NEW YORK — Noah Syndergaard’s throat probably closed up a little bit more when he saw how the Phillies treated his replacement on Saturday night.
Third baseman Maikel Franco’s three-run home run to left field and starting pitcher Alec Asher’s two-run single to center chased spot starter Sean Gilmartin after just 2/3 of an inning in the Phillies’ 10-8 win over the Mets. Syndergaard, the Mets’ last ace standing, had been scratched from the start earlier in the week due to strep throat.
Despite a long string of shaky moments from the bullpen, the Phillies were able to make the 10-0 lead they built in the first four innings stick.
The Mets’ grip on the first wild card spot in the NL loosened. The Cardinals defeated the Cubs, 10-3 to pull into a tie — for the moment — with the Giants for the second wild card spot, a half-game behind the Mets.
The Giants were a full game behind the Mets for the first wild card spot entering Saturday. They had a 6-5 lead over the Padres when the Mets’ game concluded.
The Phillies improved to 70-85. They scored at least 10 runs in a game for the sixth time this season and finished with 17 hits, tying their season high.
Starting pitching report
Asher was effective at first and displayed excellent command of his two-seam fastball as he retired the first nine Mets hitters he faced. He was touched up for four unearned runs in his fifth and final inning on two errors, two singles, a double and a sacrifice fly.
With a runner on third and two outs, Asher quelled the rally by inducing a groundout from pinch-hitter James Loney to first baseman Tommy Joseph. His night ended after just 76 pitches.
The runs Asher knocked in on his single were the first two runs batted in of his young career.
Gilmartin walked three batters, surrendered four hits and was booed off the mound by a full house of Mets fans.
Bullpen report
Joely Rodriguez entered in the sixth inning and quickly worked himself into trouble. He gave up two runs on a Gavin Cecchini double — his first major league hit — and T.J. Rivera single. Rodriguez survived a two-out, runners-on-the-corners jam by striking out Brandon Nimmo swinging with a slider in the dirt.
David Hernandez pitched a scoreless seventh. He erased a leadoff single by eliciting a 4-6-3 double play ground ball from Eric Campbell.
Hector Neris struck out his 100th batter of the season but walked two batters and gave up an RBI double to Cecchini that brought the remaining Mets fans to life. With the tying run at the plate, he got Rivera and Nimmo to fly out.
Given first crack at temporarily supplanting Jeanmar Gomez in the closer role, Michael Mariot gave up a solo home run to Jay Bruce to bring the Mets within two runs and then walked Campbell and Michael Conforto to bring the winning run to the plate. He got Lucas Duda to pop out and then got Travis D’Arnaud to ground out.
At the plate
Cesar Hernandez extended his streak of reaching base safely to 29 consecutive contests when he walked to lead off the game.
After going over a month without a home run, Maikel Franco has now homered in three consecutive games.
Darin Ruf homered for the second consecutive game, demolishing a Rafael Montero offering to center in the fourth to score three runs.
Joseph had two RBIs on a single and a groundout to short.
In the field
Franco threw a potential around-the-horn double play ball into center field in the fifth, allowing the Mets’ first run to score.
Shortstop Freddy Galvis handled a rundown with Jose Reyes perfectly to complete a 3-6-1 double play in the fourth but also bobbled a ground ball in the fifth for an error.
Health check
Tyler Goeddel sat as he continues to recuperate from a concussion he suffered on Wednesday.
Up next
The Phillies will round out their four-game swing at Citi Field at 1:10 PM on Sunday. Jake Thompson (3-5, 5.62 ERA) will take the hill for the Phillies. The Mets will counter with Robert Gsellman (2-2, 3.13).
Thompson only struck out one batter and surrendered a three-run homer to Melky Cabrera in his last start against the White Sox on Tuesday but earned the win. Gsellman, thrust into the Mets’ rotation after a spate of injuries, has only pitched into the seventh inning of one his five starts this year, a 5-1 loss to the Phillies on Aug. 28.
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