Mets pitchers hitting batters in 8th inning help Phillies win, 7-6

In the eighth inning of their 7-6 win over the New York Mets on Sunday, the Phillies finally got something they hadn’t had much of ... and for a moment, it seemed like they would squander it.

Facing a 6-3 deficit, the Phils opened the inning against Mets reliever Josh Walker by loading the bases on two walks and J.T. Realmuto’s single. Jeff Brigham was called in to face Alec Bohm, who hit a potential double-play grounder to Mets third baseman Brett Baty. The Phillies had hit into three double plays just a day earlier, including one hit by Bohm. But on Sunday, luck — and Mets ineptitude — was on their side.

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Baty hesitated, held onto the ball, and threw wildly to second baseman Jeff McNeil, who couldn’t handle the errant throw. Bryce Harper scored and all of the runners were safe with no outs. Brandon Marsh walked in a run in the next at-bat to cut the Mets’ lead to 6-5. After Kody Clemens struck out, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner were hit by pitches on back-to-back at-bats to force in two runs and give the Phillies a 7-6 lead — all while recording just one hit.

“It didn’t look good,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I thought we got some really good at-bats in the eighth inning, but we got fortunate, too, again. Our guys kept grinding and got it done.”

It was a gift, to say the least. Things were looking bleak up to that point. After getting two extra days of rest, Zack Wheeler had a rough outing, allowing nine hits including a homer and five runs with two walks and eight strikeouts over in 5⅓ innings. He cruised through his first two innings, but the Mets continued to work their at-bats and run his pitch count. By the time he left in the sixth inning, he was at 107 pitches.

“I felt good early on, but kind of lost it a little bit,” Wheeler said. “Hot day, first hot day, really. Kind of just getting that out of the way. But command-wise, the cutter wasn’t there at all today. And with a lefty lineup, the cutter’s got to be there. It was moving more like a slider today instead of an up-and-in cutter. Just got to tighten that up a little bit between starts. That’s usually pretty easy for me, with that pitch. So, hopefully we can get back on the right track.”

The bullpen did its job, for the most part, with the exception of a misplaced sinker from José Alvarado that Pete Alonso hit for a solo home run in the seventh. But because of Wheeler’s struggles, the deficit the Phillies faced entering the eighth inning was steep. Luckily for them, the Mets’ sloppy play made that a moot point.

This homestand was always going to be a litmus test for the Phillies. After facing more teams out of their division than in it, they finally had the chance to face two division rivals, back to back, and make some up ground in the NL East. But given the Mets’ mistakes — and there were many of them — it’s hard to know what to glean from this series.

After dropping two winnable games to the Braves — a third game was rained out — the Phillies dropped just one game to the Mets. But the two games they won featured countless Mets miscues. The Mets made two errors on Sunday: throwing errors by Baty and catcher Omar Narvaez. In the Phillies’ 5-1 win Friday, center fielder Brandon Nimmo made a costly error that put Schwarber on base in the first inning, and he went on to score.

Mets manager Buck Showalter told reporters that he had David Robertson available in the bullpen, but chose not to use Robertson in the eighth because he wanted to save him for the ninth. Robertson had pitched a five-out save against the Phillies on Saturday.

Nevertheless, a win is a win and now the Phillies have 40 of them. And no one will complain about taking two of three against the Mets, their first series victory over the New Yorkers since 2021.

“It feels good,” Thomson said. “They’re a good ballclub, and we haven’t had much success against them lately, so it feels good to have some. Win another series. Day off tomorrow, and then we have to try to take down another hot club on Tuesday [when the Phils open a three-game road series against the Chicago Cubs, winners of nine of their last 11 games] . But it feels good.”

Entering Sunday’s game, the Phillies had hit only one home run over their last seven days, so Turner launching a ball 415 feet to center field in the first inning was a welcome development. The first-pitch home run came off Turner’s bat at 107.6 mph, and one of his hardest hits this season.

Turner went 2-for-3 with three RBI and a walk. He entered the game batting .154 on the homestand, so he was due for a good day at the plate. In the fifth inning, Turner showed just how useful he can be when he gets on base. He drew a walk, stole second base, then stole third and scored on Narvaez’s error.

“He had a great game,” Thomson said. “Trea showed how he can score a run on his own. He drove the ball today and it was really good.”

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