The blueprint for victory back in March for the New York Mets looked a lot like what happened Friday night, when reigning National League Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom threw seven strong innings before Seth Lugo tossed a scoreless eighth as the bridge to closer Edwin Diaz.
But here in July, the sight of Diaz on the mound meant the Mets were exactly where the Philadelphia Phillies wanted them.
The Phillies will look to deliver another blow to the reeling Mets on Saturday night, when Jake Arrieta (8-6, 4.43 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound for Philadelphia against New York’s Noah Syndergaard (5-4, 4.56) in a battle of right-handers.
The Phillies won the series opener Friday night, when ex-Mets outfielder Jay Bruce’s tiebreaking RBI single off Diaz jump-started a five-run ninth inning that lifted Philadelphia to a 7-2 win.
The Phillies collected just four hits in the first eight innings off deGrom and Lugo. DeGrom gave up a homer to Scott Kingery on his first pitch of the game but didn’t allow another hit until Philadelphia tied the game in the seventh.
“Great team win,” Kingery told reporters afterward. “To be able to get two (runs) off deGrom and do that in the ninth is awesome. That’s what you ask for — everyone to get on and just have great at-bat after at-bat and keep the line moving.”
The win was just the ninth in the past 24 games for the Phillies, who have earned five of those wins against the Mets. Philadelphia has come from behind in each of the victories.
The symbol for the Mets’ bullpen struggles is Diaz, who racked up 57 saves last season for the Mariners before being dealt to the Mets in a blockbuster trade in which Bruce was among the players New York sent to Seattle. Bruce was dealt to the Phillies on June 2.
Diaz allowed four runs while recording just one out Friday — the third time he’s given up at least four runs while getting just one out in his past 12 appearances. It is only the second time in Mets history a reliever has endured three such outings in a single season. Raul Valdes did it in 2010.
Mets relievers have an 8.01 ERA since May 27. In that time, New York has gone 13-23 to all but fall out of playoff contention.
“Couple ground balls and then things blow up,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said of Diaz’s outing. “I thought the stuff was good, and sometimes you just get beat. But we know we have to be better.”
Arrieta won his second straight start on Sunday, when he allowed four runs over six innings as the Phillies beat the Miami Marlins 13-6.
Syndergaard returned from the injured list Sunday, when he didn’t factor into the decision after giving up three runs over 5 2/3 innings in the Mets’ 8-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves. The 26-year-old missed the previous two weeks with a hamstring injury.
Arrieta is 4-4 with a 2.85 ERA in 13 career regular-season starts against the Mets. Syndergaard is 5-3 with a 3.71 ERA in 11 starts against the Phillies.