Paging Von Hayes: Mets doomed by Schwarber, Harper, 8 run 3rd in Freddy Peralta's worst start ever

Phillies 15 Mets 3 (Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA)

Mets record: 34-42

Mets streak: Lost 1

WP - Christopher Sanchez (9-3)

LP - Freddy Peralta (5-6)

Seats on the Korner: Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper

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.

Kyle Schwarber's two home runs in the third inning sandwiched an 8 run third inning which sent Freddy Peralta to the showers early and sent the Phillies to a rocking chair win. Schwarber also added a third home run in the 7th off of Tobias Myers, so he deserves to have a seat next to Ralph tonight.

But so does Bryce Harper ...

Bryce had a cycle before the 5th inning ended. You could say that the scoring on the triple was generous at best, but Harper's production in five innings matches the production of some Mets over the span of two weeks, so who am I to quibble over hometown scoring? Scoot over Kyle, Ralph would like to ask Bryce some questions as well.

Need to Know

• Freddy Peralta lasted just 2 and 2/3's innings, giving up ten runs on ten hits and a walk, giving up two home runs and striking out two. It included an 8 run third inning in which Peralta gave up 7 of his 10 runs. This was the first time that Freddy Peralta gave up at least 8 earned runs in a major league game.

• Bryce Harper's home run in the first inning was his 16th of the year and his third homer off Freddy Peralta in 15 at-bats.

• Kyle Schwarber's first home run of the third inning was his third off of Peralta in 17 at-bats.

• This was Kyle Schwarber's second three home run game against the Mets in his career, the first one coming as a member of the Washington Nationals on June 20th, 2021. That was on the back end of a stretch where he hit five homers against the Mets in a span of two games.

• Both Schwarber and Harper would wind up 4-for-5 on the night, with Schwarber driving in 6 on his 3 home runs, and Harper driving in 3 runs on the strength of his cycle.

• This was only the second time that teammates teamed up for a 3 homer game and a cycle in history. The first time it happened was also in Philadelphia, where Tony Lazzeri and Lou Gehrig performed the feat against the Athletics in 1932.

• Overshadowed by his offense, Christopher Sanchez pitched very well, giving up a run on five hits and a walk in six innings while striking out five.

• The only Mets pitcher to throw a clean outing tonight? Zack Short (shortstop) with a 1-2-3 9th.

• Bryce Harper's cycle was the first cycle in his career in 1,861 career games, and the first Phillies cycle since Weston Wilson in 2024.

Turning Point

Can you have a turning point in a 15-3 game? I guess this play makes a little less of a difference if Schwarber and Harper were going to go all Lazzeri and Gehrig on the Mets anyway. But in the 2nd inning with the score at the distant memory of 1-0, Luis Torrens hit a shot that might have made it 2-1 if it was a couple of more feet towards the middle, or if we were in some sort of alternate universe where flowers smelled better, liver tasted like cotton candy, and there were no such things as hurricanes, famine, or pedicabs on 6th avenue.

But we all know what universe we live in.

Three Keys

Inventing Words

John Smoltz was really trying to be nice when the Mets were down 7-0 and he came up with "you'd really like to see what this team can do completely healthy."

The sentiment is appreciated, John. But Freddy Peralta, as far as I know, is completely healthy (until that IL stint for "arm fatigue" which might be coming as bad as this game was.) I know Smoltz was talking in the more general sense, but even in the general sense Peralta was headed for a start that was his usual "mid" start. He threw pitches in the first inning when he only gave up one run. He threw 32 pitches when he gave up two pitches. Even in the best-case scenario, he shuts the Phillies down the rest of the way and is lifted after 5 innings down 3-0. That would have been a typical Freddy Peralta start, and that's not sustainable.

Of course, that's not what happened, as Peralta just got absolutely bollywhocked in the third.

How bad was Peralta? He never gave up 8 earned runs in a game, ever. He hadn't given up 7 runs earned or unearned in three years. And he forced me to invent the word "bollywhocked", because every other word I could think of would be slightly inappropriate.

I Hate You Guys, Especially You Kyle

This was the first time in the Statcast era that a player hit two home runs in an inning that traveled over 900 feet. The one above to start the 3rd was 456 feet. The one below to cap off the scoring in third ...

... 457 feet.

And here's his third for good measure (no pun intended) ...

I love how afterwards; Joe Davis tried to give us "the only question was whether that ball would be too high."

To paraphrase the great Harry Doyle: "Who cares? It's gone!"

A Cherry on Top of the Sundae of Sadness

Hey, Carson Benge hit a home run! It was his 8th home run of the season, and it went 420 feet!

Too bad it made the score 13-3, but it's nice to see the young man keep his concentration amongst the haze of failure. But just a reminder that sprinkles are for winners, Carson.