Walker hit a three-run home run and Juan Lagares also went deep to lead the New York Mets to a 5-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night. The center fielder, who started in place of Cespedes, led off the third with a double and scored on Jose Reyes’ sacrifice fly to left. Bourjos went to second on Asche’s walk against Jerry Blevins (3-1) and scored on Franco’s single to left. The team’s longtime ace received a standing ovation in the eighth before striking out for the fourth straight time, then retired the 2-3-4 hitters in order to end it.
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With the starting pitching market as thin as it is, Hellickson is one of the likeliest candidates from the Phillies to be dealt before the August 1 trade deadline.
“I just said, ‘You know?”
“I felt good, ” Verrett said.
Dating to last season, the All-Star Familia has converted 48 consecutive regular-season saves.
And in what has become a broken record for Mets fans, no home runs meant their team had no chance to win the game, coming up 4-2 losers to the lowly Phillies on yet another night on which Yoenis Cespedes was scratched two hours before the game because his strained right quad is still acting up.
Verrett was lucky to only give up the tying run in the fifth. “I felt like I threw the ball well and kept us in the ballgame”. We brought some left-handed hitters in this year, but he’s done a nice job when he’s been in there.
NY center fielder Juan Lagares led off the top of the 3rd with his third home run of the season, a solo blast that gave Colon and the Mets and early 1-0 lead.
“At this moment, we don’t have a lot of options, but he’s got to give us good innings”. The Mets are particularly fond of Citizens Bank Park, where they have cleared the fences 14 times in four games this season.
Walker’s homer on Friday came on a day that Pittsburgh reassigned struggling left-hander Jonathon Niese to the bullpen and Pirates general manager Neil Huntington acknowledged on local radio that the trade had been a flop from Pittsburgh’s perspective. Even if Cespedes doesn’t return to the starting lineup on Sunday, he should be available off the bench.
The first baserunner against Colon (8-4) on Friday came on Cameron Rupp’s one-out single up the middle in the fifth.
The Phillies responded back in the next half-inning for their first and only runs of the series opener contest. The next three batters all singled, with Cody Asche dropping a bloop hit into shallow left field to pull Philadelphia within a run and chase Colon.
The Mets have lost right-hander Matt Harvey for the season following surgery to fix thoracic outlet syndrome, and fellow righty Noah Syndergaard departed his July 8 start against Washington after 4 2/3 innings with what has been described by the team as “arm fatigue”. Colon was still rolling along with one out in the sixth when first baseman James Loney went to his right for a nifty stop of Odubel Herrera’s grounder. He threw only four pitches in the first inning and didn’t allow a baserunner through four frames.
“Everything worked out for the most part”, Colon said through an interpreter.
Bourjos followed with a triple and Maikel Franco plated him with a groundout.
The Phillies will look to rebound Saturday evening as right-handers Logan Verrett (3-6, 4.34 ERA) and Jerad Eickhoff (6-10, 3.80 ERA) face off.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Jeremy Hellickson said he just got exhausted in the sixth inning. The Nationals have won five straight games.
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Leadoff problems aside, Eickhoff pitched his usual solid game: six-plus innings, five hits, a walk, three Ks. The Mets have Gabriel Ynoa and Sean Gilmartin waiting in the wings at Las Vegas for the next turn, should Verrett stumble.
