Phillies Allow 30 Runs Thursday, But Gain Ground In Pennant Race

PHILADELPHIA, PA — When all was said and done Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies had given up 30 runs across two games to a Mets offense that has been stagnant and underperforming for much of the season. Yet they split the doubleheader and, with the Atlanta Braves loss, gained half a game in the NL East pennant race.

The almost unbelievable 24-4 loss in game one wasn't quite as bad as it seemed. On the face of it, it was shocking, because it came to an all-around bad team, and it came in the wake of the one of the Phillies biggest wins of the entire season in their defeat of the Red Sox Wednesday.

But when all was said and done, the loss registered the same as a 2-1 loss would have in the standings. And there were some positives in that game, if you were able to overlook the fact that the Mets scored three touchdowns and a field goal.

One of them was Roman Quinn. The young speedster finished the night 3 for 6 in the two games with a pair of stolen bases. With Aaron Altherr's struggles, Quinn has proven to be the fourth outfielder the team didn't need to buy before the trade deadline.

The other was Hector Neris, the only Phillies pitcher who didn't give up a run in game one. After a disastrous start to the season, Neris was sent back down to Triple-A to get his mechanics - and, probably, his head - right. The move proved to be a shrewd one. Seranthony Dominguez has flourished as the Phils closer since then, while Neris dominated Triple-A to the tune of a 1.45 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 18.2 innings.

On Thursday, he struck out the side in his shutout inning. He also retired two Red Sox on Wednesday. The emergence of another reliable reliever makes one of baseball's best bullpens all the more potent heading into the stretch run.

Finally, of the 24 runs in game one, nine were given up by position players Scott Kingery and Roman Quinn, who pitched the last three innings. That meant the Phillies were able to preserve relievers for game two and the rest of the week. Which really means that the 24-4 lost was a less taxing and less consequential loss than, say, a 2-1 loss.

Of course, the biggest bright spot was that the Phillies won game two, 9-6, while the Braves lost in Colorado, and they now trail by just 1.5 games in the NL East. They also are in the lead for the first Wild Card spot, which means if the playoffs began Friday, they would host the Brewers in the one-game playoff.

Friday is forecast to be about as different a game from Thursday's fireworks as possible. Aaron Nola will face off against Mets Noah Synergaard in a matchup of two of the best arms in baseball. The first pitch is at 6:05 p.m.

What to look out for:

• Phillies new catcher Wilson Ramos, an All-Star the team acquired for almost nothing at the trade deadline, is 6-9 in his first two starts for the Phillies, with four extra base hits. Ramos hits fastballs well which makes him a nice matchup against fireballer Syndergaard; he is a .333 lifetime hitter against him across 15 at bats.
• Rhys Hoskins smacked two more home runs on Thursday night and is now up to 24 on the year. He's as good a bet as anyone to hit another before the Mets leave town.
• It's been hard to find a more consistently dominant pitcher than Aaron Nola in 2018. He has a 2.28 ERA for the year and has given up two or less runs in every start save one since June 17. This year against the Mets, he's 2-1, having given up just 3 runs in 18.1 innings.
• Nola and Syndergaard met on a cold and windy day on April 4 this year. Both starters gave up two runs; Nola left after 5.1 innings, Syndergaard after 4. The Mets won, 4-2.
• Seranthony Dominguez has pitched two nights in a row and warmed up three nights in a row, so he could be unavailable Friday. Pat Neshek could be the favorite to take the ball in a save situation.

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