QUEENS, NY — Philadelphia Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo had been steaming since the second batter of the game, when Juan Soto was granted time late.
Luzardo followed through with his delivery, which ended with his arms extended in exasperation as he walked toward the home plate umpire, Willie Traynor.
Luzardo’s early frustration was justified. He eventually walked Soto on an eight-pitch at-bat. Only one of his pitches — a 97.5 mph four-seam fastball that rode high and inside — was a ball. The rest either landed inside the strike zone or grazed the edges.
Still, Luzardo held the Mets’ bats at bay through the first four innings Tuesday. Both teams were scoreless entering the fifth. New York had managed just three hits by that point and had squandered an early chance to take the lead as Brandon Nimmo struck out with the bases loaded to end the first inning.
But Luzardo unraveled in the fifth. The Mets sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five runs — the seventh time this season that New York has scored five or more runs in an inning. They erased a brief 2–0 Phillies lead, en route to a 6–5 final that was capped off by Nimmo’s walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth. The Mets won their second game in a row — and their ninth home contest against Philadelphia — again erasing a multi-run deficit.
“We know what this offense is capable of,” Nimmo said. “It’s just going out and executing on a daily basis, and offense has its ups and downs, so you’re going to go through that during a season. But you know, what we would really like is for things to keep going well.”
The Mets had won consecutive series for the first time in nearly a month. They won their first one-run game in a month.
What was different? Their ability to answer the rally cry.
“The fifth inning,” manager Carlos Mendoza said, “We get down 2–0, and we’re able to answer right back and put together some really good at-bats, and we take the lead, and then they came back in the eighth, and we’re able to come back in the ninth.
“Overall, just our ability to respond and punch back once we get punched once and twice. So, love what I see from the guys. They fight, they compete, not giving up and just play the whole game. We did it yesterday, we did it today, and we need to continue to do that.”
Jesús Luzardo’s frustration
By the time Philadelphia yanked its starter in the bottom of the fifth — after the Mets loaded the bases with no outs after cashing in a run to cut the Phillies’ slim lead to one — both Luzardo and Traynor had seen enough.
Luzardo hit the leadoff man, Luis Torrens. Then, he gave up a bloop single to Francisco Lindor as he fed the Mets’ shortstop a four-seamer high and inside. Soto brought home Torrens during the subsequent at-bat with a single up the middle, as Luzardo left a sinker in the middle of the strike zone.
What happened next wasn’t his fault.
The Phillies’ center fielder, former Met Harrison Bader, airmailed his throw home, allowing both runners to advance 90 feet. Bader was charged with an error. Starling Marte walked to load the bases as Luzardo missed inside, outside and high during a seven-pitch at-bat. That marked the end of his night.
“Wake the f—k up,” Luzardo could be seen barking in the direction of Traynor, the umpire, as he left the field. “This isn’t the minor leagues.”
He was promptly ejected by Traynor. Not that it really mattered. But it was just one of many details a scriptwriter could include in a scene of a chaotic five-run inning as the Mets erased their brief deficit compiled in the top half.
Luzardo’s outburst gave way to the crescendo of New York’s rally, as the Mets worked a series of base hits and heads-up base running to vault ahead.
Mets bat around the lineup
New York wasn’t done.
After Orion Kerkering replaced Luzardo, he threw Pete Alonso a high and tight sinker. Alonso drove the pitch to the left-center gap, past the outstretched glove of a diving Weston Wilson. Alonso’s double brought home two runs. In the swing of a bat, the Mets had turned a 2–1 deficit into a 3–2 lead.
“We’re getting those balls to find holes,” Mendoza said. “We’re using the whole field. We’ve seen it time after time, going the other way with two outs, not trying to do too much. You stay sure and trying to hit line drives.”
Mark Vientos — who is slashing .382/.436/.941 over his last nine games — worked Kerkering for a seven-pitch at-bat. Over that span, Vientos has five home runs, four doubles, and 14 RBI. Vientos now has at least one RBI in a career-high-tying five straight games. Since July 26, he’s owned a .389 average with runners in scoring position.
Vientos is swinging a hot bat. Even though Kerkering’s final offering was a sweeper on the outside bottom quadrant of the zone, Vientos slashed it into right field for an RBI single as the Mets took a 4–2 lead.
The Mets rode the crests of momentum and good swing decisions through the bottom of the fifth. Their hitters combined to go 5–10 with runners in scoring position Tuesday. The first out of the inning didn’t come until the following at-bat, and it was on a sacrifice fly as Brandon Nimmo brought home Alonso to put the Mets up 5–2.
Tyrone Taylor walked. Jeff McNeil grounded out.
Finally, the Phillies put a tourniquet on the Mets’ scoring rush as Torrens lined out to end the inning — where it all began, with the Mets’ catcher and No. 9 hitter leading off.
Mets rally again to walk off Phillies
The Mets showed in the fifth inning their rallying spirit — a trait synonymous with the 2024 team that was known for its comebacks and timely hits, and a concept that should become a more consistent part of the club’s identity in this era.
After Ryan Helsley walked Nick Castellanos and surrendered a home run to Bader, the former Met to allow the Phillies to tie the game, New York’s chances appeared bleak. Jhoan Duran, the Phillies’ closer, excels in these situations. Entering Tuesday, Duran hadn’t allowed a baserunner in five of his nine outings as a Phillie. He’d allowed no runs in eight of those appearances.
But as these Mets can do, they rallied. Marte and Alonso singled. Brett Baty, who had replaced Vientos at third base in the top of the eighth, looped a single into left field. The bases were loaded for Nimmo with no outs.
Duran threw him a 101.7 mph fastball over the heart of the plate. Nimmo slashed it into center field, putting the seal on a wild night at Citi Field.
“Baseball is a funny game,” Nimmo said. “Sometimes things start to click together, and we’ve been having that happen lately. The bats have been really coming alive over the last seven to 10 days. We’re doing great on the road, and we come home and continue it. I think it’s just a testament to the guys paying attention to the little things, and making each at bat and where we are at the present moment the most important thing.”
