Phillies Win Rubber Match Against Mets 7-1, Reclaim Sole Lead In NL East
Jun 22, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies infielder Alec Bohm (28), infielder Trea Turner (7), infielder Edmundo Sosa (33), and infielder Otto Kemp (4) celebrate after the game against the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
The Philadelphia Phillies are back in first place in the National League East.
After splitting the first two games of a three-game series against rival New York Mets, the Phillies bounced back to win the rubber match on Sunday Night Baseball 7-1. With the win, the Phillies jumped back into sole possession of the division with a one-game lead.
Jesus Luzardo was on the mound, coming off a shaky loss to the Miami Marlins. Luzardo showed up big time, tossing 6.2 shutout innings, striking out seven. Kyle Schwarber and Edmundo Sosa both homered, while Nick Castellanos doubled twice in the win.
Both teams struggled to get going in the first three innings. Francisco Lindor knocked a leadoff single to kick off the game and advanced to third on a passed ball and a sacrifice fly, but a Pete Alonso strikeout ended that chance of scoring a first-inning run.
The Phillies went down in order in both the first and second innings, while the Mets did the same in their half of the second and the third. In the bottom of the third, Sosa led off with an infield single, and Buddy Kennedy walked to put two runners on with no outs. However, with Johan Rojas batting, Mets starter David Peterson picked Sosa off at second base and got Rojas to ground into a fielder’s choice for two quick outs. Trea Turner then struck out to end the inning.
A Juan Soto walk and a Brandon Nimmo single gave the Mets two runners on for Luis Torrens, but he grounded out to second to get out of the inning. Schwarber led off the fourth inning and did so in a big way, with a drive to center field.
Schwarber’s 24th home run of the season, and fifth in the month of June, made it 1-0 Phillies. Alec Bohm lined out to left, but was picked up by Castellanos with a double down the left field line. J.T. Realmuto worked a walk to put two runners on for Otto Kemp, who smacked a single past Lindor into left, scoring Castellanos from second to double their lead.
Sosa stepped back up to the plate after singling in his first at-bat. This time, however, he crushed a slider left over the middle of the plate to deep right-center field into the Mets bullpen for a three-run home run to make it 5-0 Phillies.
In the fifth, Luzardo got a quick groundout and back-to-back strikeouts from Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuna. The Phillies went down in order in the bottom of the fifth, but New York did the same in the sixth, with Luzardo getting Soto to strike out swinging.
Sosa smoked a double into the left field gap for his third hit of the night, putting another runner in scoring position. However, he grounded out to Brandon Marsh and flew out to Rojas, ending the inning. Luzardo came out for the top of the seventh and sent Alonso down on strikes to start the inning. He allowed a single to Nimmo, but got Torrens to line out for the second out. Rob Thomson then pulled Luzardo, finishing his night with 6.2 innings of work, allowing no runs and three hits, striking out seven.
Jordan Romano came on in relief and got a Tyrone Taylor groundout to end the inning. In the bottom of the seventh, Turner and Schwarber led off the inning with back-to-back singles, and Turner scored after a sacrifice fly from Bohm. Castellanos was up next and he smoked his second double of the night, this time to left-center, scoring Schwarber to make it 7-0 Phillies.
Max Lazar came on in for the eighth and got two quick outs from Mauricio and Acuna to bring up Lindor. With two strikes, Lazar left a fastball down, and Lindor smoked it to right for a solo home run to make it 7-1. One run was all they got as Starling Marte grounded out to end the inning.
The Phillies went down in order in the eighth, and Matt Strahm came on to close things out in the ninth. Strahm picked up an early strikeout and got back-to-back flyouts to finish off the Mets, winning 7-1.
Use code PHILLYSPORTSREPORT for $20 off your first SeatGeek order
Click here to save 10% on any order at FOCO
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
