The Phillies re-took the lead courtesy of David Dahl’s leadoff homer in the seventh.
Alas, the Phillies once again passed up a chance for a big inning when they left two men on base in the frame.
The game remained at 5-4 until the ninth when Jose Alvarado was asked to close it out. Unfortunately, it looked like Alvarado was either too rested, too jet-lagged, too fired up, or maybe he simply had a bad game. He couldn’t seem to locate his pitches, and his line included two hits, two walks, a hit batsman, and a passed ball, allowing the Mets to take a 6-4 lead.
To cut off all the hot takes going around on social media, this does not mean the Phillies need “a real closer.” There are very few - if any - closers on the trade market who are better than Alvarado or Jeff Hoffman. Even the best relievers have bad games from time to time.
This being the Mets, you couldn’t rule out the possibility that they’d have a ninth inning meltdown of their own. And sure enough, the Phillies mounted a threat. Thanks to a Cristian Pache single, a J.T. Realmuto hit-by-pitch, and a Bryce Harper single, the Phillies had the bases loaded.
Alec Bohm walked to bring in a run and put the tying and winning runs in scoring position. But once again, the Phillies blew an opportunity for an even bigger inning. This time it was courtesy of a bizarre double play off the (broken) bat of Nick Castellanos.
It was a disappointing finish to an otherwise fun trip. They will have to stew on it for the trip home and an off day on Monday before heading to Boston where they can hopefully take out their frustrations on the Red Sox.
The Phillies looked to be well on their way to sweeping their London series against the New York Mets. But missed opportunities for huge innings by the offense, combined with a rare bad day by the bullpen, combined with a goofy game-ending double play left the Phillies with a disappointing 6-5 loss.
The first three Phillies batters of the game reached base, and it looked like the Phillies might be ready to romp for a second straight day. But Alec Bohm hit into a double play, giving the Phillies just one run in what looked like it might have been a huge inning. (This would be a recurring theme on the day.)
However, the Mets were having a lot of trouble of their own against the Phillies’ beleaguered starter Taijuan Walker. Walker located his pitches as well as he has all season, limiting the Mets to just one hit over the first five innings.
The Phillies added to their lead in the fourth thanks to RBI hits by Edmundo Sosa and Whit Merrifield. But J.T. Realmuto’s strikeout with two outs and the bases loaded kept them from padding the lead further.
Walker finally ran into trouble in the sixth when the Mets got two men aboard. With a well-rested bullpen, Rob Thomson decided to let Walker exit on a high note and have his normally dependable bullpen handle the rest of the game. Unfortunately, the bullpen wasn’t up to the job.
Gregory Soto came in, and promptly allowed a double and a single that tied the game at 3.
London did not agree with Jose Alvarado Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
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