For the first time, the Mets have won the first seven series of the season. A 10-6 defeat of the Phillies has them tied with the Yankees for the most wins in the MLB.
Kyle Schwarber gave Philadelphia two go-ahead home runs in the second and fourth inning. Schwarber also homered on Saturday to put the Philadelphia ahead for good to even the weekend series 1-1. He’s homered 16 times in 36 games against the Mets and his Mets-wrecking ways took off last season in a three-game series in June as a member of the Washington Nationals.
The Mets played small ball on their way to a 2-1 lead in the second. Eduardo Escobar had an extended at-bat by fouling off pitches and then earned an infield hit. Dominic Smith’s flare single allowed Escobar to go first to third. Starling Marte had an RBI ground out and Luis Guillorme drove in his first RBI of the season on a 402-foot double. Phillies starter Pat Elfin previously pitched well at Citi Field but his road woes continued from 2021 when his ERA was 5.12.
Smith pulled a double in the right-field corner to tie the game at 3 in the fourth. It’s timely hitting for Smith because the Mets will slim the roster to 26 players as mandated by May 2. Robinson Cano may be released and Smith can be optioned to AAA Syracuse. Cano was suspended for the entirety of last season for a second violation of the league’s PED policy. This season has been unfriendly to Cano. A diminished bat speed has resulted in a .195 batting average and a single homer in 41 at-bats.
Eflin exited after 4 1/3 innings with the bases loaded and New York primed to break a 3-3 tie. J.T. Realmuto’s passed ball from José Alvarado scored Lindor from third base. Realmuto was thrown off by the 98 MPH two-seamer. Smith singled in his second and third RBIs of the day by shooting Alvarado’s sinker right past him to double the score for a 6-3 lead. This was more than enough for Scherzer to earn a fourth victory in 2022. Only Pedro Martinez has more strikeouts through the first five career starts as a new Mets pitcher with 46. Scherzer has 42 strikeouts thus far.
From the 5th inning and onward, the Mets top all teams in run differential. Coming into May, their +34 run differential after the 5th is rivaled by just a +2 run differential from innings 1-4.
Francisco Lindor was mic’d up for ESPN and gave some insight on Scherzer’s attitude in the clubhouse. Scherzer is quite the jokester but turns it off every five days on the rubber. As an accomplished veteran, he’s always sharing wisdom with the rest of the rotation. It’s been working since the Mets are repetitively getting quality starts. Chris Bassitt starts tomorrow night at home against Max Fried and the fourth-place Braves.
