Gut Reaction: Mets 4, Phillies 3(10) (Game 1, 7/9/18)

The New York Mets opened their doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies with a walk-off victory as they defeated their division rivals 4-3 in 10 innings.

Of course, who else would the walk-off RBI be attributed to besides Wilmer Flores? After appearing to be hit by the pitch before the home run, the count was 3-1 in Flores’s favor. He plunked the ball off of the left field foul pole, registering his 10th career walk-off RBI, the most in Mets franchise history.

Of course, before the somewhat expected heroics of Flores in the 10th, there was a complete game played beforehand. Zack Wheeler started the game for the Mets, and didn’t put his best self on the mound for today’s game. Lasting only 4.2 innings, Wheeler allowed three earned runs over his 102 pitches, the biggest blow being a Maikel Franco home run in the fourth to make the game even at three. Wheeler was a victim of locating his pitches too much during the game. This led to him walking three batters, although he did strike out eight. Wheeler did show maturity in the game however, by the way that he was able to get outs and not letting the game slip away too much from him.

The offense started early today for the Mets, as Asdrubal Cabrera smacked a home run in the bottom of the first. Cabrera had a lot of success at the plate today, as he later doubled to drive in Jose Bautista in the third inning. My Gut Reaction is that this continued offensive success for Cabrera will lead to him increasing his trade value on the team.

The bullpen of the Mets was extremely successful today, as they were able to hold the Phillies scoreless. The combination of Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, Jeurys Familia, and Tim Peterson combined for 5 strike outs over 4.1 innings. This was how the Mets bullpen was supposed to succeed this season, and it will be interesting to see how Mickey Callaway uses his pen in the second game of the doubleheader.

Speaking of the second game, the first pitch will be at 8:05. The Mets will have to face the talented Aaron Nola, as Corey Oswalt will try to pitch the Mets into a sweep of the doubleheader.