Taijuan Walker and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets last night at Citizens Bank Park, 5-1 to take Game 1 in the three-game weekend series.

The Phillies, while dropping two straight this week to Atlanta, have still won 14 of 18 games sine June 3rd. They are 39-36 on the season, and three games out of second place in the NL East, with the Braves still holding a commanding 9 game lead in first. 

Taijuan Walker Dominates

Taijuan Walker continued his June dominance last night, allowing three hits, one run and a walk while striking out five over six innings of work. Over his last four starts, he’s now 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA while allowing just two earned runs in 26 innings. 

The Phillies jumped on Mets’ starter Kodai Senga in the bottom of the first inning. Bryce Harper hit an RBI single to left field that scored Kyle Schwarber. 

Bryce Harper RBI Single in the 1st Inning

Bryson Stott then gave the Phillies a two-run lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored Trea Turner. Brandon Nimmo would put the only run of the night on the board for the Mets in the third inning with a solo home run.

From there, the Phillies added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning thanks to an RBI single from Brandon Marsh, and a 2 RBI single from Trea Turner that scored Marsh and Alec Bohm. 

Trea Turner Bases Loaded 2 RBI Single

Gregory Soto, Jose Alvarado, and Craig Kimbrel pitched three scoreless, hitless innings to give the Phillies a much needed bounce back win after two rough games against the Atlanta Braves. 

Phillies improve to 14-4 since 6/3. In that span, the starting staff has combined to post a 1.61 ERA (19 ER, 106.0 IP). That’s the lowest ERA by Phils SP over an 18-game span since May 15-June 3, 1964 (1.53 ERA). via EliasSports

Cristopher Sanchez will get the start today against Mets ace Max Scherzer.

First pitch at 4:05PM. 

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