Phillies Score 5 In 9th, Another Bullpen Meltdown Dooms Mets
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — On a night where New York celebrated the iconic television sitcom "Seinfeld," comedian Jerry Seinfeld was probably asking himself "what's the deal with the Mets bullpen?"
Jay Bruce hit a go-ahead single in the ninth inning off closer Edwin Díaz in the latest meltdown for the Mets' relief corps. Manager Mickey Callaway lost an early replay challenge that might have cost him late and the Philadelphia Phillies beat New York 7-2 Friday night.
Nine days after blowing a save in Philadelphia, Díaz (1-6) allowed J.T. Realmuto's double and Bruce's RBI single to start the ninth, which snapped a 2-all tie. The Phillies poured it on after that, batting around and scoring five runs against Díaz, Jeurys Familia and Luis Avilán. Jean Segura drove in two with a double, and Bryce Harper scored him with a two-base hit to cap a rocky day that started with three strikeouts against Mets ace Jacob deGrom.
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen's two biggest bullpen acquisitions this winter - Diaz and Familia - has turned into an unquestionable disaster. Diaz is now sporting a putrid ERA of 5.67 after being charged with four runs in the ninth. Familia's ERA ballooned to 7.76.
Philadelphia tied it in the seventh on a close play that Callaway couldn't challenge. Rhys Hoskins scored on César Hernández's slow roller toward third, but replays showed catcher Wilson Ramos appeared to tag Hoskins before he touched the plate. The Mets couldn't ask for a review, however, because Callaway had unsuccessfully used the club's challenge in the second inning on Todd Frazier's stolen base attempt. Umpires can't initiate a crew chief review until the eighth inning.
The Phillies have won six straight over the Mets for the first time since a nine-game streak spanning 2007 and '08. New York has won the season series the past seven years, but Philadelphia is 8-3 in the rivalry this season and needs two more wins to end that skid.
New York traded away Bruce in a seven-player deal that brought back Díaz from Seattle in the offseason. Bruce also beat the Mets with a game-ending double during Philadelphia's four-game sweep at home last week.
DeGrom allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings, striking out 10 after allowing a homer to Scott Kingery on the first pitch of the game.
Pete Alonso accounted for New York's first two runs with his 29th homer and an RBI double. He scored fellow All-Star Jeff McNeil with the latter against Vince Velasquez to make it 2-1 Mets in the fifth.
Velasquez pitched two-run ball over five innings, striking out six. The Phillies have allowed a National League-most 151 homers.
Adam Morgan (3-3) got two outs on two pitches to end the eighth.
Prior to the game, the commissioner's office announced that Phillies outfielder Odúbel Herrera had accepted a suspension without pay for the rest of the season, including the playoffs, for violating the league's domestic violence policy.
Herrera was arrested at a casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, on May 27 on a domestic assault charge, which was dismissed Wednesday after the woman, his girlfriend, declined to press charges.
The Mets celebrated "Seinfeld Night" 30 years to the day after the show's debut. Mets fan Jerry Seinfeld threw out the first pitch, a perfect strike from a full windup atop the mound.
"On the money," Seinfeld said. "It was the greatest moment of my life."
The comedian's first pitch was better than deGrom's. Kingery launched that one into the second deck in left field, showing no ill effects from a long Thursday — after a July 4 night game in Atlanta, the Phillies didn't check into their Manhattan hotel until around 4 a.m.
Philadelphia hit the snooze button after Kingery's shot, although deGrom had plenty to do with that. The NL Cy Young Award winner reached 100 mph while striking out Harper later that inning and cruised until walking Hoskins and allowing a double to Realmuto in the seventh, setting up the close play at the plate.
TRAINER'S ROOM:
OF J.D. Davis was available after going to the hospital this week due to a virus. Callaway said Davis lost some weight fighting the bug. Davis pinch-hit for deGrom in the seventh and flied out.
UP NEXT:
Phillies RHP Jake Arrieta (8-6, 4.43 ERA) faces Mets RHP Noah Syndergaard (5-4, 4.56) on Saturday night. Arrieta allowed two homers and five runs against New York on June 25. Syndergaard last faced Philadelphia on April 15, when he permitted five runs in five innings.
(© Copyright 2019 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
