LABOR PAINS
Mets start holiday weekend with loss to Phillies as playoff hopes dwindle
Jeff McNeil lets his frustration show after striking out during the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Phillies on Friday night at Citi Field. The not-so Amazin’s now trail the Phillies by 4½ games in the battle for the second-place playoff spot in the NL East.
In this almost-everybody-hasa-shot season, the Mets’ chances of winning the NL East are virtually dead. Another avenue to the postseason could also be almost closed by the time Monday’s Labor Day cookouts conclude.
With second-place teams assured a playoff berth, the Mets can still go that route, but unless they show something against these sizzling Phillies the next few days, they probably won’t. Then, all focus would turn to the last port of entry, the wild card.
The Mets endured lineup, bullpen and defensive letdowns Friday night in losing 5-3 to the Phillies at Citi Field to snap a two-game winning streak. The Phillies, who won for the 10th time in 11 games, extended their lead over the Mets for second place to 4 ½ lengths. The surprising Marlins sit between the two teams.
“We need to climb back into this thing,” Rick Porcello said.
“We’re five games below .500, we’re six or seven games out of first place and maybe looking at how many games out we are isn’t quite important, but that sense of urgency of winning on a nightly basis is extremely important.”
Jake Arrieta’s ugly season took a turn upward as he limited the Mets to two runs on seven hits over seven innings. The former National League Cy
Young award winner entered with a 6.49 ERA, but his only blip on this night was allowing a two-run homer to Michael Conforto.
Already ahead 3-2, the Phillies added two runs in the eighth against Jared Hughes. The first scored when first baseman Dominic Smith mishandled J.D. Davis’ low throw on Jean Segura’s grounder. After Hughes was removed, Brad Brach clipped Adam Haseley with a pitch with the bases loaded. That run came as the result of a challenge by Phillies manager Joe Giradri after the pitch was originally called a ball.
Hughes surrendered the goahead run in the seventh on Roman Quinn’s RBI ground-ball single that deflected off Andres Gimenez’s glove.
“Gimenez made a good effort,” Hughes said. “And any time my fielders make a good effort, which is all the time, I definitely appreciate their effort, but it was frustrating the run came in and [Quinn] got on base.”
Porcello provided the Mets with a solid start, throwing 100 pitches over six innings in which he surrendered two earned runs on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. It was the right-hander’s best performance since holding the Nationals to one run over seven innings in his last win, on Aug. 5.
Conforto launched a two-run homer in the fifth that tied it 2-2. It was the second blast in three games for Conforto, who drove in five runs in the Mets’ victory in Baltimore on Wednesday. Gimenez singled leading off the inning before Conforto golfed an Arietta sinker into the left-field seats for his seventh homer of the season.
Porcello fell into a 2-0 hole in the second after Andrew McCutchen and Rhys Hoskins delivered consecutive singles leading off the inning. Didi Gregorius followed with an RBI fielder’s choice, with Hoskins thrown out at second base on a sharply hit ball to Conforto in right.
Jay Bruce’s RBI single in the second gave the Phillies their initial run. Segura had walked with one out in the inning and stole second to set up the run.
“There’s some mistakes we have got to minimize in the amount of games we have left,” manager Luis Rojas said. “We have 21 games left. We are not thinking time is running out or anything like that, but we do have to play clean baseball. We have to play good baseball.”