Brandon Nimmo tied the game with a two-run triple in the sixth inning and he belted a leadoff homer in the ninth to put the Mets ahead and they hung on through a bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the ninth to escape with a 10-6 win Thursday night in Philadelphia. Nimmo now has a .515 SLG and a .233 ISO. Not too shabby for a guy that never gets counted as one of the Mets’ best players.
Nimmo’s heroics were only possible thanks to some terrific work by the bullpen. While the Phillies threatened mightily in both the eighth and ninth innings, the relievers contributed 7.1 scoreless innings. Justin Wilson was lucky to escape the eighth and he got the win. Edwin Diaz was lucky to escape the ninth and he got the save. Both pitchers were going for the third straight day, which isn’t ideal but in this case it was necessary.
It was necessary because Seth Lugo couldn’t get out of the second inning. Staked to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, Lugo gave up three consecutive homers and a triple and just like that, the Mets were trailing, 4-3. It wasn’t any better in the second inning, which included Bryce Harper’s second homer of the game.
The umpire lost the strike zone at the end of the game, missing calls for both teams. But it probably benefited the Mets more. Pete Alonso got a ball called on what looked like strike three. With the reprieve, he hit a moon shot homer to cut the deficit to two runs at 6-4.
Dominic Smith had three hits on the night, including two more for extra-bases. Of his 50 hits on the year, 27 have gone for extra-bases. Smith scored twice and drove in two runs. Robinson Cano had a two-run single in the first inning and he clocked a two run homer in the bottom of the ninth for the game’s final runs.
As we hoped, the Mets won the starts by Jacob deGrom and Lugo. But those two killed the bullpen, as they combined for just 3.2 IP. Now the Mets face the Braves with Steven Matz making his first start in a month. Friday could be ugly.
Amazing that people still think Nimmo’s a fourth OFer when in reality he’s one of the best hitters in the nl. He might not be a CFer, but he needs to be here long term and had two of the biggest hits of the season tonight. Nimmo’s controlled aggression approach has lead to tremendous results. I know its damning with faint praise but the bullpen has been way better than the rotation and Shreve has been a hell of a find by the teams scouting staff and he’s got another year of control next year thankfully and he’s been brilliant all year and was today as well. Ramirez has given lots of hard contract, but so far he’s eaten up innings and kept them in games. Dom continues to murder the ball and Cano came up huge as well and if he gets hot again the offense will almost be unstoppable. Wilson getting out of the eighth was a minor miracle and he should never pitch three days in a row. I disagreed with using Diaz up four runs but it eventually worked out so whatever.
All in all a great game and the Phillies bullpen is the worst we’ve ever seen and it was nice to see the shoe on the other foot.
Who would you rather have, Armando Benitez or Edwin Diaz? I think Benitez.
Nice win. Great comeback. Four regulars hitting over .300, and one regular approaching it after a rough start.
I noticed that someone in the game chatter (I think it was Name) said
“well our 2 “Best” pitchers went up against the Phillies 2 ” best” pitchers and we won both games”
Certainly true, but I’d amend that the Mets’ two best got (uncharacteristically) slapped and stomped, respectively, and they still won both
Also, 7.1 scoreless innings from the bullpen is quite heartening
How about them damn Yankees and their 5-homer inning?
And how do they keep finding nobodies like Voit, who’s currently leading the MLs with 20 dingers?
Mets survived the JV…the get the varsity tonight and perhaps the best lefty in the league this year. Realistically they need 2 of 3 this weekend and 2 of 3 vs a strong Rays team to be in position to pummel the Nats and get in the tournament. Good win last night anyhow…it’s nice to know time spent watching games they trail late is not a complete waste, at least against the worst bullpen in baseball. I hope those losses send the Phillies into a tailspin.
Gut Reaction: Why do I get a churning in my gut whenever the bullpen has a close game.
Maybe it is because Diax has blown 4 saves or Wilson has a ERA above 4.00 or Familia has a 1.40 WHIP. More games like this won’t relieve my fears.
The bullpen got the job done and Nimmo did the heavy lifting and Dom kept on rolling along.
I am not a fan of pinch hitting the catcher early in the game or using the closer three straight days with a 4 run lead.
I thought they should have pinch-hit for Chirinos in the fourth inning when they were down by three runs and he came up with the bases loaded. The guy is as close to an automatic out as there is.
Everyone’s always worried to death about what happens if you sub in your backup catcher and he gets hurt but the odds of that happening are incredibly low, like 100X below the odds of Chirinos getting a hit.
Mets need Matzy tonight. He can atone tons for his miserable year by coming through. The team needs him for as much as 7 innings today to save the pen not only for this game tonight but the weekend. 8-2 rest of the way, and get into post season LGM !!! They can do this !
Amen to that, and I feel good about Matz, but it’s hard to expect 7 innings his first time out after so little pitching pretty much this year. I’d be happy with 5 innings and a five run lead that Brach and Hughes close out with two innings a piece.