Previewing The Mets and Phillies’ Weekend Series
The Mets and Phillies will play their second series of the year starting on Friday (Photo by Vincent Carchietta, USA Today Sports)
After the Mets and Phillies began their June wrapping up a series at Citi Field, the two teams will meet again at Citizens Bank Park. As the two teams get together again, the two teams have been in opposite directions since their last meeting.
The Mets swept the Phillies aside in their last meeting, coming away with three victories. However, since then, the Mets have entered a tailspin and only won four games in 17 contests. Its been a barrage of inconsistencies in this run as the offense struggles when the pitching performs, but the pitching falls apart when the offense turns it on.
Their recent series saw them lose two of three to Houston. Despite a dominant performance by Max Scherzer in game one, Justin Verlander couldn’t outduel Framber Valdez in game two, while their pitching couldn’t contain the Astros in a 10-8 loss on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the Phillies have surged back into the thick of the postseason hunt, going 13-5 in 18 games since then. Notable performances include series wins over the Dodgers and Diamondbacks, as well as sweeps of the Tigers and Athletics. They still sit three games out of a Wild Card berth but enter the series 7-3 in their last 10.
The Phillies’ last series saw them lose a pair to the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves. The Braves struggled early in game one, but got their act together late in a 4-2 victory on Tuesday. Thursday’s game was a pitchers duel, as both teams kept their opposites scoreless through nine innings. It was only in the 10th when the Braves put the game out of reach, scoring five off Yunior Marte in a 5-1 loss.
Following his 8th inning performance against the Astros, Max Scherzer will round out the series for the Mets on Sunday (Photo by Frank Franklin II, Associated Press)
The two teams will use the back ends of their rotations to open the series. The opener on Friday features Kodai Senga against Taijuan Walker, and Saturday pits Carlos Carrasco against Cristopher Sanchez. However, Sunday features a marquee matchup of Scherzer against Zack Wheeler.
Coming into the series, the Mets’ hottest hitters are the unlikeliest candidates. Tommy Pham and Daniel Vogelbach have stepped up recently, hitting .370 and .292 in their last seven games respectively. Vogelbach particularly had a strong series in Houston with a homer and six RBIs.
Kyle Schwarber, a notorious Met killer, has started to hit for higher average recently, a promising sign for the Phillies (Photo by Brad Penner, USA Today Sports)
For Philadelphia, their key offensive pieces have remained hot. Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, and Brandon Marsh are each hitting over .300 in the past seven, but Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott have stood out. Schwarber has begun to hit for higher average, hitting .267 with a pair of homers in his past seven, while Stott boasts another two home runs with a .300 average.
With the Mets and Phillies trending in opposite directions, it could be the Mets’ last stand. If the Phillies continue to pull away, the Mets might not be able to recover in the standings. However, a strong showing could help the Mets hang around and, possibly, get them back on track.
