Dominant Wheeler Outing Wasted by Ice Cold Offense as Phillies Lose Season Series to Mets

In a game that seemed to have a lot of playoff energy, the Phillies played like that team that dropped games six and seven at home in the NLCS in 2023. A quiet offense, a wasted dominant performance by Zack Wheeler, and an unnecessary amount of cuts to Grimace costumes and OMG signs capped off the Phillies’ 2-1 loss in their final game against the Mets in the 2024 regular season.

This loss is the only time this year the Phillies have lost a series to the Mets and delays the official winning of the NL East by at least another day.

For the Phillies, Zack Wheeler was his usual dominant self, pitching seven-plus innings, only allowing two runs, and recording eight strikeouts. Unfortunately, those two runs would be all the Mets needed as the Phillies offense was only able to muster up one run.

This run would come early for the Phils as Alec Bohm was able to hit a bloop single over the head of Pete Alonso, allowing Trea Turner to score easily from second in the top of the first. Despite loading up the bases later in the inning, the Phillies would not cross the plate for the rest of the game.

The Mets would respond with a run of their own coming off a pair of two-out hits from Mark Vientos and Tyrone Taylor.

The score would remain 1-1 for the majority of the rest of the game as a result of incredibly solid pitching on both sides. Mets’ starter Tylor Megill would throw four innings with four hits and six strikeouts followed by two no-hit innings from Phil Maton.

The wind above Citi Field made the prospect of a homer seem virtually impossible, as was seen in the top of the third when what appeared to be a centerfield moonshot by Kyle Schwarber died at the wall, but in the bottom of the sixth Brandon Nimmo got just enough to sneak a home run over the right field wall to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.

Edwin Diaz would pitch the final two innings to secure the save for New York, despite a shaky ninth inning, highlighted by a wild series of events where Bryson Stott stole third in the top of the ninth and Fransisco Alvarez’s throw hit the bag. If it had snuck into the outfield the score could have been tied. This win moves the Mets’ record up to 87-69, giving them a two-game lead over the Braves as they head down to Atlanta for a series with massive playoff implications.

For the Phillies, their record falls to 92-64, placing them a game behind the Dodgers for the top seed in the National League, but still, three games ahead of the Brewers, keeping the first-round bye intact. The Phillies hold the tiebreaker over both these teams.

If you’re looking for positives after this disappointing loss, there are still plenty to be found. The Phillies won the season series over the Mets 7-6 so the only scenario in which they can lose the division lead is if they lose out and the Mets win out. The Phillies now have a chance to clinch the division at home. The final two series of the season are against the Cubs and Nationals, who aren’t exactly setting the world on fire. And if the Phillies were to face off against this Mets team in the playoffs, the majority of the series would take place at CBP, where the Phillies have a 52-26.

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Bo Lynett

Bo has been a fan of Philly sports his whole life and has spent the entirety of his four years at Colgate University working to start a career in sports media. Double majoring in Economics and Film & Media Studies gave him the opportunity to study both the financial/ analytical and broadcasting/ production sides of the sports world. Outside of the classroom, he’s worked as a director and producer for Colgate’s athletic events streamed on ESPN+ and a writer for the Colgate Athletic Website. Through all of this, however, it was his love of Philly sports that drove him to this career.