Phillies Offense Shows Out in Final Road Game of Season, Beat Mets 7-2

A day after all aspects of the Phillies struggled, they were on point Sunday afternoon, leading to a needed 7-2 victory over the New York Mets to close out the final road game of the regular season.

The Phillies’ offense was able to produce runs and finally take advantage of this quietly strong stretch of games for getting guys on base.

It began early — a sac fly by Luis Arraez in the first that immediately got followed by an Alec Bohm single. Bohm has really turned it on since the trade deadline, using the pressure as fuel and becoming as close to automatic as one can be when runners are in scoring position with him up.

The top of the lineup continued their success during the third. Kyle Schwarber led the inning off with a walk, and then Trea Turner doubled Schwarber home before scoring himself off an Arraez single, his second RBI of the day.

Because of the success of the pitching staff, that was all the offense actually needed, which is a nice confidence booster for a team that sometimes struggles with their stars not coming through.

However, that’s not where the offense stopped. In the bottom half of the seventh, Cristopher Sanchez got taken out with a man on; in came Alex McFarlane. He allowed a run to score to make it 4-2, but made his moment popping out Francisco Lindor and then striking Juan Soto out to end the inning and keep the game 4-2.

That strikeout on Soto was a major momentum swing for the Phillies, and they rode the wave in the top half of the eighth. Working against Kodai Senga, who was struggling to throw strikes, they loaded the bases for Justin Crawford, a .362 hitter with runners in scoring position this season.

The rookie has certainly dealt with an up-and-down year, but in the bottom half of the eighth, he added to his collection of moments: ripping a liner into left-center that got to the wall, clearing the bases for a three-run triple to make the game 7-2.

That was more than enough runs needed due to the success of the pitching staff.

Sanchez got the start and had been struggling throughout the month of September, but he showed his ace abilities on Sunday. His six strikeouts put him in the top ten for strikeouts in a single season by a Phillies lefty, as well as his 18th win of the season putting him in sole possession of third place for wins by a Phillies pitcher since 2000.

What led to Sanchez’s success is simply that all his pitches were working. He was able to place his pitches well, especially the two-seamer. All of his pitches had the Mets numbers, which was not something Sanchez could say he had throughout September. All his pitches were working against a team that Phillies starters this year did not always have success against brings great confidence in Sanchez, who very well could be the game-one starter in October.

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