QUEENS, NY — Luis Torrens went 3-for-5 and tied a career-high with five RBI, including a three-run home run in a four-run seventh inning, Mark Vientos doubled twice and drove in two, and the New York Mets romped to a 13-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday night at Citi Field.
Facing a 3-0 deficit while being no-hit for the first three innings, the Mets’ bats exploded for a baker’s dozen’s worth of unanswered runs, which featured five consecutive frames in which they scored.
“We’re getting a lot better results with runners in scoring position,” manager Carlos Mendoza said on a night in which his team went 11-for-19 with runners in scoring position. “We create traffic, and it’s not a secret. I’ve been sitting here answering questions about runners in scoring position, but for quite a bit now, I feel like we’ve been doing a really good job now.
The win cuts the Mets’ (70-61) deficit in the National League East behind their rivals to six games. This series is likely their last stand in keeping their slim division-title hopes intact.
“The menatlity is going to be one day at a time,” Mendoza said. “We have to continue to win games, we have to continue to win series.”
While Torrens recorded his first five-RBI game in four years, Vientos continued his red-hot ways. With back-to-back RBI doubles in the fourth and fifth innings, the once-struggling 24-year-old is batting .387 with five home runs, four two-baggers, and 13 RBI in his last eight games.
“It feels pretty good,” Vientos said. “I feel like whataver I can do to help the team, especially with the bat, it feels good to do something.”
Backup center fielder Tyrone Taylor added a 3-for-4 showing with an RBI, while Jeff McNeil drove in three runs of his own.
“They needed that,” Mendoza said of the bottom of his lineup, which featured Torrens, Taylor, and McNeil. “[Taylor] has been a lot better the last couple of days, but for Luis, it’s been a grind, a struggle for both of them. We know they’re good players, and it’s been hard for them, but you have to give them credit because they keep working and they keep going back out there and just giving their best.”
Six of the Mets’ 13 runs came against Phillies ace Christopher Sanchez, who lasted just 5.1 innings while also yielding eight hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Entering Monday night 11-4 with a 2.45 ERA this season, it was the southpaw’s shortest outing since he went 4.2 innings on May 24 against the Athletics.
Mets bats bailed out Kodai Senga, who struggled once again by going just four-plus innings, allowing three runs on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. He has a 6.10 ERA across his last seven starts.
Senga was in immediate trouble when he allowed a triple to the first man he faced, Trea Turner, which came a pitch after a sweeper that hit the outside corner for a potential third strike was missed by home-plate umpire Scott Barry. Kyle Schwarber drove him in with a groundout to second.
Philadelphia added two more in the third when Alec Bohm lined a two-out single to score Schwarber and Bryce Harper.
“It was a struggle for him,” Mendoza said of Senga. “A lot of non-competitive pitches… We have to get him going because we need him.”
After being no-hit for the first three innings, the Mets came to life in the fourth against Sanchez, plating three on five hits to tie it.
Juan Soto’s lead-off single was canceled out by Starling Marte’s double play, but Pete Alonso singled, moved to third on a balk and wild pitch, and scored on Vientos’ double down the left-field line. Brandon Nimmo drove Vientos in with a first-pitch single to right.
“[Sanchez] is a phenomenal pitcher,” Vientos said. “Just try to be as simple as possible because his stuff moves a lot.”
Following a Taylor walk, McNeil punched a single the other way into left field, scoring Nimmo to knot things up at three apiece.
Senga did not record a single out in the fifth, hitting JT Realmuto as his last batter of the night. Jose Castillo immediately induced a double play from Bohm, who proceeded to complain about the glare coming off a parabolic microphone hanging from the center-field wall, which induced a roughly 15-minute delay.
“I don’t know if somebody turned [the mic] because the one from the left side wasn’t the problem,” Mendoza said. “They complained, and obviously they made an adjustment.”
Castillo, who was called up from Triple-A earlier on Monday, needed just one pitch after the extensive wait to get out of the inning by coaxing a groundout from Brandon Marsh.
Vientos put the Mets in front in the fifth with his second RBI double in as many innings, a two-out, inside-out shot down the right-field line to score Soto from second. Soto eluded his way to second base after walking to lead off the frame. He was caught dancing off first base, but ran his way out of a rundown to take the extra 90 feet.
Torrens put the Mets up two with one out in the sixth with a double to right-center, which scored Taylor after he doubled to lead off the frame. It was the last batter Sanchez faced. Against reliever and ex-Met David Robertson, Marte singled home Torrens to make it a 6-3 game.
Torrens helped break it open in the seventh off Phillies reliever Jordan Romano. After McNeil’s sacrifice fly, the catcher belted his third home run of the year, a three-run shot over the right-center-field fence.
“I think the game plan for me is to let the ball get in deeper [in the zone],” Torrens said. “That’s always been a strong suit of my game. That’s really been the plan and the approach for me when I’m able to hit it the opposite field. That’s what I’ve had the most success.”
Taylor picked up his third hit of the night with two outs in the eighth, a single to drive in Marte. McNeil and Torrens followed up with an RBI singles of their own, all off Philadelphia reliever Joe Ross.
Playing the Phillies at Citi Field suits the Mets well. They have now won eight straight home games against their NL East foes, which is tied for the second-longest such streak in franchise history.
