Mets 6 Phillies 2 (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA)
Series status: Mets lead 1-0 in a best-of -five
WP - Reed Garrett (1-0)
LP - Jeff Hoffman (0-1)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
David Peterson probably isn't used to being "the bulk guy". But his three scoreless innings were key in backing up Kodai Senga's second start of the season and not letting Zack Wheeler getting a lead bigger than one run, helping to set up a huge Game 1 win in Philadelphia.
Need to Know
Kodai Senga made his return to the Mets after one start in the regular season. Senga, acting as a glorified opener, made it through two innings and 31 pitches before being pulled for David Peterson.
Kyle Schwarber's leadoff home run was the 21st of his career in the playoffs, and his 5th home run leading off a postseason game.
David Peterson pitched in relief of Senga and went three innings, walking three and only giving up one hit. He only struck out one, but it was a huge strikeout of Bryce Harper with a runner on second and two outs in the 5th to stop the rally and finish his day.
Reed Garrett pitched two scoreless innings to follow up Peterson's outing. No hits, no walks, one strikeout.
Zack Wheeler threw a playoff high 111 pitches which spun into 7 shutout innings, giving up one hit and four walks while striking out nine. His 30 swings and misses were the most in a playoff game in five years.
The Mets scored five runs in the 8th inning immediately following Wheeler's exit to put the game away.
All of the Mets' eight hits were singles.
Turning Point
Quite simple:
Hoffman was then followed by Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering during the Mets' five run 8th inning rally. For the purposes of this turning point, you can call all three Phillies pitchers by the same name: Not Zack Wheeler.
Absolutely huge to win a playoff game where they start their ace, and you are throwing a bullpen game (albeit with your pre-season ace and another one of your starters.) The Mets laid a stellar effort to waste just by keeping it close and striking when they had the opportunity.
Three Keys
Jeremy's Checklist
Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner had three things on his checklist that he was looking for out of Kodai Senga's return to major league action in his second start of the season:
Throwing strikes
Swings and misses on the ghost fork
96 mph on the fastball
So let's explore Senga's first inning:
Senga threw ten strikes out of 18 pitches, four on the walk to Bryce Harper.
His first pitch of the game was a swing and miss on a forkball to Schwarber. For the inning, he got two swings and misses on three forkballs. Everything else was on the sweeper/slider.
Senga reached 97 on his first fastball to Schwarber which was way out of the zone. He went back to the fastball for his third pitch and he hit 96 on the gun. Unfortunately, it came back the other way at 115.8 MPH and landed 425 feet away in fair territory.
The rest of the inning, the fastball velo dipped a bit to the 93-94 mph range, but he got out of the inning with two strikeouts and a pop up to Alec Bohm. It bought him one more inning after that, which was a 1-2-3 inning. Senga was pulled after 31 pitches, 18 of them strikes in two innings.
A good beak wetting game to prepare Senga for a possible Game 5.
Navigating The Wheeler Waters
Zack Wheeler was outstanding today.
But the only way the Phillies would have been comfortable in this game is if Wheeler went nine. Because pitchers just don't do that anymore (Wheeler ended the night with 111 pitches), the Mets were going to get a crack at the Phillies' bullpen. As good as they are, they're not Zack Wheeler.
When Wheeler left that game, the Mets knew their chances got exponentially better. It was a different vibe on that bench and you can tell from the beginning to the end of that 8th inning rally.
There have been past Mets teams that have had glass jaws. You hit them in the mouth, they go down. This team has proven in this playoff year that they're not that team. If there was ever a doubt in that locker room or on that bench, that ended when they rallied off Devin Williams on Thursday. This team doesn't care about your win probability or your past nightmares.
The Pen ... Mightier Than You Think
Of course, the Mets bullpen got the team to the point where they could dream about an 8th inning rally. After Senga's two innings, Peterson pitched three scoreless innings two days after he got the save in the clinching game in Milwaukee, and Reed Garrett got six outs to get the Mets to the post-Wheeler era.
Particular credit to Peterson, not only for doing this on a turnaround, not only for his two relief outings in three days after spending this entire season as a starter, but for his entire season. He's been the absolute biggest pleasant surprise of the season for me, and it's not close. He's pitched well all season, got better as the season went along, and is now coming up with important out after important out when the games matter most. There are plenty of indispensable players on this roster. Peterson belongs in that inner circle.
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