In their chase for the National League’s top wild-card spot, the Philadelphia Phillies will go for their fourth straight win when they host the New York Mets on Saturday.
The Phillies (85-69) defeated the Mets 5-4 in 10 innings on Friday and now hold a four-game bulge over the Arizona Diamondbacks for the first wild-card berth. Winning three more games would assure the Phillies of at least one of the wild cards, but they could qualify sooner depending on other results.
Seranthony Dominguez struck out Pete Alonso with the bases loaded to end the top of the 10th in a 4-4 game, and Alec Bohm hit a walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
“We need every win we can get,” Bohm said in a postgame interview on Apple TV+.
Even though the Mets’ Brett Baty tied the game in the ninth with a solo home run off Craig Kimbrel, the Phillies believed they were going to come through in extra innings.
“They (fans) feel it. We feel it,” Bohm said. “It’s a fun time of the year — 162 games. People show up here. It’s loud. That’s what it’s all about.”
J.T. Realmuto hit a three-run homer for Philadelphia, while Kyle Schwarber and Bohm each added two hits and an RBI.
The Phillies will hand the ball to right-hander Zack Wheeler (12-6, 3.63 ERA) on Saturday.
In his last start, Monday against the host Atlanta Braves, Wheeler allowed three hits and one run in six innings en route to a 7-1 win.
“You’ve got to mix it up against those guys,” Wheeler said after the outing. “So just moving it all around, and I saw that they were chasing kind of early, so we just stayed with that.”
Wheeler is 4-4 with a 3.62 ERA in 13 career starts against the Mets. He faced New York on June 25 and emerged with a no-decision after yielding five runs on nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.
After dropping the first two games of the four-game series, the Mets are hoping to bounce back on Saturday.
Baty and Francisco Lindor hit solo home runs and Alonso added an RBI double for the Mets (71-83), who were officially eliminated from playoff contention after winning 101 games just one season ago.
Brandon Nimmo contributed an RBI single and Rafael Ortega had two hits for New York. Nimmo’s 64th RBI tied his single-season high.
“Brandon’s a splendid player,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said. “He’s always attacking something. Little more power this year. He’s a guy that’s a really good self-evaluator.”
Showalter found Baty’s tying homer off Kimbrel especially pleasing.
“You just want them to seek their level and not make it too complicated for them,” Showalter said of young players such as Baty, a 23-year-old rookie. “And hopefully he can finish strong.”
Left-hander Jose Quintana (3-5, 3.02 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Mets on Saturday.
In his most recent start, on Sunday against the visiting Cincinnati Reds, Quintana picked up a win after giving up eight hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Quintana didn’t make his season debut for the Mets until July 20 because of a rib injury.
“Kind of bittersweet, because every time I see him pitch, I think about the two-thirds he wasn’t here,” Showalter said.
Quintana is 0-1 with a 2.90 ERA in seven career starts against the Phillies. He hasn’t faced Philadelphia this year.
Right-hander Peyton Battenfield, claimed off waivers by the Mets early this month, was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Friday. He went 0-5 with a 5.19 ERA in seven games (six starts) for the Cleveland Guardians earlier this year.
Right-handed reliever Jeff Brigham was optioned to Syracuse to make room for Battenfield. Brigham had allowed at least one earned run in each of his past four appearances.
–Field Level Media