The Phillies took the mound today for an afternoon game against the New York Mets, looking for a series split after wasting away a game on Friday and Saturday.

Today, Zack Wheeler was on the mound looking to help the Phillies split a four game series (again, that they should have swept) against Marcus Stroman and the New York Mets. The Phillies got runs early but as we all know, that’s hardly a sign of confidence for a team that has continued to blow saves throughout the entire week.

Odubel Herrera hit a sacrifice fly to score Nick Maton, who walked, in the second inning. The Phillies were up 1-0. Alec Bohm then hit a ground ball to shortstop Francisco Lindor, which scored Andrew McCutchen. Then, Nick Maton stepped up to the plate and roped a double to left field, scoring Rhys Hoskins. Ronald Torreyes singled on a ground ball to third base, Luis Guillorme made a throwing error to first, which allowed Nick Maton to score.

The Phillies took an early 4-0 lead against the Mets and knocked Marcus Stroman out of the game after just three innings of work. Stroman allowed five hits, four runs (two earned) and three walks while striking out three.

Maton was 1-for-3 with two RBI yesterday. Today he was 2-for-3 with an RBI.

I won’t even get into the fact that I have been writing hundreds of words about the Phillies and their unwillingness to play some of their younger guys. This team is simply not good enough to not be playing guys like Nick Maton on a daily basis.

After a rough outing his last time out, Zack Wheeler returned to form today against the Mets. Wheeler threw seven scoreless innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out eight and was able to settle in nicely early on with a 4-0 lead. At one point, Wheeler retired 11 straight Mets batters. The Phillies would turn to their bullpen for the final two innings of the ball game. First up, was Jose Alvarado, who promptly let up a run after Pete Alonzo singled to center field to score Francisco Lindor.

Archie Bradley pitched the ninth inning, allowing a solo home run to make it a 4-2 ball game. Luckily for everyone, that was the only additional damage. The Phillies split the series with the Mets.

Notes:

Phillies’ starting pitching only allowed one earned run in just over 23 innings of work with 26 strikeouts in the four game series against the Mets. While the media is pretending to be outraged by Rhys Hoskins saying that they should also “write about what the Phillies did good against the Mets”, maybe that’s one state he was referring to. Although the Phillies should have swept the series against the first place Mets, they walk away with a series split.

Up Next:

The Phillies will head to Cincinnati to face the Reds tomorrow, making up a game that was rained out over a month ago. Spencer Howard will be on the mound. 6:40pm first pitch.