Christian Scott, Zac Thornton and Nolan McLean are providing the New York Mets hope that they eventually will be part of a rotation for a playoff contender.
The Philadelphia Phillies need rookie Andrew Painter to continue proving that now.
Painter will take the mound for the Phillies on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Mets in the third contest of a four-game series between the National League East rivals.
Painter (3-9, 5.54 ERA) will oppose Scott (4-5, 3.76) in a battle of right-handers.
The Phillies missed a chance to take over sole possession of the top wild-card spot in the NL on Friday night, when Thornton and two relievers combined on a six-hitter in the Mets’ 6-3 win.
The Phillies, Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres are tied for the NL’s three wild-card spots at 85-69. The Cubs lost to the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 before the Padres created the three-way tie hours later with an 8-2 win over the Miami Marlins.
The Arizona Diamondbacks reside five games behind the Phillies, Cubs and Padres.
The importance of Painter was further magnified Friday, when Philadelphia fell to 0-2 in bullpen games necessitated by the absence of left-hander Jesus Luzardo (shoulder, 15-day injured list).
The All-Star was scratched from his scheduled start against the Atlanta Braves last Saturday, when the Phillies used six pitchers as the Braves rolled to a 12-2 win. On Friday, opener Tim Mayza got just one out and allowed three runs while pitching in Luzardo’s spot.
The Phillies’ bullpen also is being taxed by injury and ineffectiveness.
Right-hander Jonathan Bowlan departed Thursday’s game vs. the Mets with a tight right groin. On Friday, Orion Kerkering gave up Juan Soto’s three-run blast in the sixth inning — the second homer surrendered by Kerkering in his last three outings, during which he has a 13.50 ERA.
“Anybody that gives up runs, when things aren’t going good, your confidence is not sky high like when you’re getting all your outs and everything’s going smoothly,” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said. “But we’ve got to get past that at this point.”
Painter is 2-1 with a 3.58 ERA in nine starts since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on July 31. He didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Sunday, when he gave up one run over five innings as the Phillies beat the Braves 9-4. He has yet to face the Mets in his career.
The Mets (70-84) have been under .500 since April and officially were eliminated from playoff contention earlier this week. But McLean and Thornton continued to provide optimism for 2027 by combining to allow just three runs over 12 innings in the first two games of the series.
McLean took the hard-luck loss Thursday, when he gave up one run in six innings in the Phillies’ 3-0 win.
Thornton, McLean and Scott have a combined 3.40 ERA in 66 starts. Thornton and McLean are rookies while Scott is in his second big-league season after Tommy John surgery cut his 2024 campaign short.
“I think you have to train like you’ve never won anything and compete like you’ve never lost,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said Friday night about Thornton. “I think you have to live in that space constantly.”
Scott took the defeat Sunday after allowing two runs over six innings in the Mets’ 2-0 loss to the New York Yankees. He is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in two career starts against the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
