Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan (1-8) gave up two homers on his first five pitches but recovered.
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But, there is still at least a possibility that Klentak could reevaluate Hellickson’s value by placing him on waivers before the end of August. While he has won three straight starts, it’s the past two in which the big righty has truly regained his mojo, mixing improved sinkers and sliders to provide both excellence and length.
“I think he hit a wall a little bit that he hadn’t early”, Collins said. “But after that, nothing”, Mackanin said. He was replaced by Wilmer Flores, who advanced to third on a single by Jay Bruce and scored on a sacrifice fly by Curtis Granderson.
The Mets will look to complete a sweep of the Phillies – and continue their surge in the race for the National League’s second wild card – when the two teams square off Sunday afternoon.
Right-hander Noah Syndergaard (12-7) earned the victory with seven strong innings in which he allowed one run, two hits and two walks while striking out seven. “They are hot right now”. Then I fell behind and had three walks in four innings. “You don’t see too many guys throwing 88 (mph), just fastballs, just sinking it”, Phillies outfielder Peter Bourjos said.
Meanwhile, the Mets are 6-0 in their last six Sunday game, and 7-13 in their last 20 home games.
Sure, the Phillies have struggled to score runs all season. They scored just 40 runs in the first 15 games after the All-Star break.
Cespedes is reminded of previous year, when his arrival after a July 31 trade helped the Mets turn a moribund offence into a pennant victor. And that was a team that was well on its way to flirting with 100 losses before July rolled around.
Phillies hitters were 0-for-11 with four strikeouts against Syndergaard’s fastball, the first start all season in which he held an opponent hitless with his fastball. But if their pitching keeps up its current pace, they should be able to secure a top-five pick in next June’s amateur draft for the second straight season. Gassed from his journey to second, he only reached third on an ensuing Jose Reyes double. He left Wednesday night’s game with cramping in his right calf. Asdrubal Cabrera responded in the bottom of the inning with a two run homer (16) off Phillies’ starter Jeremy Hellickson to give the Mets a 2-1 lead.
They have served up 50 home runs in 22 games in August.
“We heard about his disappointment in L.A., but the minute he got here and I talked to him, he put it behind him, he was fine”, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. “So it’s hard to figure out”.
The switch-hitting shortstop became the first Mets player to go deep from both sides in one game since Carlos Beltran at Colorado on May 12, 2011.
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“I feel like there’s a great atmosphere in the clubhouse”, Syndergaard said. “It’s like (the Mets) know what’s coming”. The Mets don’t seem overly concerned, so Walker is just day-to-day for now.
