Phillies “Take Advantage” in Huge Series Win over Mets
Laurence Kesterson/AP Photo
They might not have been good, but they were better.
With one out in the bottom of the sixth inning on Friday, Brandon Marsh poked an RBI bloop single into left field, and Bryson Stott crossed the plate to extend the Phillies’ lead. Mets’ shortstop Francisco Lindor looked at left fielder Tommy Pham in disbelief as the ball—which undoubtedly should have been nestled into a glove—hit the ground. The play foreshadowed what was to come for the struggling Mets: A series loss to the Phillies for the first time since 2021, a year where the Phils rostered Freddy Galvis, Vince Velasquez, Chase Anderson, and Matt Moore, among many others, who are now distant memories in the Phillies organization.
Nevertheless, the Phillies will be more than content with a series win, as they continue to float around the .500 mark with the all-star break quickly approaching.
Game Summaries
The Phillies opened the series with a big win on Friday, where RBI from Bryce Harper, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, and Trea Turner propelled the Phillies’ offense. Brandon Marsh’s double was their only extra-base hit, but the Phils went 4-9 with runners in scoring position, and Taijuan Walker threw six innings of one-run ball, helping lead the Phillies to a 5-1 win.
With Max Scherzer pitching against Phillies’ Christopher Sanchez, the Phils were outmatched from the get-go. Nick Castellanos hit a towering 444-foot home run to center field, and Trea Turner hit an RBI single to tie the game at two, but a rocky sixth inning pulled the Mets ahead.
Sanchez allowed three runs over five innings of work, and Max Scherzer allowed two runs in six innings. David Robertson notched the five-out save.
On Sunday, it was all Trea Turner. Turner jump-started the offense with a solo home run in the first inning, hit an RBI single in the third, scored on a throwing error in the fifth, and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the game tied at seven in the home half of the eighth. Phillies’ starter Zack Wheeler struggled, allowing five runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings.
“I don’t really care how we win,” Turner commented. “[It was] a crazy one, kind of weird, but a lot of fun.”
Capitalizing on the Mets’ Mistakes
In no way, shape, or form did the Phillies deserve to win that series. In three games, the Mets logged three errors and committed other costly miscues, many of which resulted in runs for the Phillies.
In game one, the Mets lacked communication in the outfield, and in game three, third baseman Brett Baty’s indecisiveness proved to be game-changing, as the Mets’ pitching imploded after his calamitous mistake.
“You have to take advantage. We had some miscues, too, which we have to clean up, but you have to take advantage of the situation,” Phillies’ manager Rob Thomson reiterated. “I think there were a lot of good at-bats built in [during the eighth inning]… It feels good. [The Mets] are a good ball club.”
The Phillies made no errors in the field during the Mets series, but Rob Thomson addressed how aggressive base running has led to outs on the base paths, and how he does not want his players to shy away from being aggressive: “It’s a conversation we have to be careful with because if the message is wrong, then nobody is going to try to take an extra base. You have got to be careful with that, but we have [gotten an extra base] a lot this year. We have to somehow find a happy medium… Pac[o Figueroa] is always talking about. I am always talking about it. And we have done a much better job… We just have to keep hammering the message home.”
Turner Heating Up
Being the $300,000,000 man, a hot streak seemed inevitable, but up until this point, it has been no secret that Phillies fans have been disappointed in Trea Turner’s subpar start to his Phillies’ career. Despite his .248/.305/.387 slash line, Turner was the life of the Phillies’ offense against the Mets. He was 4-10 in the series with six RBI and three runs scored. In his last fifteen games, Turner has a .293 batting average and an OBP of .397. In June as a whole, Turner has a .797 OPS, which is the best of any full month in 2023.
In the first inning of Sunday’s game, Turner walloped his eighth home run of the season to straightaway centerfield. The ball left his bat at 107.6 miles per hour, which is his hardest-hit ball since May 10. Carlos Carrasco’s 93.3 mile-per-hour first-pitch fastball traveled 415 feet and had a launch angle of 21 degrees.
Turner also stole two bases, both of which came in Sunday’s rubber match.
After an off day on Monday, the Phillies will begin a three-game, midweek series against the Cubs on Tuesday at Wrigley Field.
