By: Matthew Mack
The Phillies and the New York Mets faced each other this weekend with first place in the division on the line.
In the first game of the series, The Phillies struck first in the second inning with a Didi Gregorius solo home run. The Mets did tie the game with Dominic Smith RBI single in the third. Pitcher Kyle Gibson helped his own cause with a RBI single in the fifth. He also kept them in the game with his pitching. Only giving up one run, he walked four and allowed four hits. Despite that he held New York in check. Bryce Harper hit a two-run homer in the eighth to add to the lead. Ian Kennedy settled down to end the game and record his 17th save of the season.
Saturday night, Ranger Suarez started the game on the mound. He shut the Mets down. Same for Tylor Megill for the Mets on the hill until the fifth. The bats woke up! Brad Miller started the inning with a home run. Miller again got to wear two Homer Hats as he homered again in the eighth with another home run to extend the lead. Joe Girardi called in Ian Kennedy to close it out and grab his 18th save of the year.
Sunday afternoon, the Phillies retired the late Roy Halladay’s number 34 before the game. In the game, the Phillies kept the pedal to the metal with solo home runs in the first inning by Jean Segura, J.T. Reamuto and Harper. That was all that was needed as Zack Wheeler was shutting down the Mets for the entire game. He pitched a complete game shutout, surrendering only three baserunners all game while striking out 11 batters, giving the bullpen the day off. The Phighting Phillies finished with the game and the series with a sweep of the New York Mets and now expanding the division lead to two and a half games.
The next real test for the Phillies will be the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Phillies are getting the brunt of the Dodgers rotation as they will face Max Scherzer, who was traded from the Nationals on the trade deadline, David Price and Juilo Urias. Their bats are hot right now and what’s better is that they will be at home. They are playing very good baseball and at the right time. Scoreboard watching will be had as they continue to watch the Mets and the Braves to see what will unfold in the NL East. You should be watching baseball right now because these races are getting hot. Meaningful baseball in Philadelphia is being had here in the month of August.
