Phillies vs. Mets: New York eliminates Philly in Game 4 of NLDS, season comes to a close after historic start

It was not supposed to end this way. As little as three months ago, the suggestion would have seemed a setup for a punchline. A loss as calamitous as this one does not leave much room for granular details. It doesn’t matter how it went down, only that it did.

Dave Dombrowski and Rob Thomson must think long and hard about the construction of this lineup. Is this really the right mix of players around the ones who will need to continue to serve as its centerpieces?

The bottom half of the order was practically nonexistent dating to well before the start of this series. Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, Johan Rojas — what exactly do the Phillies have in these players? Which ones have earned a permanent spot alongside the Bryce Harpers and Kyle Schwarbers and Trea Turners? How might they swap out the ones who haven’t?

Carlos Estévez squatted down on the mound, looked over his left shoulder, and watched it go.

The ball? Sure. The ball flew into the Phillies’ bullpen in right-center field for a game-breaking, series-clinching grand slam for Mets star Francisco Lindor in the sixth inning Wednesday night.

More than that, though, away went the Phillies’ season.

As the Phillies raced to the best 50-game start in franchise history, their season came to a close Wednesday in the NLDS.

It was Francisco Lindor's go-ahead grand slam in the sixth inning that was the deal breaker in a 4-1 loss at Citi Field.

Bryce Harper scored the lone run for the Phils in the fourth inning to strike first, but the offense couldn't get going, which seemed to be the case for most of the series.

If the Phillies get eliminated tonight, it will be because of their sixth-inning misery — again.

In the top of the sixth inning of Game 4, with the Phillies leading, 1-0, Bryce Harper led off with a double that chased Mets starter Jose Quintana, a lefty. Right hander Reed Garrett entered and struck out Nick Castellanos, walked Alec Bohm — then struck out J.T. Realmuto.

Lefty reliever David Peterson entered and lefty hitter Bryson Stott grounded out.

After spending three months searching, Ranger Suárez found himself just in time.

He gave the Phillies 4 1/3 innings of a scoreless start that came out of nowhere. Suarez loaded the bases in each of the first two innings, and he left two runners on when he exited for Jeff Hoffman with one out in the fifth, but Suárez squirmed out of trouble early. Hoffman mowed down Pete Alonso then got Jose Iglesias to a weakly ground out.

Suárez delivered 97 pitches, only 58 of them strikes, but considering he hadn’t thrown that many pitches in more than 3 weeks — and considering he’d been atrocious since his back started to spasm in late June — what he managed in Game 4 was miraculous.

The good news for Phillies fans: Ranger Suarez struck out the Mets' side to start the game.

He pitched out of a double/walk/infield hit (really, an error on Alec Bohm), bases-loaded jam in the first inning.

Bad news for Phillies fans: Suarez needed 30 pitches to do it.

Utilityman Weston Wilson is making his first postseason start for the Phillies in Game 4.

Wilson, 30, got the start in left field over Austin Hays with lefty José Quintana pitching for the Mets.

Hays, who dealt with a kidney infection during the second half of the year, went 0-for-3 against Sean Manaea in Game 3. So Rob Thomson is going in a different direction.

The small but mighty Phillies contingent at Citi Field is still feeling hopeful, but nervous heading into a possible elimination Game 4.

“Feeling good, nervous, obviously going to throw up during the game,” Philly native Damon Borgia said. “We do have tickets for Game 5 though, so we’re heading back to Philly for Game 5.”

The Philly Sports Guy, also known as Jamie Pagliei, was much more confident.

Despite the bullpen’s recent struggles, Phillies reliever Matt Strahm is keeping the faith heading into do-or-die Game 4.

“Something that's unique about this team is just how many veterans we have on here, and we all are aware of what's at stake tonight,” Strahm said. “So nothing needs to be said to anyone. It'll be no ‘rah, rah.’ We know what we gotta do.”

Strahm has allowed four runs across two appearances in Games 1 and 2 of the NLDS. His numbers look inflated — his postseason ERA sits at 36 — but a lot of that can be chalked up to just two mistakes.

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm is back in the starting lineup tonight after being benched in Game 2 in favor of Edmundo Sosa.

There are a couple of changes to the lineup. Weston Wilson gets the start in left field over Austin Hayes and Brandon Marsh is in at center field over Johan Rojas against Mets lefty Jose Quintana because the Phillies are prioritizing offense.

Hays' at-bats haven't looked good after returning from being sidelined with a hamstring strain and by a kidney infection.

Veteran lefty Jose Quintana will take the mound for the Mets tonight looking to punch New York's ticket to their first NLCS since 2015.

So how has Quintana pitched against the Phillies? Pretty well.

In three starts this season against the Phillies, Quintana has a 3.37 ERA with nine strikeouts and just two walks. His most recent outing against the Phillies was his best, allowing no runs and just two hits through seven innings and earning the win on Sept. 13.

The Mets still have to defeat the Phillies one more time to punch their ticket to their first National League Championship series since 2015.

But that's not stopping them from selling tickets.

The Mets will be placing single-game NLCS tickets on sale today beginning at noon, according to MLB Mets reporter Anthony DiComo.

What The Inquirer's Phillies reporters and columnists are watching for in Game 4 of the NLDS as the Phillies face elimination:

Alex Coffey: Working at-bats against José Quintana will be important. The Mets bullpen is a vulnerability and they haven’t been forced to lean on it much. The fact that manager Carlos Mendoza is asking his starters to go deep is a tell that he doesn’t have much to work with. Getting Quintana out early will be key.

Scott Lauber: Clearly, the Mets’ plan is to not let Bryce Harper beat them. Got it. But Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm, and J.T. Realmuto are 8-for-42 bystanders. What will change vs. Quintana, who blanked the Phillies for seven innings on Sept. 13?

Phillies left-hander Ranger Suárez was lifted from his final start of the regular season on Sept. 27 after only two innings, having allowed six runs to the Washington Nationals.

The second half of the regular season did not go the way Suárez hoped — he posted a 5.65 ERA in eight starts after the All-Star break, and a 2.76 before. But Phillies manager Rob Thomson still has confidence that he’ll be back to his normal self when he takes the mound for the first time this postseason in Game 4 against the Mets at 5:08 p.m. Wednesday. So much confidence, in fact, that he’s trusting him with the ball in a clinching or elimination scenario in the National League Division Series.

Suárez has spent the 11 days since his last appearance refining his mechanics and delivery. He pitched in the intrasquad game last week, and Thomson and catcher J.T. Realmuto said afterward that he showed major improvements.

Game 4 of Phillies-Mets is scheduled to begin at 5:08 p.m. Eastern on FS1.

Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Adam Amin. In the booth alongside Amin will be analysts A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Wainwright. Tom Verducci will report from Citi Field.

A Spanish broadcast of the game will air on Fox Deportes, with Carlos Alvarez and Jaime Motta on the call.

Following Tuesday night's blowout, the New York Mets now lead the Phillies 2-1 in their National League divisional series. A win by the Mets tonight and the Phillies' season is over.

Here's the remaining NLDS schedule:

* - If necessary. Time subject to change pending other outcomes.