The Mets showed some heart in the ninth inning but dug themselves too deep of a hole early and the end result was a 5-3 loss to the Phillies in a Saturday afternoon game in Philadelphia.
Trailing 5-0 in the ninth inning, Michael Conforto, Jonathan Villar and James McCann hit back-to-back-to back home runs. That prompted the Phillies to go to their closer. Kevin Pillar greeted Ian Kennedy with a ball ripped to left field for a single. Next up was pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil, who seemed to me too eager to go the opposite way when everyone else – besides McCann who has power the other way – was having success pulling the ball. McNeil popped up to 3B in foul territory for the first out.
Brandon Nimmo came up and worked the count to 3-1. On the next pitch he took a HR cut, only to come up with a swinging strike on a nasty change. He walked on the next pitch, bringing Pete Alonso to the plate as the go-ahead run.
Kennedy went all fastballs with Alonso, blowing him away on three straight pitches at the top of the zone or higher, none faster than 94. J.D. Davis also struck out to end the game.
Oh, yes, that fireballing Ian Kennedy with his 94 mph heater. Alonso and Davis both struck out. They didnt even hit a foul ball.
This is a bad omen. On Friday the 13th, the Mets start a 13 game stretch against two teams, the Giants and Dodgers. The odds are, that we could be five or six games out or more by September 1st. I was horrified to see that schedule.