It was Johnson’s fourth pinch hit home run of the season and the Mets’ 86th home run at Citi Field, a new franchise record for the eight-year-old ballpark.
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On Saturday, the Mets won with lightning bolts: a second straight strong start from Noah Syndergaard and (per the Elias Sports Bureau) the fourth game in club history to feature a solo homer, two-run homer, three-run homer and grand slam.
Veteran shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera exited in the first inning of Sunday afternoon’s matchup between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies with a sore left knee. In his lone game this year, Gsellman put up 3.2 innings with two hits and no earned agains the Cardinals, tossing two strikeouts and three walks. After safely reaching first base, Cabrera doubled over in pain and was immediately attended to by the Mets’ training staff and manager Terry Collins, but remained in the game.
With the Cardinals’ 3-2 loss to the A’s, the Mets are now 21/2 games back of St. Louis for the second NL wild-card slot.
Cespedes is reminded of past year, when his arrival after a July 31 trade helped the Mets turn a moribund offence into a pennant victor.
“I think the energy”, he said through a translator, “right now has taken us back to the last two months of last season”. “The desire, the motivation, the not giving up until the last out”. Jose Reyes shifted over to play shortstop.
But the way the pitching is trending, is Mackanin anxious whether he has enough healthy and competent pitching to get through the final 33 games on the Phillies schedule, including eight more against the Mets?
The 43-year-old Colon (12-7) carried a two-hitter into the eighth and took over the team lead in wins as NY began a pivotal 10-game homestand by winning for the fifth time in its past six. New York Mets’ Bartolo Colon delivers a pitch during the first inning of a baseball game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, Aug. 26, 2016, in New York.
Just when the Mets were beginning to build some late-season momentum, three recurring injuries stalled them again. Syndergaard, who is 3-0 with a 1.40 ERA in three career starts against Philadelphia, is coming off eight scoreless innings of two-hit ball at San Francisco on Sunday.
“Right now I’m just better able to locate my sinker to both sides of the plate”, Syndergaard said.
The Mets have taken 12 of their past 14 series with Philadelphia.
“We’ll have to continue to monitor how they feel each day”, he said. “They just seem to feast on our pitching”. Yoenis Cespedes holds 107 hits with 56 runs, 25 homers and 66 RBI.
“He’s got good stuff”, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
Philadelphia had won Hellickson’s previous six starts. His four opposite-field home runs are one more than he had from 2013-15 combined, though he shrugged that off as being an improved part of his approach. “Didn’t really have much”.
Collins said RHP Rafael Montero will be recalled from Double-A Binghamton to start Monday night against Miami in place of struggling RHP Jacob deGrom, who is skipping a turn. He was replaced by Alejandro De Aza, who drew a leadoff walk to start a three-run sixth.RF Jay Bruce struck out all four times, drawing boos from the home crowd.
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WASHINGTON – Charlie Blackmon hit two home runs, including the go-ahead shot in the 11th inning, as the Colorado Rockies beat the Washington Nationals 9-4 Saturday to snap a four-game losing streak.
