The Phillies entered Sunday having won eight of their last 11 games and hoped to take down the New York Mets on their own territory for what could have been their fourth straight series victory. Instead, the Phillies combined sloppy play with a rough A.J. Burnett start, losing to the Mets to close out August.
The Game:
The Phillies struck first. In the fourth inning, Jimmy Rollins led off with a single and advanced to second base with a Chase Utley groundout. Ryan Howard followed with an RBI double to put the Phillies up 1-0, for Howard's 85 RBI of the season.
The Mets opened their scoring in the bottom of the fifth with two runs. After Anthony Recker struck out and Dillon Gee grounded out, Juan Lagares singled to put a runner on. Matt den Dekker followed with a double to drive in Lagares to tie the game at one. David Wright lined a single to center to drive in den Dekker to put the Mets up 2-1.
The Phillies would quickly tie up the game. After Chase Utley led off the top of the sixth inning with a lineout, Ryan Howard would go deep to the right field corner for his 20th home run of the season. Howard's shot made it a 2-2 game. However, the Mets were ready to go up for good.
To open the bottom of the sixth inning, Wilmer Flores singled to left field. Kirk Nieuwenhuis grounded out, advancing Flores to second base. Dilson Herrara followed with a walk, to bring Anthony Recker to the plate. Recker belted a long, no-doubt-about-it home run to left field that would put the Mets up 5-2.
The Phillies got another in the seventh inning. Freddy Galvis, pitch hitting for Burnett, led off with a double and Ben Revere followed with a single to put runners at first and second with no outs. Jimmy Rollins singled, which would drive in Galvis to make the score 5-3. In the eighth inning Domonic Brown added a solo home run which would make it 5-4.
Before it was all over, each team would add one more. The Mets got another run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Kirk Nieuwenhuis doubled off of reliever Justin De Fratus and Dilson Herrara followed with a single that would drive Nieuwenhuis in to put the Mets up 6-4.
The Phillies made it interesting in the top of the ninth. Jimmy Rollins led off with a single and Chase Utley was hit by a pitch to put two runners on with no outs. Ryan Howard would follow and ground into a double play, putting Rollins at third with one out. Grady Sizemore singled in Rollins to make it 6-5. Domonic Brown followed with a groundout to end the Phillies' threat and the game.
Key Offensive Statistics:
- Domonic Brown went 4 for 5 with a home run.
- Jimmy Rollins was 3 for 5 with two runs score and a RBI.
- Ben Revere was 2 for 5 in the leadoff spot.
Impact:
This was it for the Phillies and the Mets for the 2014 season. The Phillies won six games and lost 13 games in the season series.
Up Next:
The Phillies head down to Atlanta for three, beginning tomorrow. Two of the three are day games.
Game 1: Monday, 1:10 p.m. – Cole Hamels vs. Julio Teheran
Game 2: Tuesday, 7:10 p.m. – Kyle Kendrick vs. Mike Minor
Game 3: Wednesday, 12:10 p.m. – David Buchanan vs. Ervin Santana
