On Friday, Kyle Schwarber drew three walks, stole a base and threw a runner out on the basepaths against the Mets and the New Yorkers were very happy about that. At least he wasn’t pounding them the way he normally does when he faces Mets’ pitching. On Saturday, the Mets were remembered just why they don’t like Schwarber very much. Last season, Schwarber had four multi-homer games against New York and Saturday, he blasted a two-run shot that pulled the Phillies from a one-run deficit to a one-run lead late in the game. In his career, Schwarber is a lifetime .305 hitter against New York with 14 home runs and 29 RBI in 35 games. In 24 of those games, Schwarber’s team has been on the winning side of the ledger.

RHE
Philadelphia461
NY Mets141

LATE ARRIVAL… After being no-hit Friday, the Phillies offense took a little while to get themselves going Saturday, but they did finally break out of their slumber… Nick Castellanos got the first hit for the Phils in the second inning when he singled and then was promptly picked off by Taijuan Walker… Schwarber’s HR came in the seventh off Adam Ottavino with a runner on to put the Phils up 2-1. Rhys Hoskins snapped an 0-for-16 slide with a solo home run to lead off the eighth inning… Odubel Herrera had two doubles and an RBI in the game and is now batting .389 (7-for-18) since being activated from the IL.

HR: PHIL – Schwarber (5), Hoskins (2); NYM – none

GRITTY GIBSON… To say that Kyle Gibson did not have his best stuff wouldn’t tell the whole story. He lasted just 4 1/3 innings and had to fight through just about every batter he faced. Gibson needed 84 pitches to get through the outing and walked five batters, but limited the damage against him to just one unearned run. The bad news was that the unearned run scored on his error when he made an errant throw to second on a custom made double-play ball and sailed the toss into center field… Lefty Jose Alvarado stared down a bases-loaded one out jam in the fifth in relief of Gibson and got two strikeouts to work out of trouble… James Norwood, Seranthony Dominguez, Jeurys Familia and Corey Familia combined to shutout the Mets on two hits and three walks over the final four innings.

WP: Norwood (1-0, 2.84), LP: Ottavino (1-1, 4.70), SV: Knebel (4, 0.96)

PHIL-INS… Phillies relievers inherited six runners and none of them reached the plate… Alec Bohm famously had three errors against the Mets earlier this season, but he turned in a run-saving play against them Saturday when he dove to his right to prevent a ball from going down the line. The play kept runner Eduardo Escobar at third rather than allowing him to score and Escobar finished the inning stranded at third… The Mets were just 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and left 13 runners on base in the game.

COMING ATTRACTIONS… The series wraps up with the Phillies (11-11, 4.0 GB, third in NL East) playing in their second straight Sunday night game. Last week they played the Brewers and tonight, the Phillies and Mets (15-7, 0 GB, 1st in NL East) will be the nationally televised game. Zach Eflin (1-1, 3.20) faces fellow righty Max Scherzer (3-0, 1.80) to finish up the series. The Phillies are off Monday and then host the Texas Rangers on Tuesday.

FARM NEWS… Lehigh Valley had just three hits, but drew nine walks in a 2-0 win against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre (NY Yankees). John Andreoli had a two-run single in the eighth for LV and seven IronPigs relievers allowed just three hits and three walks in the win… Logan O’Hoppe (2), Vito Friscia (4) and Aldrem Corredor (1) all homered for Reading in an 8-0 win for the Fightins. Five Reading pitchers held the Fisher Cats to five hits and four walks, while striking out 10 in the shutout… Mick Abel (1-2, 3.86) allowed two runs – one earned – in three innings as Aberdeen beat Jersey Shore 6-4. Righty Carlo Reyes (0-1, 10.80) took the loss when he was punched for four earned runs in 2/3 of an inning… The doubleheader between Clearwater and Fort Myers was rained out Saturday. The teams will make up both games during an upcoming series in Clearwater and will play a single game on Sunday. Adam Painter (0-1, 0.00) has allowed just one run in 12 innings and it was unearned. He has given up just four hits and walked three while striking out 30 batters to put his season WHIP at 0.58 and his opponents against batting average at .100 in three starts.