Juan Soto rounded the bases because the lights flickered and the followers roared. Lastly, he had hit a house run in his new house ballpark.
Or so it appeared.
Soto’s monstrous three-run shot to the second deck in proper subject off Aaron Nola was known as again after a evaluation. On the final second, the ball had hooked foul.
The Mets have been already up 2-0 and went on to win 5-4, due to a three-run homer by Francisco Lindor within the seventh inning — his second of the sport, third in two days and his fourth since Friday.
It was the primary assembly between the 2 NL East rivals for the reason that Mets (16-7) eradicated the Phillies (13-10) from the playoffs in 5 video games of the Division Sequence final fall, and the primary assembly between the 2 with Soto carrying blue and orange. However the Mets depend on the depth of their lineup as a substitute of 1 hitter.
“I give credit to everybody,” Lindor mentioned. “I watch everyone and just try to pass the baton, like I’ve been saying all along. One of the best hitters in the game behind me, so just let them do their job. I just try to focus on my process, and then I pass it to them.”
They used three homers and a 10-strikeout, shutout efficiency from Tylor Megill to win their fifth straight and tenth recreation at house in 11 tries. Megill matched his career-high mark with 10 strikeouts and now has a 1.09 ERA in 5 begins.
The large righty avenged an October playoff loss to Philadelphia with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, with the Phillies managing just one hit. They’d possibilities towards him with 4 walks and one hit batter, however Megill (3-2) deftly navigated the one jam he discovered himself in.
With the bases loaded and two out within the third, struck out cleanup Kyle Schwarber, getting him to swing and miss on two straight changeups after night the rely at 1-1.
“He knows his stuff is good, especially when he’s in the strike zone,” mentioned supervisor Carlos Mendoza. “We saw it today. Every time he was in the strike zone, he got swings and misses, especially with the fastball today. The fastball-sinker combination today, it had life or hop, [whatever] you want to call it. I just feel like now he knows that when he’s in the strike zone, stuff plays.”
Megill was changed by right-hander Reed Garrett with one on and one out within the sixth. Garrett was already heat by the point he walked Bryce Harper to guide off the inning. The free passes put a dent in his pitch rely, however the Mets have been prepared. Nick Castellanos popped out to the catcher for the second out, and after Max Kepler singled up the middle to place two on, Garrett struck out J.T. Realmuto to finish the menace.
“It wasn’t an easy decision there,” Mendoza mentioned. “But once I got Reed Garrett hot, I was just like, ‘OK, I’m going to pull the trigger.’”
Lindor homered off Nola within the backside of the primary. The primary at-bat of the sport for the house staff, it set the tone for the remainder of the evening. Jesse Winker (2-for-3) led off the underside of the second along with his first of the season, additionally off Nola (0-5), who was charged with 4 earned runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
The Mets stranded two within the sixth, however didn’t miss within the seventh. Nola received the primary out however then put the subsequent two on, forcing the Phillies to go to the bullpen for right-hander Jose Ruiz. Tyrone Taylor narrowly beat out a double play to place runners on the corners.
With two outs and two strikes (1-2), Ruiz threw Lindor a 95 MPH four-seam fastball proper over the center of the plate. Lindor ripped it 412 toes to the middle subject bleachers. The shortstop is now one in every of solely three shortstops to have hit two or extra homers in a recreation 20 occasions, becoming a member of Alex Rodriguez (33) and Ernie Banks (24).
“Lindor doesn’t get to that if Tyrone Taylor doesn’t bust down the line and beat the double play,” Mendoza mentioned. “It’s a team effort, but Lindor is locked in right now.”
The Phillies rallied within the ninth, with Max Kranick permitting a run on three straight hits after two scoreless innings. Mendoza mentioned he knew they have been asking a number of Kranick, and as soon as it turned clear that he didn’t have his identical command, he received nearer Edwin Diaz up within the bullpen.
Diaz then got here in and served up a three-run homer to Bryson Stott with one out, however struck out Trea Turner and Bryce Harper for the save (six).
“He continued to get the job done,” Mendoza mentioned.
Soto has confronted criticism from followers and radio hosts alike over his “slow” begin to the season. Undoubtedly, a house run would have endeared himself to simply about each fan in Flushing had he homered towards the Phillies. However sluggish is a relative time period for Soto. Among the best hitters within the recreation, Soto may have a lot extra possibilities to doom the NL East groups within the subsequent 15 years.
Initially Printed: April 21, 2025 at 9:59 PM EDT
