Philadelphia Baseball Review - Phillies News, Rumors and Analysis
Phillies split twin bill with Mets
Disgraceful. That's the first word that came to mind Thursday afternoon as the Mets put up a 10-spot in the fifth inning against the Phillies in the first game of a doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park.

In the end, the Mets clobbered the Phillies 24-4 and set a franchise record for runs scored in a game.

Things were so far out of hand for the Phillies that reserves Roman Quinn and Scott Kingery combined to pitch the final three innings of the contest with Kingery lobbing beerleague-like pitches over the plate.

"We told him to do exactly that," manager Gabe Kapler told reporters afterward.

The Phillies have played some ugly games this season, but this was the worst. Ranger Suarez surrendered 11 hits over four innings in his second big league start. He looked uncomfortable and overmatched.

Eight of the Mets' 10 runs in the fifth inning were unearned, highlighted by a Jose Bautista grand slam off Mark Leiter Jr. Leiter surrendered four hits in an inning of work, allowing seven unearned runs to cross the plate for the Mets.

The Phillies committed four errors in the game, compounding the issue of subpar pitching.

"We didn't play good defense," Kapler told reporters afterward. "We put a little additional pressure on our pitchers to get additional outs. These are Major League hitters. They're going to eventually drive the baseball and that's what they did."

Luckily for the Phillies things were different in the nightcap as the club downed the Mets, 9-6.

Rhys Hoskins finished 2-for-3 with a homer and drove in three. Wilson Ramos also collected three hits in the winning effort.

Zach Eflin tossed 6 2/3 innings, surrendering four runs on seven hits. It wasn't his best performance, but it helped give the bullpen a much-needed breather. Seranthony Dominguez notched his 14th save of the season, notching a pair of strikeouts to end the evening.

Ironically, after having surrendered 30 runs on the day, the Phillies gained a half-game in the NL East standings as the Braves fell to the Rockies. The gap sits now at 1 1/2 games.

The Phillies and Mets resume their five-game set Friday night with Aaron Nola set to face Noah Syndergaard.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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Philadelphia Baseball Review - Phillies News, Rumors and Analysis