5/9 Game Recap: Phillies Outlast Mets Bullpen For 3-2 Victory In 11 Innings

The Mets spent a much needed day off Thursday, licking their wounds after posting a 2-6 record during their most recent road trip, which included getting swept by the Marlins.   Tonight, they were back home in Citi Field to open a weekend series against their I-95 rivals to the south, the Philadelphia Phillies.

Making his 7th start of the season, Jenrry Mejia climbed the hill for the Mets, and was opposed by Philadelphia’s Roberto Hernandez, or, the pitcher formerly known as Fausto Carmona.

May 9, 2014; New York, NY, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Chase Utley (26) scores between New York Mets catcher Travis d

Also, recently promoted from the Las Vegas 51s, Wilmer Flores made his return to the Mets lineup after playing one game at second base back on April 2nd.  He replaced Omar Quintanilla on the active roster, who was designated for assignment Wednesday evening.  In tonight’s game, Flores started at shortstop in place of the beleaguered Ruben Tejada, who was only batting .183 after 83 at-bats.

Mets Starting Lineup:

1)-LF Juan Lagares; 2)-2B Daniel Murphy; 3)-3B David Wright; 4)-RF Curtis Granderson; 5)-LF Chris Young; 6)-1B Josh Satin; 7)-SS Wilmer Flores; 8)-C Travis d’Arnaud; 9)-SP Jenrry Mejia.

Game Recap:

On a misty, dank night in Flushing, Jenrry Mejia‘s first pitch of the evening to lead-off batter Ben Revere was a fastball on the inside portion of the plate for strike one.

Revere was retired on a tapper back to Mejia.  Shortstop Jimmy Rollins followed with a broken bat grounder to Daniel Murphy for out number two.  Chase Utley then lined a grounder up the middle, which Wilmer Flores dove for, and fielded, but then bobbled the transfer out of his glove.  Clean-up hitter Ryan Howard singled to left to put a runner in scoring position for ex-Met Marlon Byrd.  But, Jenrry Mejia got the best of Byrd, freezing him with a curveball for strike three to end the inning.  Mejia exhausted 16 pitches to get out of the 1st.

The line-up then gave Jenrry an early lead to work with.  One out singles by Daniel Murphy and David Wright brought up Curtis Granderson, who doubled to right, scoring Murphy.  Roberto Hernandez then hit Chris Young square in the back to load the bases.  But, Josh Satin and Wilmer Flores left them stranded.

Jenrry Mejia pitched out of a two outs, bases loaded jam in the top of the 2nd inning by striking out Jimmy Rollins swinging on a high fastball.  However, his pitch count grew to 40, with only 23 (57%) going for strikes.

With 2 outs, and runners on first and second in the bottom of the second, David Wright drew a walk to load the bases.  Curtis Granderson followed, and worked the count full, but flied harmlessly to right fielder Marlon Byrd to end the threat.

Chase Utley led off the third inning with a double to right, and advanced to third base on Ryan Howard‘s deep fly to left.  With one out, Marlon Byrd drew a walk to put runners on the corners.  Domonic Brown then stepped in, and stroked a single to the opposite field, scoring Utley from third to tie the game at one.

After 3 full innings pitched, Mejia was up to an uneconomical 63 pitches, with only 36 (57%) going for strikes.  He managed to surrender only the one run on 5 hits, and 3 walks, while recording 2 strikeouts.

Wilmer Flores collected his first hit as a Met this season in the third inning.

Through the first three innings, the Mets left 8 runners on base.

Jenrry began his third time through the Phillies lineup in the 4th, and retired the side in order for the first time.  He ended the top half of the frame with his second strikeout of Jimmy Rollins.  Mejia’s pitch count grew to 85, with an improved 52 (61%) going for strikes.

In the top of the 5th inning, Mejia hit the lead-off batter, Chase Utley, who, two outs later, then stole second base.  Domonic Brown stepped in, and served a base hit to left, which scored Utley, to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead, and earned Jenrry Mejia a trip to the showers.

After 101 pitches thrown, Mejia was relieved by Daisuke Matsuzaka.

Curtis Granderson drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the 5th.  Chris Young then bounced to short, but Chase Utley failed to handle Jimmy Rollins‘ throw on a potential 6-4-3 double play, and instead, the Mets wound up with runners on second and third.  Josh Satin then struck out, bringing up Flores in a big spot.  However, the youngster struck out swinging against Hernandez.  With two outs, Travis d’Arnaud bounced softly to third base, to end another scoring threat.

Jake Diekman entered the game in relief of Roberto Hernandez in the bottom of the 6th inning.  Pinch hitter Eric Young promptly greeted him with a lead-off single, and after advancing to second, David Wright was intentionally walked.  With two outs, Curtis Granderson struck out to end yet another Mets threat.

Jeurys Familia entered the game in the top if the 7th in relief of Matsuzaka, and unleashed a 98mph fastball to strikeout Cody Asche.

Philadelphia reliever Mike Adams entered to pitch the bottom of the 7th.

With one out in the top of the 8th, and Ben Revere (single) on first, Coach Collins brought in Scott Rice (in relief of Familia) to face Jimmy Rollins, who walked.  Chase Utley followed, and was induced into a 4-6-3 double play.

Reliever Antonio Bastardo entered the game to pitch the bottom of the 8th inning for the Phillies.  After issuing a 2-out walk to Daniel Murphy, David Wright finally connected on a double to score Murphy all the way from first, to tie the game at two.

Reliever Kyle Farnsworth became the Mets 5th pitcher of the evening in the 9th.

The Mets were retired in order in the bottom of the 9th, and into extra innings they went.

Free Baseball:

Coach Collins charged Jose Valverde with pitching the top of the 10th, who retired the side in order.  In the bottom of the inning, the Phillies countered with reliever Mario Hollands, who over-matched Daniel Murphy with fastballs to end the frame.

Through the 10th inning, the Mets bullpen had combined on 5.1 innings pitched, allowed no runs on just one hit, issued 6 walks, and fanned 6 batters.

In the 11th, Carlos Torres became the 7th Mets pitcher of the evening, and a allowed a one out double to Chase Utley.  Ryan Howard was then intentionally walked.  Marlon Byrd followed, and punched a ball just inside the right field foul line to score Utley from second with the go ahead run.

In the bottom of the frame, Jonathan Papelbon entered the game.  David Wright struck out.  Curtis Granderson flied to right field, and Chris Young flied to center to end the game.

Your final score is 3-2, Phillies.  Carlos Torres (2-2) earned the loss.

The Mets and Philadelphia Phillies now own identical 16-18 records.

Scoring Summary:

• Bottom 1st inning – One out singles by Daniel Murphy and David Wright, were followed by an RBI double struck by Curtis Granderson, giving the Mets a 1-0 lead.

• Top 3rd inning – Chase Utley led off with a double, and later scored from third on Domonic Brown‘s one out single to left, making  it a 1-1 game.

• Top 5th inning – Jenrry Mejia hit lead-off batter, Chase Utley with a pitch.  Utley stole second, and scored on Domonic Brown‘s 2-out base hit to left, giving the Phillies a 2-1 lead.

• Bottom 8th inning – Daniel Murphy drew a two out walk against Antonio Bastardo.  David Wright’s double scored Murphy from first to tie the game, 2-2.

• Top 11th inning – Chase Utley continued his assault on Mets pitching with a one out double.  After an intentional walk to Ryan Howard, Marlon Byrd doubled down the right field line to score Utely, for a 3-2 Phillies lead.

Highlights:

• Until David Wright finally delivered a clutch hit in the 8th inning, the Mets had left a frustrating 13 runners on base, and were a prohibitive 1 for 10 with RiSP.  Through 9 full innings, they left 14 on base (15 for the game) and were 1 for 11 with RiSP.

• Mets pitchers went 0 for 1, with a sacrifice, which now makes them 0 for 59 this season.

• Travis d’Arnaud showed hustle in legging out an infield hit his first time up, then singled cleanly in the third inning.  He had a chance to tie the game in the bottom of the 5th with 2 outs, but bounced weakly to third.  In the 7th, he fanned on a Mike Adams fastball.  He struggled with a couple of throws on attempted steals in the top of the 5th inning, and should have also been charged with a passed ball.

• Wilmer Flores wasted little time collecting his first MLB hit of the season in his second turn at-bat.  But, in the top of the 5th, we found out he wasn’t wearing his protective cup like a good young player should.  This was a rather interesting first game for Flores, who made consistent contact (2 fly outs, 2 singles, K).  He also flashed a nice glove on a diving play to his left, but, couldn’t finish the play, as he bobbled the transfer, (although it’s questionable whether Flores would have actually thrown the runner out at first).  He was twice in position to drive in the Mets potential second run of the game.

• Jenrry Mejia suffered an overall (but particularly early) poor economy of pitches.  His fastball was otherwise consistently clocked at 90-92mph, and he also dropped in some very effective curveballs between 76-79mph.  His third time through the order was ultimately his downfall once again, although he seemingly improved as the game progressed.  Mejia wound up throwing 101 pitches, with 61 (60%) going for strikes.  He allowed one earned run on 6 hits, walked 3, fanned 4, and hit a batter, before exiting on the losing side of a 2-1 game with 2 outs in the 5th.  Congratulations are still in order, as Mejia laid down a successful sacrifice bunt – something lost on Mets pitchers over the last few years.

• Generally speaking, this was one of the more ponderous 3-2 games of recent memory.

• Tonight was a good situation for Josh Satin, but he turned in an 0 for 5 night in 9 innings.

• The Mets have now dropped their last 4 in a row, and have lost 7 of their last 8 games.  They dropped to 8-9 at home, and have fallen 2 games below the .500 mark for the first time since April 13th, when they had a 5-7 record.

• Terry Collins never did get that chance to utilize the ultra-one dimensional Bobby Abreu.

Next:

5/10 – Saturday, 7:10pm – Phillies @ Mets

Kyle Kendrick (0-3) vs. Dillon Gee (3-1)

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