The Mets came out of the gate on a high note, beating the Phillies 5-3 behind good pitching and a 3-run home run from Neil Walker. Bartolo Colon was perfect through four, setting down the first 12 batters he faced. He came undone a bit in the 6th inning, following an error by first baseman James Loney that kept the inning going. After Hansel Robles got him out of the jam, the Mets bullpen, led by Jerry Blevins, Addison Reed, and finally, Jeurys Familia, held the Phillies in check for the rest of the way. Jeurys Familia, notched his Major League leading 32nd save, his 48th in a row (if you don’t count the World Series).
Juan Lagares put the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the 3rd inning and Walker hit the big blast in the 6th. Asdrubal Cabrera chipped in three hits.
Tomorrow at 7:05 the series continues at Citizens Bank Park with Logan Verrett vs. Jarod Eickhoff.
A nice start to the second half.
Walker would be more heralded if Murphy wasn’t having such a sensational year.Pittsburgh isn’t too happy with Niese though according to their GM. Niese is the kind of retread starter that the Mets need to avoid. His parting remarks were not mature and only confirms he is a bad fit on the Mets.
Two homeruns were the difference but the insurance run came on a walk, Lagares steal, fly out to advance the runner, and infield out because of the speed of Lagares to score the run. It was a nice change and added something to the offense.
The formula to success is Reed and Familia but how often can you go to the seventh inning well before it dries up. The Mets should add another “Fireman” with a hose to replenish that well.
“Walker would be more heralded if Murphy wasn’t having such a sensational year.”
Actually, even with the monster April, Walker is probably having his worst year in the big leagues. We just are oblivious to it (including me) because he got off to such a fast start and people like HRs. There should be more discussion about his disappointing year. Since May 1st, he’s hit a pathetic 674 OPS.
I know someone brought it up before, but if there aren’t many teams looking for 2b upgrades like last year (look at what happened to Howie Kendrick), we may have to reconsider the QO to Walker.
At the current trend, both teams will probably end up not being happy with their player at the end of the year.