Mets split London Series with Phillies: What we learned as wild double play caps hectic ninth inning

For the first time, the New York Mets were the beneficiaries of a ninth-inning collapse. The Mets scored three runs in the ninth inning against Philadelphia Phillies closer José Alvarado on Sunday to earn a split in the two-game London Series (NYM 6, PHI 5). The Phillies won Saturday’s game 7-2. MLB’s 2024 international roster is over and both teams now head back across the pond.

The Mets have had major problems with the bullpen lately — they’ve lost six games while taking a ninth-inning lead since May 1 — but they were on the right side of a losing defense on Sunday. It wasn’t an easy ending, of course. The Phillies loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Nick Castellanos hit a game-ending 2-3 double play. Check out:

Incredible play by catcher Luis Torrens. The 2-3 double play is already extremely rare. To do it there, on that stage and against that opponent, was a truly magnificent end to the London Series.

Sunday’s win improved New York’s record to 28-36. Earlier in the day Mets owner Steve Cohen said he is not focused on selling at the trade deadline, and wants the team to stand out in the standings and compete for a wild card spot. Sunday was a step in that direction. The Phillies still have the best record in baseball at 45-20 despite the loss.

Here’s what you need to know about Sunday’s London Series final.

Walker kept the Mets guessing

The Phillies have had the best rotation in baseball this year – their starters lead all teams with 12.5 WAR, far ahead of the second-place Red Sox with 9.0 WAR – and Taijuan Walker has been the only weak point. He entered Sunday’s game with a 5.73 ERA in seven starts since returning from a shoulder injury. Every other Phillies starter has a 2.31 ERA.

However, it was impossible to tell that Walker was having a difficult season in London. He held the Mets to two singles and one walk in 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball. Both runs scored when Walker was out of the game – reliever Gregory Soto inherited two runners from Walker in the sixth inning and allowed both to score, plus a runner of his own to tie the game at 3-3.

Walker struck out five batters on Sunday, all looking, and mixed his pitches exceptionally well. He kept the Mets guessing all game long. Here’s the breakdown of Walker’s pitch usage (79 pitches total):

There is such a thing as throwing too many different pitches. You don’t want to get beat on the fifth or sixth best pitch, you know? However, this is not unusual for Walker. He entered Sunday throwing all six pitches at least 8% of the time, and five pitches at least 14% of the time. The difference between Walker’s first seven starts and Sunday was execution. He located it very well.

Philadelphia’s offense and the rest of the rotation are so good that they can live with Walker being a below-average veteran at No. 5. He was more than that on Sunday. Getting anything close to this Walker moving forward would elevate an already excellent rotation.

The base of the Phillies’ order had a great game

Alec Bohm opened Sunday’s scoring with a run-scoring double play in the first inning, and the Phillies scored the fourth thanks to the bottom of the order. Castellanos, the No. 5 hitter, beat out an infield single, then No. 6 hitter Edmundo Sosa doubled into the gap and No. 7 hitter Whit Merrifield hit an RBI single to give Philadelphia a 3-0 lead.

The Mets came back to tie the game with three runs in the sixth inning, two on JD Martinez’s single. In the bottom of the seventh, the Phillies regained the lead and again found themselves at the bottom of the order. Rojas ninth-hitter David Dahl hit a solo home run off right-hander Dedniel Núñez. That gave Philadelphia the 4-3 lead they took in the ninth.

Dahl is 4-for-6 with a double and two home runs since being called up to replace the injured Brandon Marsh last week. He was hitting .340 with 12 home runs at Triple-A. Including Dahl’s appearance, Philadelphia’s 6-7-8-9 hitters went 5-for-15 with three runs scored and three runs driven in on Sunday.

Unfortunately, the No. 5 hitter hit a double play late in the game, so the bottom of the order didn’t get a chance to play hero again in the ninth inning.

Alvarado melted

New York’s three-run tying rally in the sixth inning happened quickly. Walker, uh, walked Pete Alonso on four pitches to put runners on first and second with two outs, then Soto allowed an RBI single to Brandon Nimmo on a 2-1 count and a game-tying two-run single to Martinez on the first pitch. From a 3-0 lead to a five-shot tie.

After Dahl’s home run, the Phillies took a 4-3 lead to their best in the ninth inning, and Alvarado fell apart. The Mets tied the game on a walk (Tyrone Taylor), a single (Jeff McNeil) and an RBI fielding single (Mark Vientos). Bohm couldn’t catch it with his bare hand, although the ball was hit so weakly that he couldn’t play it at home and probably didn’t at first either.

Another walk followed, then the Mets took the lead when Alvarado hit Alonso in the thigh with a 2-2 pitch to force in a run. He was one pitch away from a strikeout and second out of the inning. Instead, the hit by pitch forced a run. The Mets added an insurance run on a passed ball by JT Realmuto. New York scored three runs in the ninth with a ball sailing out of the infield.

The bullpen never makes things easy for Mets fans and Reed Garrett and Drew Smith made a mess of it in the ninth – Smith walked Bohm with the bases loaded to force in a run – before Torrens turned in that incredible 2-3 double play. The Mets blew a lot of ninth-inning leads this year, but they also had four wins when they trailed in the ninth inning, the most in baseball. Sunday was the biggest of them.

This was the lowest scoring London Series

This was the third London Series and they have been getting lower and lower scores. The Red Sox and Yankees played arena baseball in 2019. These games were chaotic. The Cardinals and Cubs played much more normal games last summer, and that has continued with the Mets and Phillies this year. Here are the tallies from the London Series (all two-game series):

Saturday’s nine runs were the fewest ever in a London Series game.

Next

The MLB international roster for the 2024 season is complete. The Dodgers and Padres split the two-game Seoul Series in March, the Astros beat the Rockies in the two-game Mexico City Series in April, and now the Mets and Phillies have split the London Series. Both teams travel back to the United States immediately after Sunday’s game and will have Monday off. The Phillies begin a three-game series with the Red Sox in Boston on Tuesday. The Mets return home and begin a three-game series with the Marlins that day.