NLDS: Mets Flip Script on Phillies in Game One

Harrison Bader of the Mets scoring against the Phillies in Game One of the 2024 NLDS

Photo by Hunter Martin/Getty Images

October 5, 2024

Mets 6, Phillies 2

The New York Mets, held scoreless through seven innings, scored five runs in the eighth to beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6–2, in Game One of the NLDS late Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

The comeback spoiled a magnificent start by Phillies right-hander and ex-Met Zack Wheeler. He allowed no runs on one hit through seven, walking four and striking out nine. Only one Met even managed to reach second base against Wheeler. “He was pretty nasty,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters in reference to Wheeler. “When you’re throwing 98 and locating the way he was locating, up at the top of the zone, in and out. Then the sweeper, the split. Unbelievable. He was pretty much unhittable today. And that’s who he is.”

“Wheeler was unbelievable,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson added. “We haven’t seen that type of velocity out of him and stuff out of him for a while. It’s as good as it gets.”

The Mets’ eighth-inning rally came off the Phillies’ All-Star reliever duo of Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm, who combined to retire only one of the six batters they faced. They allowed four hits, all singles, and walked one, also allowing two sacrifice flies. “It was stunning to see Hoffy and Strahmy give it up like that,” Thomson said. “But that’s baseball sometimes. They haven’t done that since we’ve had them, really.”

Mets – Phillies Game Summary

The Phillies scored on Mets starter Kodai Senga’s third pitch of the game, with Kyle Schwarber blasting a belt-high fastball 425 feet to the stands in right-center. Senga did not allow any more runs or hits after that, walking one and striking out three in his two innings. David Peterson and Reed Garrett followed with five combined scoreless relief innings, allowing one hit and walking three while striking out two.

Wheeler, who had thrown a career postseason-high 111 pitches through seven innings, gave way to Hoffman to start the eighth. A single and a walk put runners on first and second for Mark Vientos, who singled in the game-tying run. On the throw home, Vientos advanced to second, putting runners on second and third with no outs. In came Strahm to face Brandon Nimmo, who stroked a go-ahead single to left. Pete Alonso, Thursday night’s hero, made the score 3–1 with a sacrifice fly to deep center. Another single, this time to center by Jose Iglesias, put runners on first and second for pinch-hitter J.D. Martinez. In came Orion Kerkering to stop the bleeding, but a Martinez single to center and Starling Marte sacrifice fly brought both inherited runners home to give the Mets a 5–1 lead.

An RBI single by Nimmo in the top of the ninth and RBI pinch-double by Kody Clemens in the bottom of the ninth completed the scoring.

What Went Right for the Phillies

Took Early Lead

As mentioned before, Schwarber gave the Phillies a lead on Senga’s third pitch of the game.

Wheeler Was Terrific

Here’s more about Wheeler and his outing. He induced 30 swings and misses. That is the third-most in the pitch-tracking era (2008 to present). Only Gerrit Cole and Tim Lincecum induced more in a single game. Cole induced 33 in Game Two of the 2019 ALDS, and Lincecum induced 31 in Game One of the 2010 NLDS.

What Went Wrong for the Phillies

Runners Left in Scoring Position

The Phillies left eight men on base. Five were in scoring position. In the third, Nick Castellanos flied to right for the third out with runners on first and second. Brandon Marsh flied to right to end the fourth with a runner on second. Trea Turner popped foul to the first baseman with a runner on second and two outs in the fifth before and Bryce Harper struck out to end the inning. Alec Bohm grounded into an inning-ending force play with runners on the corners in the eighth, and Schwarber flied to right for the last out of the game with a runner on second.

The Top of the Eighth

This does not need any further explanation. That inning was a debacle for the Phillies relief corps.

What Went Right for the Mets

Pitching

Senga, Peterson, Garrett, Phil Maton, and Ryne Stanek combined to limit the dangerous Phillies lineup to two runs on five hits. In the process, they walked five and struck out eight.

“Our whole bullpen, Reed, Stanek, Maton, you know, all those guys, they were doing amazing and gave us a shot,” Nimmo said in the postgame press conference. “We’re not even in that position if our bullpen doesn’t do what they do and keep that at 1-0.”

Hitting against Phillies Relievers

During the regular season, Hoffman, Strahm, and Kerkering had a combined WHIP of 0.934. This means the trio combined to allow less than one baserunner per inning. In the eighth inning Saturday, they allowed six.

When Opportunity Finally Arrived, They Capitalized

The Mets left seven men on base, but only one was in scoring position. As a team, they hit 4-for-7 with runners in scoring position Saturday.

What Went Wrong for the Mets

No Answer for Wheeler

No need to belabor this point, since we’ve already mentioned that only one Met even reached second base against Wheeler.

Too Many Pitches in Eighth and Ninth Innings

Mets relievers have had a heavy workload over the past week. Taking 25 pitches to get through the eighth and 28 pitches to get through the ninth could come back to haunt them in this series.

Quick Hits

In the bottom of the third, the left-handed David Peterson snapped a pickoff throw to first, forcing Trea Turner to dive back. Umpire Edwin Moscoso ruled him safe on a very close play. The Mets challenged, but the call stood. Fox commentator A.J. Pierzynski adamantly declared that one angle showed Turner was out. … Zack Wheeler told Fox’s Tom Verducci after the seventh inning that he did not shake off Realmuto even once.

According to Sarah Langs, the Mets became the eighth team to ever win back-to-back postseason games in which they trailed in the eighth inning or later.

Quotes

“Our bullpen (has not received) enough credit over the last few games. We wouldn’t be in that situation if big ol’ Peterson doesn’t come in and do his thing. Unbelievable, he just closed the game in Milwaukee and now he’s coming in to throw multiple innings for us. Something he’s never been asked to do. He just comes in and does it perfectly.” — Mets left fielder Brandon Nimmo

“One of the things we’ve talked about is finishing the game all the way to the ninth inning. The game is never over until the ninth. We’ve been running with that mentality the past week in Atlanta. Then the last game in Milwaukee we showed that, and it’s giving us more confidence.” — Mets third baseman Mark Vientos

Looking Ahead

Reed Garrett picked up the win in relief as Jeff Hoffman took the dreaded double-whammy of the blown save-loss. There was no save.

The Mets and Phillies will play Game Two of this best-of-five series Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. Luis Severino (11–7, 3.91 ERA in 2024 regular season) will take the hill for the Mets, facing Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (11–9, 3.32 ERA in 2024 regular season). First pitch will be at 7:08 pm Eastern on FS1.