbled on Friday night. They arrived on Saturday afternoon with a different energy. J.T. Realmuto jokingly practiced throwing his fastball to Rhys Hoskins while the team took batting practice. Seranthony Domínguez and Jeurys Familia played dominoes in the clubhouse before the game, while Mickey Moniak and Matt Vierling played cards a few feet away.
Their energy did not feel like that of a team that had been no-hit less than 24 hours earlier. But as Nick Castellanos said on Friday night, in a clubhouse that was as quiet as it had been all season, the Phillies needed to wash themselves of that loss. And they did just that on Saturday night, scrapping out a 4-1 win over the New York Mets.
The Phillies offense did not come out bats-a-swinging right away. Initially, it seemed like it’d be another night where the hits just weren’t going to fall. In the top of the fourth inning, Bryce Harper took one of Taijuan Walker’s splitters, and launched it 409 feet to deep center field, only to have it caught at the wall by Brandon Nimmo. Harper’s flyout would have been a home run in 18 of MLB’s 30 ballparks.
But then, in the seventh inning, the Mets brought in reliever Adam Ottavino. He struggled with his command, and the Phillies took capitalized on that. Ottavino walked J.T. Realmuto, before allowing a two-run home run to Kyle Schwarber. Alec Bohm walked after that, and stole third on a throwing error by Mets catcher James McCann. In the next at-bat, Odúbel Herrera drove him in with a double to make it 3-1.
A few at-bats later, the Mets brought in reliever Sean Reid-Foley. Rhys Hoskins, who entered the game 0 for 13, promptly smashed a 403 feet home run to left center field, for his second home run of the season, to make it 4-1. The Phillies offense didn’t run up the scoreboard the same way they did against the Rockies in their four-game sweep, but they did show some fight, refusing to allow their hitless performance the night before to define their performance on Saturday.
Solid outing from Gibson
Right-handed pitcher Kyle Gibson put together a solid performance on Saturday night against a tough Mets lineup. He didn’t pitch as deep as he has in his previous outings, but allowed no earned runs and only two hits, striking out three. He struggled with command a bit, most with his sinker — walking five batters — but his performance helped keep the Phillies in the game.
Unflappable performance from Alvarado, Norwood and Domínguez
Jose Alvarado inherited a stressful situation when he came in for Gibson in the bottom of the fifth inning, with the bases loaded and only one out. But he made quick work of the middle of the Mets lineup, striking out Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil to end the inning, while throwing only one ball, and all while hitting 99 and 100 mph a few times.
James Norwood and Domínguez followed that up with two unflappable performances. Norwood allowed no hits, no earned runs, and no walks over one inning pitched, striking out one, and Domínguez allowed only one hit over 2/3 of an inning pitched, striking out one.
The Phillies found themselves in another pressure cooker in the bottom of the eighth, when Jeurys Familia walked two batters, and Corey Knebel walked another to load the bases with Nimmo at the plate. But Knebel escaped the jam, inducing a groundout. He held the Mets to one hit and no earned runs in the ninth inning, and earned the save, but struggled with his command.
Up next
The Phillies play the final game of their three-game series against the Mets on Sunday at 7:08 pm. Right-handed pitcher Zach Eflin (1-1, 3.20 ERA) will take on right-handed pitcher Max Scherzer (3-0, 1.80 ERA).
