5:48 AM UTC
PHILADELPHIA – The Mets are gone.
The Phillies felt all right again Monday night at Citizens Bank Park. They beat Cincinnati 4-1 in the series opener to tie the Padres for their second NL wild card spot. Noah Sindegaard pitched seven innings for his second straight start, something the bullpen needed as it was pushed to its limits against New York over the weekend. Philly’s big success in the middle of the lineup could see Bryce Harper return as early as next Monday in Arizona.
“This puts us back on track,” Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said. “These are games we should have won. We’ve done really well all year and won games we should have won. All these games add up. And [it’s good] just to have a game against a really good baseball team. A tough series.”
lost 10-9 on Sunday After the Mets, some Phillies fans were taken aback. Philadelphia is down 5-14 against New York this season by three points.
This is frustrating. But what exactly does this mean?
This means the Phillies can’t beat the Mets in the regular season. But they were very good at beating other teams, they outscored everyone else 62-41 (0.602), including the Dodgers (4-3), Warriors (6-6), Cardinals (4-3), The Padres (4-3) and the Brewers (4-2). A
.602 winning percentage would be the sixth-best record in a major.
Since Rob Thomson became interim head coach on June 3, Philadelphia’s The record is 45-26 (.633). That’s tied for the third-best record for that period.
“These guys bounced back, and they really did,” Thomson said. “Their memory is not very long.”
Castellanos singles The homer went into the woods in front of the hitter in the second inning to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead. The home run extended his streak to 12. Bryson Stott then hit a home run on the second deck in right field to make it 2-0.
Castellanos has 4 home runs, 12 in last 24 games 0.351 RBI and 0.916 OPS. Stott is hitting .300 with four homers, 16 RBIs and 0.831 OPS in his last 32 games.
JT Realmuto heads up in third quarter and scores on Castellanos’ double , to rewrite the score to 3-0. Alec Bohm singled and scored on Realmuto’s double in the fifth to make it 4-1.
Realmuto has 6 home runs in the last 29 games hit 0.349 with 22 RBIs and 1.047 OPS. In his last 46 games, Bohm is hitting .348 with 6 homers, 31 RBIs and .886 OPS.
Bohm, Realmuto, Castellanos and Stott are Monday’s 3- on Phils 6th hitter. The lineup will be adjusted when Harper returns next week. He will probably go back to No. 3 until June 25 when he fractures his left thumb.
Boehm has played for the Phillies since July 28 3rd place. He can move up and down, although Kyle Schwaber and Reece Hoskins are a powerful 1-2 at the top.
The Phillies have options.
“Wow,” Sindegard said of Harper’s return . “It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Bringing one of the best baseball players back into our lineup. This offense will be fun.”
Syndergard added rotational stability following Zach Eflin’s right knee injury. He is 3-0 with a 3.60 ERA in four starts since he joined the Phillies. He has pitched six or more innings in each of the past three games.
Syndergaard only allowed three hits on Monday. He only had one strikeout and two swing turnovers, but he had a lot of weak touches.
“He moves the ball,” Reds receiver Austin Romin said . “He has a good sinker. He uses his curveball and his slider very well. He knows how to pitch. He’s been around the block so he knows how to use his stuff, get people out and keep Weak contact.”
Syndergaard said: “So far, I have The times were great. I feel like I’ve been on Cloud 9.”
