Ho hum, another solid start: Phillies 5, Mets 1

Give the Phillies some credit. They figured out the need to have as much starting pitching as you can and have done everything they can to get as much as they can.

Like 29 other teams in the game.

The formula for the team was built last season as the playoffs came into view and as they continued their run of postseason success: get good starting pitching, then turn it over to the bullpen. That hasn’t worked well this year so far, but as the calendar turned to June, a switch has flicked. None moreso than with Taijuan Walker.

Carrying a run of solid pitching into last night’s start against the Mets, Walker continued to show why he was deserving of his big contract this offseason. Pitching six solid innings for the Phillies of one run ball, Walker put his team in position to win yet again. This time he was backed by some solid Metsing by the opposition.

In the first inning, Kyle Schwarber hit an innocent pop up that looked like the first out of the inning was in the bag.

It wasn’t.

That error would turn into a run when Bryce Harper singled home Schwarber to give the team their first run. The second run would come across later in the inning when Nimmo did catch a ball, only this one with a runner on third that would be a sacrifice fly and give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.

That lead lasted into the third when Nimmo sought revenge by taking a hanging splitter and doing what he should do with it, halving the lead for the Phillies.

From there, though, there wasn’t much more to be done by the Mets. Walker and the bullpen troika of Gregory Soto, Jose Alvarado and Craig Kimbrel shut the team down the rest of the night, only a few more hits mustered by a suddenly very meager Mets offense.

The game wasn’t without entertainment however. With runners on the corners in the sixth inning and one out, Brandon Marsh, who had three hits by the way, lofted another soft fly ball that must’ve caused some kind of power outage in the Mets’ fielder’s brain synapses as the ball fell harmlessly to the ground, allowing a run to score.

Trea Turner singled into two more runs to add insurance and the damage was done. The Phillies won a game that they needed to win.

Walker’s scintillating June has been impressive. It’s helped the Phillies vault back into playoff contention and kickstart this run of solid play. They’ll need all they can get as they continue playing the Mets this afternoon.