Overall, the Mets used six pitchers on a night when starter Gabriel Ynoa struggled and was removed after two innings.
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NY trailed 6-4 when pinch-hitter Brandon Nimmo singled off Jeanmar Gomez leading off the ninth, then Reyes homered to right with one out.
The Mets pieced together a second straight vital win Friday night, when Michael Conforto’s three-run homer capped a six-run fifth inning and Hansel Robles – the sixth and final NY pitcher – earned his first career save by throwing 2 2/3 hitless innings to close out a 10-5 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. So the Mets could be forgiven for looking haggard on Friday night, when their status in a tense wild-card race hinged upon their hollowed-out shell of a bullpen.
“Hansel stepped up and got us through it”, manager Terry Collins said, later adding, “really saved us”.
The Mets (82-72) took sole possession of first place in the National League wild-card standings by one game over San Francisco, which lost 7-2 in San Diego later Friday.
They snapped a three-game losing streak Thursday, when Asdrubal Cabrera hit a walk-off three-run homer in the 11th inning of a 9-8 victory in which NY used 10 pitchers.
“It was a pivotal spot”.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen”, Cabrera said. Robles finished with hitless relief for his first career save.
“It’s a sense of pride for me to be able to do that”, said Robles, the fifth reliever of the night.
Collins emptied his bullpen in a 9-8, 11-inning win over the Phillies on Thursday night. With his team competing for a playoff spot, Collins didn’t hesitate to pull Ynoa, who gave up two quick runs on five hits and a walk. Josh Smoker (3-0) pitched one inning.
Collins kept turning to his bench, using three straight pinch hitters in a three-run seventh. “You come to the park these days, you know you’re going to get in a game”.
Jeremy Hellickson has had a fine season in Philadelphia, one that will lead to some interesting decisions in the coming months.
The Phillies threatened in the seventh by loading the bases with one out, however pinch hitter Tommy Joseph grounded into an inning-ending 5-3 double play to third baseman Jose Reyes. It was just the fourth time in 31 starts that he failed to pitch at least five innings, and the fifth time he allowed more than four runs in a start.
The Phillies took a 2-0 lead in the second on RBI singles by Hernandez and Quinn.
Hernandez’s RBI single in the second extended his on-base streak to a career-high 28 games, the most in Phillies franchise history since Chase Utley reached in as many consecutive games from June 21 to July 26, 2011.
Travis d’Arnaud had an RBI double while Curtis Granderson and Kelly Johnson each had run-scoring singles prior to Conforto’s blast.
Yet by the eighth inning, the Mets had enough of a lead to rest shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera, who had remained in the game after suffering yet another injury. Cabrera fell to the ground, was checked by a trainer and stayed in.
Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard has been scratched from his start Saturday night because of strep throat.
Asher gave up five runs over a career-low two-thirds of an inning in his lone previous start against the Mets last September 30.
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The next “next man up” is left-hander Sean Gilmartin, who tries to nudge NY closer to the playoffs when he makes his first start of the season Saturday night in the third contest of a four-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.
