“Heartbreak loss for Philly? Who cares!!!” - New York Mets fans pile on trash talk as club sweeps Philadelphia Phillies in walk-off fashion
With the National League East standings starting to take shape, the New York Mets are proving time and again that they are the team to beat in that division. The Mets are comfortable in first place now with a record of 32-17 and have a commanding 8.5-game lead over their second-place challenger, the Atlanta Braves.
"Brought out the brooms in dramatic fashion!" - @ New York Mets
The reason they have been so good is their dominance against their division rivals. Last night, the Philadelphia Phillies were in town to finish up the three-game weekend series at Citi Field. After a series loss to the San Francisco Giants at the end of last week, Mets fans were eager to draw blood and go for the series sweep.
New York Mets fans take to Twitter to celebrate walk-off hit, lose no love for bitter rival Phillies
Despite being the third best team in baseball, the Mets had not yet swept a series this season. Starting on the mound last night for the Mets was right-hander Chris Bassitt.
"The booth: 'And a heartbreaking loss for the Philadelphia Phillies.'” - @ TomHoefWrites
With Max Scherzer on the injured list for the next six to eight weeks, Bassitt is a crucial member of the staff now more than ever. Bassit went into this game with a 4-2 and an ERA of just under 4.
"y'all's thoughts on the Phillies choking to the Mets AGAIN?" - @ NTMAJB2001
The New York Mets got off to a flying start. By the end of the first inning, they led the game 3-0. This was thanks to three RBI ground-outs by Francisco Lindor, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar.
"Our first sweep let’s goooo" - @ Ruppich
Bassitt did a good job of holding the Phillies bats at bay. He threw 100 pitches over six innings, limiting the Phillies to just one run and striking out seven. By the eighth inning, the Mets were up 3-1 and thinking about closing this one out.
"Heartbreak loss for Philly??!! Who cares !!!!" - @ bates
The optimism was short-lived as Nick Castellanos did what he does best and tattooed a 0-2 fastball by Mets reliever Adam Ottavino deep to left center field, giving the Phillies the lead late in the game.
"@Mets Go Mets! Always great to beat Philly" - @ NancyK
But Mets fans at Citi Field knew better than to give up on the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Phillies closer Corey Knebel was looking to earn the save when Mets outfielder Nick Plummer launched a solo bomb off him to tie the game.
The game would remain locked at 4-4 until the following inning. After walking Pete Alonso, Knebel was still on the mound as Eduardo Escobar stepped up to the plate. Escobar came out firing on a first-pitch knuckle-swerve that he pumped down the foul line, scoring Starling Marte from second and giving the Mets the lead.
Mets fans, known for their passion, celebrated the sweep and missed no opportunity to deride their bitter division rivals.