Philadelphia- In a day-night doubleheader on Saturday, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies took to the field in a heated division rivalry at Citizens Bank Park. The Mets began the day 3.5-games up in the NL East. The Phillies entered with a one-game lead for the second National League Wild Card.
Game 1 with 36,809 in attendance – Mets win 8-2
Michael Perez had his imprints all over the game one victory. In the bottom of the fourth with runners on 1st and 3rd, the Mets defense found themselves in a predicament.
The Phillies attempted a double steal in hopes of catching the defense lacking because Perez and Francisco Lindor, both from Bayamon, Puerto Rico, had different plans. The Puerto Rican duo executed a perfect cutoff from second base to tag the flying Bryson Stott out at home plate.
Perez went 1-3 with two RBI and a walk. He ignited New York with an opposite field single down the right foul line giving the Mets a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning. “Obviously this is a tremendous staff, a tremendous team and a winning team,” said Perez.
Lindor, a former LatinoMVP recipient added to his phenomenal season, going 1-5 with an RBI triple. Starling Marte, (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) 3 for 4 with an RBI and a walk.
NYM: Trevor Williams – 4.0 IP, 4 Hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
71 Pitches – 40 strikes
On Saturday afternoon, Williams carried great command, lowering his season ERA from 3.02 to 2.84.
“It was a good first day with me and Perez. We were on the same page pretty much the entire time,” said Williams during the postgame. “I owe it to him today, because it’s always especially tough for a new catcher coming in and learning all the different guys.”
Saturday also marked the ninth start this season for Williams. He has appeared in 23 games overall. Williams is currently on the longest scoreless streak of his career (24.0 scoreless innings). In this stretch, the right-hander has allowed 16 hits and five walks.
Game 2 with 39,374 in attendance – Phillies win 4-1
New York came out energized in the first inning. On a wild pitch scoring Lindor, the Mets found themselves with a 1-0 lead.
The Phillies immediately responded and kept the door shut for any comeback in sight. J.T. Realmuto smacked an RBI single to right field in the bottom half of the first.
Alec Bohm delivered a clutch double down the left field line propelling Philly to a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the third inning. This marked his 19th double of the year. Bohm leads the Phillies in batting average (.284) this season.
Rhys Hoskins sealed the deal in the home half of the eighth inning. The 29-year-old secured an insurance run by scoring Garret Stubbs on a single to center.
PHI: Bailey Falter – 6.0 IP, 2 Hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Saturday evening marked Bailey Falter’s first major league outing since July 29th. After a brief struggle in the first, Falter progressed inning by inning. “I came down here and was a little heated after that inning,” Falter said.
From the second inning on, Falter’s composure zoning in on batters was at a premium. He retired 16 of the next 18 batters after Lindor scored off the wild pitch. The 25-year-old left-hander achieved his first victory of the season.
“You could see why they (Phillies) like him so much,” said Mets manager Buck Showalter on Falter’s performance. “Just couldn’t string much together, we had a couple opportunities we didn’t cash in on.”
The Mets and Phillies split the day-night doubleheader. New York currently leads the NL East by 3 games. Philadelphia remains the second NL Wild Card with a 0.5-game lead.
“It was a good way to end a long day,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. Philadelphia answered the bell in game two.
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Robert Rizzo writes for Latino Sports
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Email: RobertRiz994@gmail.com
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