It felt a little bit like old times at Citizens Bank Park last night as a once familiar story unfolded between the Mets and Phillies.

It went a little something like this:

  1. The much-hyped Mets lead early.
  2. The Mets make a head-scratching strategic decision (or two).
  3. The Mets implode.
  4. The Phillies take advantage.
  5. The Phillies hand the Mets a brutal loss.
  6. Belief forms.

If we’re being honest, the Mets have been dutifully completing steps 1-3 for years. But the last three steps — the ones about the Phillies taking advantage, dealing a gut-punch to a hyped-up Mets team, and creating belief — we had not seen that part of the story for quite some time.

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If you watched last night’s eighth inning live, or if you were driving around and heard Scott Franzke’s call on the radio, you probably felt something that you hadn’t felt in awhile — something you felt back when Pat Burrell would haunt the Mets with a late home run. It was something you felt when Chase Utley singled home Tad Iguchi in that memorable walk-off win against Billy Wagner in 2007. That something you felt was a mix of excitement, hope, and an instinct to revel in the misery of the Mets.

It really had been awhile.

And now a break for a quick disclaimer. It’s early. For the Mets, it’s very early. The Phillies have produced just 3.5 runs per game through four contests. There will be harsh reminders that this team isn’t infallible, and perhaps that reminder comes as soon as tonight.

But the Phillies are 4-0 and in a division where we suspect every game matters, last night’s 5-3 win likely matters. How they won the game also matters.

They won without hitting a single home run for the third time this season. They won because the bullpen produced 16 outs to give the absurdity that occurred in the eighth inning a chance to unfold. And, of course, they won a game because Mets manager Luis Rojas made the questionable decision to remove starter Jacob deGrom, who was in the midst of a dominant performance, after just 77 pitches.

That decision wouldn’t have mattered, however, without Phillies reliever Brandon Kintzler inducing a key fourth-inning double play with the bases loaded when the Mets appeared ready to break things open. It also wouldn’t have happened without Sam Coonrod and Connor Brogdon combining to take down three scoreless innings in the middle of the game to keep the Phillies afloat.

But those things, things which would have simply not happened for the Phillies in recent years, did happen.

So, what exactly does it mean that it happened?

Maybe last night’s game proves to be the apex of the 2021 Phillies video yearbook. Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper cross the plate while going out of their minds just before the dramatic music drops in and a sequence of horrible errors and blown leads are shown in black and white. You probably know that sequence well.

But maybe, just maybe, last night’s win is the game that you look back at in a few months from now and point to as the game you knew this season was different — that it really was just like old times again.