‘I don't care how we win' — wild end to Phillies' weekend vs. Mets

A sun-splashed Sunday afternoon turned dark and ominous in the eighth inning at Citizens Bank Park. The sky clouded over, the temperature dropped, the wind began to whip. The stadium lights were switched on. An occasional lightning bolt flashed beyond center field.

At the time, it seemed like a fitting metaphor for a Phillies team that had sort of stumbled through the early going, reflecting an unusually ineffective outing by starting pitcher Zack Wheeler on the way to yet another loss against the Mets.

Instead, it turned out to foreshadow one of the goldangdest bullpen collapses in recent memory.

The record will show that the Phillies mounted a dramatic rally in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four times to beat New York, 7-6. Which is true.

It would also be true that the Mets largely beat themselves.

Seven of the first eight Phillies hitters got on base to open the eighth. Only one reached on a hit, a lonely single. Yes, the Phillies hitters had some good at-bats. Still, what in the name of Marvelous Marv Throneberry was going on?

"I don't care how we win," said shortstop Trea Turner, who homered in the first, stole two bases, scored twice and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the winning run. "It was wild. Kind of crazy."

Added manager Rob Thomson: "It didn't look good. We got fortunate again, but our guys kept grinding and got it done. We had some miscues, too, which we have to clean up. But you just have to take advantage of the situation.

"I'm not sure if I've seen that before. I may have. But the chances are unlikely, I think."

With the win, the Phillies took their first series from the Mets since September 2021. They were 5-14 against their most bitter division rival last season and 0-3 this season before taking two of three over the weekend.

And if they won Friday night because two catchable pop-ups to left weren't handled and led to all their runs, well, that's baseball.

Based strictly on the pitching matchup, this game shouldn't have been such a white-knuckle adventure.

Mets starter Carlos Carrasco was once considered among the best and the brightest of the Phillies' farm system. He was ranked by many as the organization's No. 1 prospect going into the 2009 season before being traded at the deadline along with three other cream-of-the-crop youngsters (C Lou Marson, SS Jason Donald, RHP Jason Knapp) to Cleveland in the deal that brought left-hander Cliff Lee to Philadelphia the first time.

But he's now 36 years old and, if the scuttlebutt is true, hanging on to his spot in the rotation by a rapidly fraying thread.

Phillies starter Zack Wheeler was once considered among the best and brightest of the Mets' farm system. He was ranked by many as the organization's No. 1 prospect going into the 2012 season before missing the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons following Tommy John surgery. When he became a free agent three years later, the Mets made little effort to keep him and he signed a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phillies.

Times change. Uniforms change. The quirks of the schedule plus a midweek rainout brought them together Sunday. Wheeler's numbers suggested a mismatch. Again, that's why we play the games.

Carrasco lasted just four innings and gave up two runs on five hits. Wheeler went 5 1/3 and was tagged for five runs on nine hits.

"They (hitters) bailed me out again," Wheeler said. "That's what good teams do. They just keep fighting. Never let up. Whatever way it is. Even if it's (the Mets) making mistakes. They still had to put good at-bats together and we came out with a win.

"I felt good early on. Kind of lost it a little bit. Hot day. Command-wise, the cutter wasn't there at all and with a lefty lineup, the cutter's got to be there. It was moving more like a slider, so I've got to tighten that up between starts. And that's usually pretty easy for me with that pitch."

Going into the bottom of the eighth, there was no tangible reason for the sellout crowd of 42,901 to suspect that the Phillies had a comeback in them even after reliever Josh Walker walked Bryce Harper and J.T Realmuto singled.

But when Bryson Stott walked to load the bases with nobody out, something seemed to change. Even though the Phillies were still down by three, the pressure felt like it had been transferred to the Mets. And they played like it.

"Walks are good in big spots like that. Try to make them throw strikes," Stott said. "And this time, they didn't. The lefty that Bryce and I faced (Walker), you could kind of see that he was kind of losing it up in the strike zone."

Jeff Brigham replaced Walker. Alec Bohm hit a grounder to third baseman Brett Baty. Obviously, the Mets would have been more than happy to trade a run for a double play in that situation. But his throw to second was wide. Harper scored and the bases remained loaded on the throwing error.

Brandon Marsh walked to force Realmuto home. The Phillies now trailed by just one. Pinch-hitter Kody Clemens struck out but Brigham then hit both Kyle Schwarber and Turner with pitches to give the Phillies an improbable lead.

Shortly after, Craig Kimbrel nailed down the win with his 11th save of the year, the skies opened, deluging the field.

For the Mets this weekend, when it rained, it poured.

NOTES ON A SCORECARD

For the third straight game, left fielder Kyle Schwarber made a noteworthy defensive play in left. Sunday, it came when Baty lofted a long fly to left. Schwarber had to retreat to the corner and reach up at the wall to make the catch. All those gems have come since he dropped a line drive off the bat of Atlanta's Austin Riley Thursday afternoon which helped cost the Phillies the game in the 10th inning.

UP NEXT

LHP Ranger Suarez (1-2, 3.50) will start at Wrigley Field Tuesday followed by RHP Aaron Nola (6-5, 4.38) Wednesday and RHP Taijuan Walker (8-3, 4.10). All games are scheduled to begin at 8:05 p.m. EDT. As of Sunday evening, the Cubs had not announced their rotation for the series.