While it was refreshing to see the Mets snag four games in a row, they couldn’t come through with a sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies, losing by a count of 3-2 this afternoon.
Nonetheless, the Mets stay out of the NL East dumpster and still can claim a series win against Philadelphia heading into a last place series against the Miami Marlins this weekend.
The Mets have been beneficiaries of some solid starting pitching over the last week. Jon Niese had to go out there today and follow up on another terrific Matt Harvey gem.
Niese didn’t flaunt his best stuff today. Granted he was coming off a case of the flu and most likely wasn’t at full strength, he wasn’t awful.
The Phillies pestered him for nine hits and scored three times over six innings. But that was it. Ramon Ramirez looked in relief. Robert Carson pitched a scoreless inning, giving us all hope that the Mets could have a pair of homegrown lefty relievers in him and Josh Edgin for the first time in what seems like forever.
It was an okay day off the mound for the Mets, but it was the offense that couldn’t get a handle on Kyle Kendrick outside of solo shots from Scott Hairston and Mike Baxter.
The silver lining of today’s loss is that the Mets are up 10-5 in the season series against Philadelphia. Going forward, the Mets need to continue to get a handle on their in-division rivals progressing upwards in the standings.
Tomorrow brings another matchup with the Miami Marlins on the road for the Mets. The series will be a matter of avoiding the cellar, where the Marlins currently dwell.
