Phillies Waste Winnable Game Against Mets as Bullpen Melts Down in Seventh

The Phillies dropped the series opener to the New York Mets in a game where the bullpen broke down late, allowing the Mets to explode in the seventh and drop a winnable game against an uninspired opponent, 6-4.

The Phils were active before first pitch in this rivalry game. In addition to announcing that Adolis Garcia will undergo latissimus dorsi repair surgery on his right arm, officially ending his season, with a six to eight-month recovery time. The team also recalled Seth Johnson and purchased the contract of Bryse Wilson from Lehigh Valley, while optioning Tanner Banks to AAA.

The Mets wasted no time in getting on the board. After Aaron Nola got the first two outs, Juan Soto hit a long home run to put the Mets on the board first. They tacked on another run in the inning, giving them a two-run lead before the Phils even got an at-bat. In the bottom of the first, Trea Turner got hit in the left calf and would eventually score, making the game 2-1 on an Alec Bohm RBI single.

In the third inning, Soto struck again for another home run to right center in the third inning, and in the bottom of the inning, Bohm doubled home Kyle Schwarber to make the game 3-2. In the bottom of the fourth, Derek Hill doubled home Bryson Stott to tie the game at three.

In the top of the seventh, the Mets scored three runs to take a 6-3 lead. The Phils made a run in the bottom of the ninth when Justin Crawford hit an RBI single off of Devin Williams, making the game 6-4, which is where the game ended.

The Phils are 8-9 this season against the National League East.

Nola’s Pitch Count Continues to Be an Issue

Aaron Nola joined some Phillies royalty with his 300th career start in a Phils uniform, becoming only the fourth player to do so, joining only Robin Roberts, Chris Short, and Steve Carlton to do so. Once the game started, he started with controlling the strike zone with not only his fastball, but also with the breaking pitches. The long ball has been the Achilles heel for Nola this season, and that is thanks in large part to him leaving pitches up, and in the zone, and on the first home run by Soto, when he took a cutter that flattened out and resembled more of an 87 MPH fastball up in the zone, which Soto rarely misses.

The second home run Soto hit was a different pitch but the same result. In this case, Nola threw a sinker that was almost in the same spot, and he hit a long fly ball that looked like it was going to stay in the park, but it got into the wind, and it carried out. Even Soto himself looked mad that he didn’t get all of it. Other than these two pitches, he didn’t throw the ball poorly, but two massive issues continue to be problems — high pitch counts due to not spotting his pitches well, and the home run ball is still an issue. If he is going to try going up in the zone, he has to vary the pitches because he no longer has the same fastball he used to have. Thursday night, he topped out at 95 MPH, and while not bad at all, it’s no longer an elite aspect of his game. If he wants to turn his season around, he will have to start working lower in the zone.

Injuries Mount for the Phils

On the same day that the Phils announced Garcia would miss the rest of the season, the Phils got some other bad news. In the first inning, Turner was hit in the calf by a pitch, which put him on base, and with the way he’s been hitting recently, getting his speed on base can come in any way he can. This is on the heels of him getting hit on the wrist last week.

Edmundo Sosa came in to replace him, and while having a player like Sosa is a blessing to the team, the Phils need Turner to get back on track. He can come in to play just about anywhere, and that was an asset in this game, giving Don Mattingly flexibility and allowing him to pull Turner from the game.

“[Turner] was having trouble putting pressure on it and pushing off,” Mattingly said postgame. “He said he was having trouble on defense, he felt like he was a liability on defense, so he couldn’t really move.”

Over his last 10 games, Turner is 9-for-42, batting .214 over that span. With the Phils having a game off in the middle of the series, because of the Brazil vs. Haiti World Cup match being at Lincoln Financial Field, there will be a day off in the middle of the series, and give Turner either an extra day of rest or another day to get treatment.

Alvarado Gives Up the Lead Late

When Nola left in the fifth inning, the Mets were not squaring up anything, and when newly called-up Seth Johnson came in, he threw a very clean inning, striking out two. His fastball was lively, topping out at 99 MPH, which allowed him to climb the ladder to keep the Mets off balance.

The next inning, Mattingly went to Jose Alvarado, who was having trouble locating his pitches, and that leaves him vulnerable when he is constantly pitching from behind. The knockout punch for the Mets in the seventh was Marcus Semien tripling and scoring two, putting the game out of reach. It is the non-competitive pitches early in the inning that eroded the confidence of Alvarado and forced him to leave pitches more to the center of the plate.

“The ball is coming out well, it’s not like he’s down in velo or anything like that, we’ve just got to get the ball in the right spots,” Mattingly said. “You feel like if you get the balls in the right spots, you’ll get outs.”

This is what has been his undoing all season, and if he has any desire to return to form, he will have to adjust. The Phillies need him specifically to return to form if they want to have a chance to make a run late in the season.

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