Mets loses first place in NL East after loss to Phillies

PHILADELPHIA – The first place was fun for the Mets while it lasted, but now there is a new team to hunt in the eastern NL.

The Mets’ 90-day stay in the Division’s penthouse ended Friday night, their bats silent in a scene all too familiar for a team challenged to score points. Now they have to catch up with the Phillies, after a fifth loss in six games, 4-2 at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies, with their sixth straight victory, edged up half a game to the Mets in NL East. The Phillies last sat alone in first place on May 7, before the Mets tied them the next day.

“You don’t like it, because we’ve held our heads for so long,” Brandon Nimmo said. “But you also understand that there are still a lot of games to be played and we can also get through our hot period, so try not to worry too much. [the standings] at present. But it’s not great … we would have loved to keep [first place] for the whole season.

On Friday, the Mets went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position against Kyle Gibson and the Phillies Box. Gibson, a right-hander acquired on the trade deadline from Texas, allowed one run on four hits and four walks in six innings.

Bryce Harper virtually sealed the victory for the Phillies with a monstrous two-run homerun to cross Edwin Diaz in the eighth that buried the Mets. Diaz, who returned after a two-day absence from the team on the paternity list, had not pitched since last Saturday. Harper was rocked to chants of “MVP” from the crowd as he got around the basics.

“We know it’s a big series, we know the last series was a big series,” Nimmo said. “We’re not going to try to lose, so it sucks. It’s not fun at all.

Marcus Stroman pitched 91 shots in five innings, in which he allowed two earned runs on five hits with five strikeouts and one walk. It was an improvement from his start on Sunday against the Reds, in which he allowed four earned runs in 5 ² / ₃ of innings.

Gibson’s first major league run in a fifth single put the Mets in a 2-1 hole. Brad Miller started the round with an imposing flying ball in right field, which Michael Conforto could not reach, and he took off from the fence for a triple. The Phillies scored their first point in the second inning, on Didi Gregorius’ 10th homer of the season.

“We’re just going through a rut, hoping to keep that same confidence and get out of it,” Stroman said. “We played really well at the start of the season with a group of guys and now we’re going through that. We will have to find out soon and move in the right direction. “

After leaving the bases loaded three times Thursday, the Mets continued the trend in the fourth inning. Tomas Nido walked to charge the goals, after Conforto hit a single and Jonathan Villar hit Miller’s mistake, but that was it for the Mets in the fourth: Gibson took Stroman out on strikes and allowed Nimmo to strike in a double play at the end of the inning. Nido also had a double play late in the sixth, after Conforto hit a walkout.

“Going 1 on 8 with runners in scoring position, it leads to the result of not coming back and winning a game like this,” said manager Luis Rojas.

Dominic Smith delivered an RBI single with two strikeouts in the third that tied him 1-1. That continued a recent uptick for Smith, who extended his hitting streak to nine games (in which he hit .355 coming in).

Nimmo and Pete Alonso each walked the inning, before Smith hit a straight field single for his 49th RBI of the season.

Villar scored in the ninth against Ian Kennedy for the Mets’ final run.

“Anyone can be the spark and get us out of there,” Nimmo said. “But that’s not a one-day fix.”