Bullpen Game Digs Too Deep A Hole As Phillies Drop Friday Night Matchup To Mets
Sep 18, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Tim Mayza (37) pitches in the first inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images
Offense was limited all night in Queens as the Phillies drop Game 2 of the series against the Mets.
Runs have been very scarce for Philadelphia over the past few weeks, and Friday night was no different as Philadelphia posted its third straight game with only three runs of offense. While the Phillies managed to win their previous two matchups with that outcome, Friday night’s game saw the Phillies pitching give up six runs, with the biggie being a Juan Soto three-run bomb in the sixth to blow things open.
Non-starting pitching has been a struggle, to say the least, for Philadelphia over the past few weeks, and when you’re asking them to give you a bullpen game in the middle of the final stretch before the playoff isn’t an easy thing. They thankfully got some help thanks to a clutch waiver wire addition, but their own long-term relievers did them in Friday evening, resulting in the 6-3 loss.
The Phillies managed to snag an early baserunner thanks to a hit-by-pitch to Kyle Schwarber, but he was left stranded at first thanks to back-to-back strikeouts from Trea Turner and Bryce Harper.
With Jesus Luzardo still on the IL, the Phillies went with another bullpen game, with the plan to have the bulk eaten from newly acquired waiver wire pickup, right-hander Jose Urquidy. Before Urquidy got on the mound, Don Mattingly elected to have Tim Mayza, who opened last week’s bullpen game, start the game, hoping to get through the early parts of the Mets’ order before their true starter came out.
However, New York was all over Mayza from the jump, with Francisco Lindor smoking a double to lead off the inning, advancing to third on a single from Bo Bichette and then scoring on a single from Carson Benge, giving New York the early lead.
Mayza would walk Mark Vientos to load the bases, and the Phillies saw enough, ending Mayza’s night after five batters. Urquidy came out of the pen to get his first appearance in a Phillies uniform, and things didn’t start well. A.J. Ewing smoked a line drive single to right-center field, scoring two more runs for the Mets, extending their lead to three just six batters into the game.
In the top of the second, the Phillies managed to get a run back thanks to a one-out single from Edmundo Sosa and an RBI double off the bat of Bryson Stott, but one run was all they could get. Urquidy managed to work through the second, third and fourth innings, unharmed, but the fifth brought some trouble.
Benge and Vientos smacked back-to-back two-out singles, putting runners on the corners for the lefty Ewing, who already had an RBI knock earlier. Urquidy was nearing his end for his pitch count limit and managed to send Ewing down on just four pitches to end the fifth.
Without a hit since Sosa’s double in the fourth, the Phillies utility man made Mets starter Zac Thornton looked foolish, smacking a solo home run to left to make it a one-run game.
While the Phillies managed to cut the deficit to one, that didn’t last long thanks to Orion Kerkering. Kerkering, who hasn’t pitched in six days, allowed singles to Marcus Semien and Luis Torrens, bringing the top of the Mets order back up. While he managed to strike Lindor out, Kerkering left a sweeper in the middle of the plate, and Juan Soto smoked it 428 feet over center field, doubling the Mets’ run total.
Kerkering has allowed at least a run in seven of his last eight appearances, and dating back to July 22, he has an 8.84 ERA and a 1.800 WHIP.
Once again, the Phillies got a run back thanks to a solo bomb, this one coming off the bat of Derek Hill in the seventh, but the rest of the Phillies offense was failing to get rallies going with less than nine outs left. They went down in order in the eighth, and in the ninth, Dedniel Núñez needed just nine pitches to pick up the save for New York as the Mets defeated the Phillies 6-3.
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.
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