Earlier this week, Mets’ Hall of Famer and present crew broadcaster Keith Hernandez made some hay when he mentioned he “hates doing Phillies games” due to what he thought of to be Philadelphia’s unhealthy model of baseball.
On Friday night time, as Hernandez was off in St. Louis celebrating the fortieth anniversary of his championship with the Cardinals, the Mets and Phillies turned in a recreation straight out of Hernandez’s period.
The 2-1 win for the Phillies was all about pitching, protection, small ball, and paradoxically, the battle of fundamentals. Tied at one after the primary two frames, each groups fired blanks till the tenth, when Hernandez’s dreaded “bad fundies” reared their ugly head, however this time for the Mets. One inning after getting nailed at dwelling by Phillies’ left fielder Matt Vierling, Starling Marte had his throw to the plate skip proper on by catcher Tomas Nido, permitting the Phils’ to take the lead on a sacrifice fly within the tenth.
The Phillies obtained a run off Max Scherzer within the first inning after which fell dormant for the subsequent six, failing to get the rest off Scherzer regardless of racking up 9 whole hits in opposition to him. Scherzer was his sometimes demonstrative self, pumping his fists and yelling phrases of self affirmation at himself after inning-ending outs, and likewise displaying jubilant appreciation for Francisco Lindor when the shortstop ranged into the outlet for a pleasant play within the fifth.
Scherzer completed with six Ok’s whereas throwing seven full innings for the third time in his final 4 outings, as soon as once more permitting the crew to avoid its center aid underbelly that may grow to be extra vital because the season progresses.
Philadelphia starter Ranger Suarez held the Mets down along with his assortment of sinkers and changeups. He matched Scherzer by additionally going seven innings however holding the Mets to simply three hits. Their lone run off him was produced by a Pete Alonso stroll, a Darin Ruf double that obtained him to 3rd, and a Mark Canha sac fly.
This very tightly performed recreation may have been something however. In the highest of the third, the Mets have been pressured to utterly rearrange the furnishings. Both Eduardo Escobar (who began the sport at third base) and Jeff McNeil (the beginning second baseman) have been pulled from the lineup, neither one in all them rising from the dugout to start the inning. Buck Showalter then needed to get artistic.
With only one infielder on the bench in Luis Guillorme, Showalter grabbed him off the bench and put him at second base. But the double damage meant somebody must play out of place, and that ended up being Canha. An undisputed king of versatility — Canha has performed over 700 innings at every outfield spot and first base — the veteran was pressured to go to a spot he hadn’t been in years.
Canha took over at third base, enjoying the recent nook for the primary time since 2016. In his MLB profession previous to Friday night time’s recreation of musical chairs, he had solely logged 15 innings at third base, although he spent an honest chunk of 2014 filling in there for the Marlins’ Triple-A crew.
Amazingly, flying within the face of a basic baseball adage, the ball actually didn’t discover him. Canha didn’t contact the ball for his first two innings at third, however cleanly fielded a 91 mile per hour grounder within the fifth and made a painless throw throughout the diamond to finish the out. That was his solely defensive motion on the unfamiliar place, guaranteeing that, not less than, the Mets wouldn’t lose due to a wildly completely different defensive alignment.
Wearing their assassin-like black jerseys, with Edwin Diaz shutting down the ninth inning in a uncommon non-save state of affairs, making an attempt to arrange a blissful win, the Mets simply couldn’t land the ultimate blow. Adding one other layer of irony to the unhealthy fundies in opposition to Philadelphia — the bizarro model of Hernandez’s feedback — the Mets have been closed out within the tenth by David Robertson.
Every Mets fan and their mom left the commerce deadline questioning why the crew didn’t get Robertson as their primary bullpen improve. On Friday night time, with a bit of assist from a beneficiant third strike name to Tyler Naquin, Robertson confirmed them what they missed out on.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com