One more to go: Mets 11, Phillies 4

The Phillies lost the second half of the doubleheader 11-4 at the hands of the Mets. Michael Plassmeyer was tagged for 10 runs (9 earned) in just 3.2 innings of work as the Phillies look to preserve their pitching for next week’s Wild Card series.

What happened

Francisco Alvarez broke an 0-23 streak with a pair of long home runs, the first a two-run shot in the first and the second a grand slam in the third. Both came off of Plassmeyer, who gave up three total home runs. Plassmeyer had a nightmare third inning in which he hit three batters and gave up five runs.

Kyle Schwarber provided the only real highlight for the Phillies, as he blasted a career-high 47th home run that plated three and made the score at the time 8-4.

Other than that, the Phillies hitters struck out 12 times and their defense made three errors.

The takeaway from today’s doubleheader is that the Phillies lost two meaningless games and the Mets hurt their draft position.

Things you might actually care about

The important pitchers all looked sharp in this tune-up game. Jeff Hoffman entered in the fourth and struck out the only hitter he faced. Orion Kerkering got into a little trouble with runners on second and third with no outs after a leadoff walk and an error. Kerkring then allowed a single to Tim Locastro that knocked in an unearned run before striking out the next two and getting Pete Alonso to ground out to end the inning. If you wanted to see how Kerkering could handle a high leverage situation, this was a type of preview.

Jose Alvarado and, more importantly, Craig Kimbrel both looked fantastic in their innings of work. Both threw clean innings, with Alvarado picking up a pair of strikeouts and Kimbrel striking out the side. Kimbrel threw 15 pitches with all but two being fastballs. He generated six whiffs with the heater.

Cristopher Sánchez pitched a clean ninth out of the bullpen and threw only 9 pitches to do so.

Just stay healthy.

Nick Castellanos, Edmundo Sosa, and Trea Turner were all hit by a pitch in tonight’s game. Castellanos and Sosa remained in the game, but Turner was removed with what the team called a “left elbow contusion.” The pitch appeared to hit Turner in the elbow guard, and he stayed in to run the bases before being removed the next half inning.

Game 162 on deck

The final game of the regular season is upon us tomorrow. No one knows exactly who is starting for the Phillies yet. It could be Michael Lorenzen. It could be an abbreviated Cristopher Sánchez. It could even be Nick Nelson! You’ll just have to tune in tomorrow to find out!