Mets Hang on to Beat Phillies 6-5, Take Series

The Mets held on to beat the Phillies on Sunday to take the rubber game of the three-game series as well as avoid falling into last place in the National League East.

The Phillies got on the board in the fourth via a Jimmy Rollins single and Ryan Howard double.

The Mets staged a two-out rally in the fifth to take the lead. Juan Lagares singled, stole second and came around on a double by Matt den Dekker. David Wright followed with his first big hit in recent memory, singling up the middle to score den Dekker and give the Mets a 2-1 lead.

But it was Howard again in the top of the sixth with a solo home run to tie the game at two. With runners on first and third with two outs Lagares made a running basket catch to keep the game tied. He seems to pull off spectacular catches on a daily basis.

Flores led off the sixth with a single; he had three hits on the day. Herrera walked with one out and then Recker came through with the big blow, a three-run homer into the seats in left to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.

Curtis Granderson was on deck to pinch hit for Dillon Gee in the sixth, but after Recker’s homer, Gee stayed in the game. Bad idea because Gee was already at 91 pitches — his danger zone. Predictably, he walked leadoff batter Freddy Galvis on four pitches in the seventh. But Terry Collins has finally learned and pulled Gee then and there. However, Dana Eveland was no better. He allowed a single to Ben Revere to put runners on first and second. Jimmy Rollins then singled to right. Galvis scored on a close play at home to make it a 5-3 game. Plus, Recker dropped the ball and the runners advanced to second and third on the error. Eveland then settled down, getting Chase Utley on a pop up for the first out. Eveland then struck out Howard for out number two and fanned Grady Sizemore to end the inning.

Gee went six innings, allowing three runs on seven hits. He walked three and struck out seven. It was the second solid start for the struggling Gee, so maybe we can stop calling him “the struggling Gee.”

Domonic Brown hit a solo home run in the top of the eighth to cut the Mets lead to 5-4.

The Mets added a big insurance run in the bottom of the inning. Kirk Nieuwenhuis doubled, stole third and then Herrera singled through the drawn in infield. Herrera’s first major league RBI made it 6-4.

Jenrry Mejia came on for the ninth. He allowed a leadoff single to Rollins and then hit Utley to put runners on first and second with no outs. Howard hit a grounder into the shift. Herrera threw to second for the force and Flores was able to fire to first to complete the huge double play. With Rollins on third and two outs Sizemore singled to right to make it a 6-5 game. Then came Brown, who already had four hits in the game. He grounded out to end the game.

Mets win 6-5.