It's (For Once) Sunny in Philadelphia as Mets Win, Take Series

Mets 6 Phillies 1 (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA)

Mets record: 42-58

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Nolan McLean (7-6)

LP - Alan Rangel (0-3)

Seat on the Korner: Francisco Lindor

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

Did anyone need this type of game more than Francisco Lindor? Lindor came into the game 0-8 in the series, having made errors in three consecutive games for the first time in his career. Rumors swirled that the Mets would listen to trade offers (even though Lindor has a no-trade clause) and Lindor was forced to respond to questions about whether he had lost his focus.

Well, for one game, all was forgotten. Lindor was perfect in the field, but, more important, he was on base five times: a first-inning homer, a second-inning single, an eighth-inning double and two walks.

We know that Ralph would be gentle with Lindor when talking about his troubles and focus on the positive -- and whether this is the start, finally, of Lindor breaking out from his season-long slump.

Need to Know

• The Mets earned their 13th series victory (their sixth on the road) this year and improved their record to 7-7 in rubber games.

• This was the Mets' first series win in Philadelphia since 2022.

•  The Mets are 21-30 on the road this season and have won four of their last five road games.

• Obscured by the six runs: The Mets left 15 runners on base, their most since 2021.

• It was a bad day for umpire Felix Neon, who worked home plate. The rookie arbiter -- the first MLB umpire from the Dominican Republic -- was overturned on six out of eight challenges and erroneously called a Brandon Marsh strikeout swing a foul ball (a call that cannot be challenged). Nolan McLean had to throw one more pitch to retire Marsh on a ground ball.

• The Mets travel to Milwaukee for three games against the Brewers, starting Monday. Unfortunately, fans will not have a chance to compare the principals in last off-season's key pitching move: the trade that brought Freddy Peralta to the Mets. Peralta is scheduled to take the mound for the Mets, but the Brewers moved Brandon Sproat, whom the Mets traded for Peralta, to Tuesday's game. Instead, Jacob Misiorowski and his 100 MPH express will start for the Brewers.

Turning Point

Many of us who watch the Mets on a daily basis are consistently frustrated by the team's lack of plate discipline -- wild swings at bad pitches that result in strikeouts. With relatively few exceptions, almost all of the Mets' batters suffer from this flaw. So, when one batter in the lineup works an 11-pitch walk, as Bo Bichette did in the first inning, it such a tectonic change in plate approach that good things almost have to happen. Which is exactly what occurred. Phillies starter Alan Rangel breezed by A.J. Ewing and Juan Soto on seven pitches before facing Bichette, who fouled off six consecutive pitches before earning he walk. Somewhat fatigued by the battle, Rangel missed on a curve ball to the next batter, the struggling Francisco Lindor, before serving up a four-seam fastball that Lindor hit 420 feet to right, giving the Mets a lead they never surrendered. We call the walk the turning point.

Three Keys

The Pitch

Or, more specifically, the pitcher, Nolan McLean. Six innings, two hits, 10 strikeouts, as McLean cements his place as ace of the staff. McLean has completed six or more innings in each of his last six starts -- the most since David Peterson did it from July 3 to August 6 last year. Over his last nine starts, dating back to May 31, McLean has pitched to a 2.08 ERA and has allowed two or fewer runs in eight of the nine starts.

How good has he been, comparatively? Among qualified NL pitchers, he ranks tied for fourth in opposing batting average, sixth in strikeouts and 11th in WHIP (1.12)...Among all qualified rookies in the majors, he ranks first in strikeouts, third in innings pitched, fourth in batting average against, fifth in WHIP, and ninth in ERA. Are those Rookie of the year stats?

Red Card

As in, red hot. And the Mets' two hottest hitters continued performing at the plate.

Brett Baty, who entered the game hitting .306 in July, started in right field (moving to first base later in the game) and got another hit, a second-inning single that became a run after Luis Torrens doubled. In this month, Baty has 10 runs, four doubles, two homers, six RBI, two walks and two steals.

But those numbers pale in comparison to Tyrone Taylor. He started the day on the bench but pinch hit for Jared Young in the fifth. Taylor doubled (and was picked off, second, but we'll overlook that) and walked in the eighth. Since returning from the IL, Taylor has appeared in 15 games, batting .380 (11-29) with seven runs, three doubles, four homers, four RBI, three walks. Very un-Taylor numbers, overall, but we remember from last year that he can be streaky. Let's see how long this streak lasts.

Yellow Card

Or gold, as in golden sombrero. That's Marcus Semien's day -- four strikeouts, interrupted only by a seventh inning fly ball out. Semien has played two games since coming off the IL, and he is still looking for his first hit. So for those of you who might have wondered whether Semien's awful numbers this year were the result of a season-long nagging injury that might have cleared up by some time off......it doesn't seem like it. Semien continues to disappoint, and if it weren't for the success of Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing, the masses would be even more likely to storm David Stearns' office for trading Brandon Nimmo for Semien.