Mets jump on José Alvarado in seventh inning of Phillies’ 6-4 loss
Alvarado allowed three runs in the seventh as the Phillies' bats on offense went cold after the fourth inning.
José Alvarado thought the inning was over.
The Mets had already scored one run against the Phillies reliever to break the 3-3 tie in the seventh, and threatened for more with two runners on. But Marcus Semien fouled a cutter back into J.T. Realmuto’s glove for what Alvarado thought was an inning-ending strikeout, and he started to walk off the mound.
Home plate umpire Brian Walsh checked the ball and found a dirt mark on it, proving that it had touched the ground before entering Realmuto’s glove. It gave the Mets second baseman a new life. And Semien made the most of it, sending Alvarado’s next pitch to the center field wall, above a jumping Justin Crawford.
“It ends up being the right call,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Not a call I like, but the right call.”
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What was nearly an inning-ending strikeout instead became a bases-clearing triple, putting the Mets ahead to beat the Phillies, 6-4, in Thursday’s series opener. Alvarado, whose season ERA has risen to 6.58, was charged with the loss.
Alvarado had nearly been out of the inning even before that. He had allowed a leadoff single to start the seventh inning, but battled back to induce a lineout and pop out, respectively, from Bo Bichette and Juan Soto, who had been the Mets’ most dangerous hitter all night. He then brought pinch-hitting Mark Vientos to a 1-2 count.
But Alvarado lost his command, throwing three straight cutters in the dirt to walk Vientos. He allowed another pinch-hitter to reach when Eric Wagaman singled, bringing up Semien.
“Hitters feel confident that they can hit against me right now,” Alvarado said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “It seems like 100 miles an hour is something they see a lot at this level. It’s not surprising anymore. They’re just hitting well against me right now.”
All three hits Alvarado gave up on Thursday came on his sinker. Hitters are averaging .333 against the pitch this year, and .268 on his cutter.
After the Phillies optioned fellow lefty Tanner Banks earlier on Thursday, it is more crucial that Alvarado turns his season around. Alvarado and Tim Mayza are currently the Phillies’ only left-handed options on the roster, though Kyle Backhus (left elbow inflammation) is progressing on his rehab assignment and is nearing a return.
“We’re a nick away from catching strike three, just touches the ground. So we just keep paying attention to him,” Mattingly said of Alvarado. “But, I mean, the ball’s coming out, it’s not like he’s down in velo or anything like that. Just got to get the ball to the right spots.”
It didn’t help that the Phillies’ bats went cold after the fourth inning. After the Mets jumped out to an early lead against starter Aaron Nola, courtesy of a pair of solo homers from Soto and an RBI double A.J. Ewing hit over Brandon Marsh’s head in right field, the Phillies chipped away to tie it in the fourth.
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Trea Turner was hit by a sweeper in the leg in the bottom of the first, and he scored on a single from Alec Bohm. Turner was later taken out of the game with a bruised right calf.
“He said he had trouble on defense, felt like he was a liability on defense, so he couldn’t really move,” Mattingly said, adding that he hoped the day off Friday would help Turner be ready for Saturday night’s game.
Bohm delivered another RBI in the third, doubling to drive in Kyle Schwarber and cut the Mets’ lead to 3-2. The Phillies’ designated hitter had reached first on a dropped third strike from Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez, and advanced to second when Alvarez botched the throw to first.
In the fourth, Derek Hill tied the game at 3, singling up the middle to drive in Bryson Stott. But that proved to be the Phillies’ final hit until the ninth inning, as the bats fell mostly silent against the Mets bullpen.
Nola allowed seven hits, but he limited the Mets to three runs to keep his team within striking distance. Seth Johnson and Bryse Wilson, who both had been recalled earlier on Thursday, each appeared in relief. Johnson retired the side in order in the sixth with a pair of strikeouts on his 99-mph fastball, while Wilson pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth after the Mets took the lead against Alvarado.
“Seth was good tonight,” Mattingly said. “He’s been throwing the ball good in triple A, one of the best relievers in triple A baseball. So stuff was good, threw in the strike zone, attacked, so it was good.”
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Down to their final out in the ninth, the offense showed a little life. Gabriel Rincones Jr., pinch-hitting for Hill, delivered the Phillies’ first hit since the fourth on an infield single to Bichette. Crawford followed it up with an RBI single to bring up Schwarber, representing the winning run with two on base.
Schwarber worked a 2-2 count against Devin Williams, and hit a sharp liner, 104.6 mph off the bat, but it was straight at right fielder Brett Baty for the final out.
Say this for the Phillies: They are what we thought they were, a playoff contender led by two aces atop the starting rotation and a dominant closer. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham joins "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the Phillies' pitching, from the success of Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler to the struggles of Andrew Painter. Watch here.
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