The Phillies lost three of four to the New York Mets after an abysmal offensive performance on Sunday Night Baseball. 

No, the season isn’t over. The Magic Number to clinch the NL East remains at one. A win at any point over these last six games (or a Mets loss) will clinch the first title for the Phillies since 2011. But you never want to lose a series to the Mets, especially one that has some meaning to it in September. 

This weekend was frustrating. Taijuan Walker probably shouldn’t have been out there in the first place on Thursday night. They won a dominant game on Friday night after Cristopher Sanchez looked awesome on the road, then the offense proceeded to combine for nine hits and four runs over the last 18 innings of the series. 

I was impressed with Citi Field this weekend. I still think the “OMG” sign and the Grimace thing are incredibly stupid, and nothing is worse than Mets fans thinking every fly ball is a home run. But that felt like a playoff game on Sunday night. The Mets aren’t on the same level as the Phillies when both teams are at their best, but you could tell they really wanted this series. You need every win you can get when you’re still fighting to get in. Just ask the 2022 and 2023 Phillies.

We need to limit the in-game interviews with players on Sunday Night Baseball. If you want to mic up a bench guy and ask him a few questions, that’s fine. But let’s not ask Kyle Schwarber questions while he’s trying to hit in the cage during the game. 


Player Takeaways

Nick Castellanos looked sharp. He went 7 for 16 with 3 RBIs, three runs scored, and one homer. I thought the swing looked fluid, and he looked very straight to the ball. 

Bryson Stott had a good weekend as well. He carried a 6-game hit streak into Sunday night and played some excellent defense the last four days. He worked two big walks while swiping two bags as well. Stott’s now up to 31 stolen bases on the season. 

Bryce Harper had a rough series. 0 for 8 in the last two games with five strikeouts and 2 for 16 overall since Thursday with 7 Ks. He looked lost at the plate. It just didn’t seem like he was seeing the ball well. With that being said, I have zero concerns about Harper moving forward.

Zack Wheeler is just flat-out unbelievable. He threw two bad pitches all night: the sinker up in the zone to Tyrone Taylor in the 2nd and the hanging fastball middle-middle to Brandon Nimmo, which led to the go-ahead home run. The fastball had a ton of bite. I thought the sweeper was moving well. He generated 14 swinging strikes on the night and got Pete Alonso to strike out three times. 

Edwin Diaz had some real juice in this series. It hasn’t been the best year for Diaz compared to years past. He sported a 5.19 ERA in 10 August outings but has given up just one earned run in 11.1 September innings. The fastball had a ton of zip on it. It’s practically all he threw, and it worked:

Brandon Nimmo is one of those guys you don’t like because he’s a Met, but I think he’d be adored in this city if he was a Phillie.

Pete Alonso is a dork, but that’s not new information.

Please don’t drag this on any longer. Go out Mondaynight and beat the brakes off of a bad Cubs team and pop some bottles at Citizens Bank Park.