Phillies fall to Mets 7-2 in NLDS Game 3, look to save season tomorrow

• By Mike Livingston ~ EIC

Coming into game three, it felt like ole Mo’ was back on the Phillies side. 

Coming off an electric game two win (7-6) over the New York Mets back at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday evening. A win which was fueled by the late game heroics of an offense that had seemingly awoken from its slumber. It looked like the club was ready to put “Red October” into full swing. However, after their 7-2 loss to the Mets tonight at Citi Field, the team is just one loss away from packing their bags for Cancun and a long grueling offseason.

The game started off with high but tempered confidence from Phillies fans across the Delaware Valley. As Kyle Schwarber launched one to the warning track in dead center after a nine pitch at-bat to open the game. Turner and Harper would quickly go down in order but made some decent contact leaving a lot of room for hope.

Next, it was Aaron Nola’s turn. The Phils former ace went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first and set the Mets down with relative ease, as he’d come to do for a majority of the evening.

Another thing the Phils would come to do for a majority of the evening was what the offense did in the second inning, that being going down in order on just a few lifelines at-bats.

In the bottom of the second it was Pete Alonso who gave the Mets their first spark. A solo home run to deep right field to make it a 1-0 ballgame. Nola was able to gather himself and close out the frame without allowing any more damage thankfully.

Both pitchers, Nola, and the Mets’ Sean Manaea would duel back and forth for the next few innings until the fourth Jesse Winker made it 2-0 New York with a tank to deep right.

The Phils offense would continue to slump through the rest of the middle innings while Nola worked his way into the sixth inning. The Phils right hander would finally be chased from the game after walking the bases full in the bottom of the sixth as Orion Kerkering took the mound. A Starling Marte single would stall Kerkering with two outs before he could escape the inning, giving New York a 4-0 advantage.

In the seventh the Mets once again extended their lead with a Jose Iglesias base hit which eventually ended with Alonso being tagged out at the dish. Though not after two runs came across to make it 6-0 Mets.

The Phillies offense finally saw some inklings of life in the top of the eighth with RBI singles from Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos to bring the margin to 6-2. Though just a half inning later it was Fransisco Lindor that gave the Mets a 7-2 advantage on an RBI double.

The Phils went down 1-2-3 to close out the ninth inning, just as they did for a majority of the day.

The loss puts the Phils in a 2-1 series hole, one which also puts their season in jeopardy. As a loss tomorrow will now result in the end of the season for the ballclub. If the Phillies want to keep Red October alive and move on the NLCS for the third consecutive year they will need to win tomorrow night’s game four, but also a win or go home game five on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.

If the team wants to win however, they’ll need to hope starter Ranger Suárez can turn his season’s fortunes around. The Phils former Cy Young candidate holds a 5.65 ERA in the post All-Star break window. Moreover, the team will need to get everything they haven’t gotten from the offense so far this series. If the bats lay yet another goose egg, it shouldn’t be up for debate if the Phils will be playing baseball for the rest of October.