USATSI_18813348 — © Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports

Wheels Fall Off as Philadelphia Phillies Drop Rubber Match to Mets

Zack Wheeler and the Philadelphia Phillies were served a sour loss by the New York Mets in their series finale.

Author:
Alex Carr
Aug 14, 2022 5:09 PM EDT

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Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies didn't play their cleanest baseball on Sunday afternoon. After the series began with such promise, Philadelphia dropped the rubber match to their division rival New York Mets, 6-0.

There wasn't a lot going for Philadelphia in this one. Zack Wheeler took to the mound against his former club but began shakily, allowing a leadoff double to Brandon Nimmo, who would eventually come around to score on a bloop single off the bat of Francisco Lindor.

That single, which left the bat at 66.3 mph, would set the tone for the remainder of the game. The Mets, aided by some lacking Phillies' defense, blooped their way to four runs in the fourth inning, and blasted another on a solo home run by Daniel Vogelbach in the sixth.

Meanwhile, the Phillies couldn't seem to figure out the whole scoring runs thing. They began both the fourth and fifth innings with two runners on base and no outs, and failed to convert on both occasions. It was only fitting that the ninth inning both began and ended in that exact same fashion to seal the Phillies' fate.

Down two of their best bats, a Phillies' offense which had been so potent over the last few weeks, fell flat for the majority of this series in New York. They were held scoreless across their last 18 innings. The excuse can be made that they faced two future Hall of Famers in Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, but the offense came up empty once again against Chris Bassitt on Sunday.

Still, for two of three games, this series was about as close to a playoff picture as you'll see during the regular season. Phillies pitching went toe-to-toe with two of the best in the game, and they played solid fundamental baseball before falling apart in the finale.

They'll head to Cincinnati next, where they'll take on Nick Castellanos' former club, and hope to re-spark the special feeling that they've found of late.