PHILADELPHIA — Blanked for seven innings by Philadelphia starter Zack Wheeler, the New York Mets erupted for six runs against the Phillies’ bullpen in the final two innings Saturday to earn a 6-2 victory in Game 1 of a National League Division Series.
Brandon Nimmo’s RBI single off Matt Strahm snapped a 1-1 tie in the eighth, after Mark Vientos delivered the tying run with a run-scoring single of his own. Pete Alonso, J.D. Martinez and Starling Marte also drove in runs in the inning for the Mets, who came from behind in the late innings for the third time in six days.
Nimmo, who went 2-for-4 in the game, delivered another run with a single in the ninth off Tanner Banks.
Kyle Schwarber homered leading off the bottom of the first for the Phillies. Schwarber went 2-for-4, but the Phils only managed three other hits against five Mets pitchers. The last was a pinch-hit RBI double by Kody Clemens in the ninth.
Wheeler allowed a single hit over seven innings before giving way to Jeff Hoffman to start the eighth. Francisco Alvarez opened the inning with a single, and Francisco Lindor walked after falling behind in the count 0-2.
Vientos then lined Hoffman’s 1-2 slider into left field to score pinch runner Harrison Bader. Strahm relieved Hoffman, but Nimmo’s single on an 0-2 pitch brought Lindor home. Alonso’s sacrifice fly, also on an 0-2 pitch, made it 3-1.
Jose Iglesias followed with a single, again on an 0-2 offering, and Martinez, batting for Jesse Winker, singled to deliver Nimmo. Marte’s sacrifice fly pushed the Mets’ lead to 5-1.
New York had qualified for the postseason by beating Atlanta in Game 1 of a double-header Monday, on Lindor’s two-run ninth-inning homer. The Mets won their wild-card series over Milwaukee by scoring four times in the ninth inning of Game 3 on Thursday, the first three of those runs on Alonso’s homer off Brewers closer Devin Williams.
On Saturday Wheeler surrendered only Vientos’ leadoff single in the fourth during his seven innings on the mound. He struck out nine, walked four and hit a batter.
The Mets had just one runner in scoring position against him, when Nimmo followed Vientos’ hit with a walk. Wheeler escaped the jam by striking out Alonso and inducing Iglesias to ground into a double play.
Schwarber, leading off the bottom of the first, launched a 1-1 fastball from Mets starter Kodai Senga into the right field stands. It was Schwarber’s 12th postseason homer in three years with Philadelphia, four of which have come leading off the first inning. It was also the fifth such homer of his career.
Senga was making just his second appearance in a season interrupted by shoulder and calf injuries. An All-Star in 2023, his only previous outing came in a July 26 victory over Atlanta.
He departed after two innings Saturday, the only hit he allowed having been Schwarber’s homer. He struck out three and walked one.
Reid Garrett worked two scoreless innings in relief to earn the victory for New York. Hoffman took the loss.
–Gordie Jones, Field Level Media