Blink your eyes Phillies fans, what you see is not a mirage. The Phils have worked their way to first place. Playing better and winning, while the Mets have been losing is the reason why. The Mets were regularly 7-games up over .500 in the past several weeks. With the 4-2 victory last night, the first place crown has been passed.
Marcus Stroman lost his 11th game of the season (he has 7 wins) for the Mets last night in Philadelphia. The Mets record stands at 56-53 with the loss last night, and the Phillies have turned it around by posting a 57-53 record as the fortunes have changed for them in the past couple of weeks.
The newly acquired pitcher, Kyle Gibson, is now 2-0 with a 2.13 ERA with the Phillies, he has been pitching ‘lights out’ for the Phils. 30,106 fans were watching baseball at the Citizens Bank Park stadium last night. The Phillies were able to cling on to a 2-1 lead beyond the bottom of the 5th inning last night, then added two runs via a Bryce Harper HR to seal the victory.
The Mets press notes had printed that they were the only team in the majors to not lose 4-games straight at any time in the ’21 season, prior to their Game 4 against the Miami Marlins, which they lost 3 out of 4 to the Marlins in Miami prior to coming to Philadelphia to start up this important weekend series in Philadelphia. The loss last night leaves the Mets with a 9-13 record since the All-Star Break.
The Phillies on the other hand have seen much better results. They are riding a 6-game winning streak (season high). The Phils have also reclaimed the top spot for the first time since the end of play on May 7th 2021. Last night the Phillies had two triples in a game, the last time that happened was August 28th 2019 vs PIT.
The series with the Mets continues this afternoon at 4:15 PM and on Sunday at 1:05 PM – the pitching matchups are:
Saturday: Tylor Megill vs Ranger Suarez
Sunday: Taijuan Walker vs Zack Wheeler
