Arrieta, gentille Arrieta: Phillies 3, Mets 2

On Tuesday night, the Phillies’ pitchers received all the run support they could have ever hoped for. On Wednesday afternoon, runs were harder to come by, but thankfully for the Phillies, Jake Arrieta was on top of his game. Arrieta pitched eight-plus innings, allowing only two earned runs, and led the Phillies to a series victory over the Mets.

Unlike so many of his starts in 2018, on Wednesday, Arrieta was aided by his defense. The Phillies’ infielders turned three double plays, and Rhys Hoskins made an excellent play at first, tagging the runner when a throw pulled him off the bag.

The offense was unable to match their output from Tuesday. They mounted an early threat when they loaded the bases in the second, but could only score one run on a sacrifice fly by Maikel Franco.

In the sixth, Scott Kingery continued to be all, “I deserve more playing time,” when he sent one into the right field stands.

And in the sixth, with former NFL star Steve Smith watching, Cesar Hernandez was all, “You’re not getting playing time at my expense!”

Earlier in the game, we had a touching moment as Gregg Murphy interviewed a 102-year-old who was attending her first game.

Hopefully Tillie left the game early, because the ninth inning was tough on the heart. Arrieta started the ninth, but his bid for a complete game was ended by an infield single. Adam Morgan entered the game, and recorded an out, but not before hitting a batter, putting the tying run aboard.

Hector Neris was brought in to close things out, and he came just about as close to blowing a save as a pitcher can get without actually blowing it. A strikeout, infield single, and hit batsman left the Mets with two outs and the tying runner on third. After going to a full count on Keon Broxton, Neris finally got him to swing and miss to end the game.

Thanks to Tuesday night’s offense and Arrieta’s gem, the bullpen hasn’t been called upon much the past two days. I hope they enjoyed the respite, because with four games in Colorado looming, chances are they’re in for some heavy work over the next few days.