Phillies take advantage of Mets miscues in 5-1 series-opening victory

Brandon Marsh paused for a beat at home plate and watched the ball. With two runners on, one out, and the Phillies leading by one run in the sixth inning Friday night, he swung at a high heater and popped it up to left field.

And then, like the looming rain, the ball dropped.

Who needs home runs when you’re playing the Mets?

The Phillies haven’t homered since last Sunday, a 36-inning span, not that anyone’s counting. But the careless Mets defense gifted them two runs in a series-opening 5-1 victory between the raindrops and before an announced crowd of 35,093 at Citizens Bank Park.

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“It was nice to take advantage of a couple mistakes by them,” said Trea Turner, who broke open the game with a two-run single in the sixth inning. “Sometimes you slug it out. Sometimes it’s small ball. We’re just playing good baseball all around and pitching good.”

Indeed, the Phillies bounced back from back-to-back losses to the division-leading Braves by winning for the 14th time in 19 games. It’s a roll that began after they got swept by the Mets, who happen to be 4-14 since those three games in New York.

Crazy, isn’t it, how much has changed in three weeks?

While the Mets — the most expensive team ever assembled, with a $370 million payroll, as calculated for the luxury tax — bumble and spiral out of contention, the Phillies are winning despite their fickle offense.

Built to mash, they are instead leaning on their pitching, notably a starting rotation that began the weekend with a 1.62 ERA since June 3. It was the lowest mark in a 17-game span for Phillies starters since May 14-31, 1964.

In that case, Taijuan Walker must be playing the role of Jim Bunning. Or maybe Zack Wheeler is Bunning and Walker is Chris Short. Regardless, Walker held the Mets to one run in six innings to improve to 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA in his last four starts.

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“The whole team’s playing well right now,” Walker said. “Offense, defense, all the starters are pitching well, the bullpen. Just as a whole, as a team, we’re just all doing our part right now.”

Imagine, then, giving the Phillies extra outs. The Mets did that, and then some, in the first inning when Kyle Schwarber’s fly ball went off the glove of center fielder Brandon Nimmo. Schwarber scored three batters later on Bryce Harper’s flare to left field. (Harper, like Marsh later, thought he was out.)

The carelessness continued in the fifth inning. Marsh, left in the game to hit against lefty reliever Josh Walker, lifted a fly ball to left field that dropped between backpedaling Francisco Lindor and oncoming Tommy Pham. Bryson Stott hustled home from third base to open a 3-1 lead.

In between the misplays, the Phillies had quality at-bats. After Nimmo’s error, Turner worked a seven-pitch walk against Mets starter Kodai Senga and wound up scoring on a sacrifice fly. After Marsh’s pop fly fell in, Schwarber walked on four pitches to set up Turner’s big hit.

“We got fortunate with the pop-up,” manager Rob Thomson said. “And then Trea gets the big hit that gives us some distance.”

Thomson was talking about the game, although he could’ve meant the standings. Nearly halfway through the season, the Phillies lead the Mets by six games.

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Quite a turnaround from three weeks ago.

“That’s what we were asking ourselves the whole first 50 games, 60 games — ‘What’s the problem? What is it? What is it? What is it?’” Turner said. “But we’re just playing better baseball. Getting leads, holding them, playing good defense, winning close games, just dong a little bit of everything. I think good teams do that.”

Walker’s reversal of fortune has paralleled the team’s.

Three weeks ago, making his first start against his former team in New York, he barely got through four innings, gave up three runs, and hiked his ERA to 5.65. In four starts since then, he has allowed two runs in 26 innings.

Other than a splitter over the plate that Nimmo tagged for a solo home run in the third inning, Walker dazzled. He overcame Pete Alonso’s leadoff double in the second and snatched Jeff McNeil’s comebacker to side-step a two-on, two-out spot in the fourth.

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Walker leaned on his splitter, as usual. But for a second start in a row, he got swings and mostly weak contact with his cutter, a pitch that has been central to Walker’s turnaround.

“Early in the counts — and really when I get behind, too — I can get some weak contact,” Walker said. “I feel like I use it to get them to put the ball in play early, but just with weak contact.”

Said Thomson: “I think it’s more effective just because there’s a little bit more juice behind it. And he’s locating it.”

As Harper walked back to the dugout after waving at a third strike in the seventh inning, he said something over his shoulder to plate umpire Mike Estabrook, who promptly ejected him. Harper left the field without further objection.

Harper’s frustration seemed to stem from two innings earlier when he quarreled with a called third strike on a pitch that looked to be low and outside.

“In general, over the course of the game, I think there were some questionable calls,” Thomson said. “[Harper] wants to perform and he wants to win, so I get it.”