No Trea Turner and no J.T. Realmuto at all Monday night and no Kyle Schwarber for the first eight innings?
No problem for the Philadelphia Phillies.
The Phillies will look for a second straight victory over the Mets on Tuesday afternoon when they play at New York for the second day in a row. The National League East rivals will then square off in Philadelphia on Wednesday and Thursday.
Aaron Nola (4-2, 3.67 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Phillies on Tuesday against fellow right-hander Jose Butto (1-2, 3.00).
The Phillies earned a resilient comeback win Monday night, when they overcame a two-run, ninth-inning deficit before edging the Mets 5-4 in 10 innings.
Bryson Stott led off the ninth with a homer against Mets closer Edwin Diaz before Kody Clemens delivered a pinch-hit single. Clemens was batting for Edmundo Sosa, who was 2-for-3 Monday while starting at shortstop for the eighth time in nine games since Turner sustained a strained left hamstring that is expected to sideline him for at least six weeks.
Brandon Marsh walked and Diaz struck out Schwarber, who was pinch-hitting for Johan Rojas, before retiring Garrett Stubbs on a popup. Stubbs had an RBI single and a stolen base in the second inning while starting at catcher in place of Realmuto, who missed a second consecutive game due to a right knee injury.
Whit Merrifield, who has batted leadoff in the last three games with Schwarber battling a sore back, kept the inning alive by working a walk before Alec Bohm was hit by a pitch to force home the tying run.
The two biggest bats remaining in the Phillies’ lineup didn’t put the ball in play in the last two innings. Bryce Harper struck out to end the ninth before opening the 10th as the automatic runner. Harper went to third after Sean Reid-Foley uncorked a wild pitch, and Nick Castellanos walked before Harper tagged up and scored on Stott’s sacrifice fly to right field.
“It was a great win,” manager Rob Thomson said after the Phillies improved to 29-13, which is the best record in the majors. “We just keep winning games in different ways, getting contributions from all kinds of people. That’s who they are. They keep fighting. They’re resilient. I’m awfully proud of them.”
The ninth-inning comeback dented Diaz’s pride, if not the Mets’ faith in their closer. The blown save was the second in the past three opportunities for Diaz, who went 32-for-35 in save chances in 2022 before missing last season with a right knee injury.
“I just have to keep working,” Diaz said. “It’s no more excuses, being able to pitch 16, 17 games already. I feel really good. I feel healthy. I feel 100 percent ready. I just have to find the form to perform every day the way I want to.”
Diaz has given up a run in six of his 16 outings this season, including two games in which he surrendered two runs. He allowed a run eight times in 61 games in 2022, when he gave up as many as two runs just once.
“He’ll continue to get big outs for us and he’ll get through it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said.
Nola took the loss in his most recent start, when he gave up four runs over 5 2/3 innings on Wednesday as the Phillies fell 5-3 to the Toronto Blue Jays. He is 9-8 with a 3.40 ERA in 26 career starts against the Mets.
Butto earned a win on May 7 after allowing three runs over five innings as the Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5. He is 0-2 with an 8.36 ERA in three starts against the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
