Tuesday night was the latest chapter. Another long, frustrating, head-shaking chapter. Mets 6, Phillies 5. Walk-off single by Brandon Nimmo. Another series lost in Queens. Another reminder that the Mets, of all teams, still hold the deed to this patch of real estate — and, for now, to the Phillies’ confidence here.
All tied at 5 in the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies turned to Jhoan Duran, their high-octane closer, with one simple assignment: get the game to extra innings.
Instead, he never recorded an out. Starling Marte singled. Pete Alonso singled. Brett Baty singled. Bases loaded. And Nimmo, the man who already had a sacrifice fly on his ledger, lashed a clean hit the other way, scoring Marte and sending 41,914 New Yorkers into a frenzy. Fifth career walk-off RBI for him. Ninth straight Phillies loss at Citi Field. Cue the groans.
That it even came to this was thanks to Harrison Bader, who had himself a night. Down 5–3 in the eighth, he belted a two-run homer off Ryan Helsley tying the game and sparking a jolt of Phillies momentum. For a moment, it felt like the hex had been lifted. For a moment.
Bader wound up with three hits. Bryce Harper matched him with three of his own, including a two-run single in the fifth that briefly had the Phillies up 2–0. But momentum at Citi Field? For these Phillies? That’s a fleeting concept.
The real undoing, as so often happens here, came in one disastrous inning. Jesús Luzardo, sharp through four and looking like the ace version of himself, took a 2–0 cushion into the bottom of the fifth. Ten minutes later, that lead was rubble.
Two men on. Juan Soto singled in a run. Then Luzardo walked Marte. Then Luzardo made the mistake of voicing his frustrations with plate umpire Willie Traynor a little too loudly. Cue the ejection. Cue the end of his night, charged with four earned runs. Cue the ball handed to Orion Kerkering, whose assignment was to extinguish the flames, except Alonso smoked a two-run double, Mark Vientos added an RBI single, and Nimmo tacked on a sac fly. Mets 5, Phillies 2. Another Citi Field horror show in the making.
Yes, the Phillies rallied. Yes, they tied it. But let’s be honest. This is now nine straight losses in this ballpark. Twenty-three of their last 29 here have ended in agony, including last October’s playoff meltdown. And now the Mets — once buried under a 5–16 tailspin — have taken four of five, pulled within five games of the Phillies in the division, and reminded everyone that no one collapses quite as theatrically in Queens as their favorite visitors from Philadelphia.
Edmundo Sosa’s groundout plated Alec Bohm for the Phillies’ other run. Pete Alonso went 4-for-5 and was the constant thorn. Edwin DÃaz struck out four of the five hitters he faced to bridge it home.
And so Wednesday night, the Phillies, battered by history, battered by ghosts, battered by the Mets, will try again. Taijuan Walker gets the ball, and if you’ve heard this before, it’s because you have: another chance to stop the bleeding in Queens. Another chance to prove they don’t still live in the Mets’ shadow, at least on the road.
That it even came to this was thanks to Harrison Bader, who had himself a night. Down 5–3 in the eighth, he belted a two-run homer off Ryan Helsley tying the game and sparking a jolt of Phillies momentum. For a moment, it felt like the hex had been lifted. For a moment.
Bader wound up with three hits. Bryce Harper matched him with three of his own, including a two-run single in the fifth that briefly had the Phillies up 2–0. But momentum at Citi Field? For these Phillies? That’s a fleeting concept.
The real undoing, as so often happens here, came in one disastrous inning. Jesús Luzardo, sharp through four and looking like the ace version of himself, took a 2–0 cushion into the bottom of the fifth. Ten minutes later, that lead was rubble.
Two men on. Juan Soto singled in a run. Then Luzardo walked Marte. Then Luzardo made the mistake of voicing his frustrations with plate umpire Willie Traynor a little too loudly. Cue the ejection. Cue the end of his night, charged with four earned runs. Cue the ball handed to Orion Kerkering, whose assignment was to extinguish the flames, except Alonso smoked a two-run double, Mark Vientos added an RBI single, and Nimmo tacked on a sac fly. Mets 5, Phillies 2. Another Citi Field horror show in the making.
Yes, the Phillies rallied. Yes, they tied it. But let’s be honest. This is now nine straight losses in this ballpark. Twenty-three of their last 29 here have ended in agony, including last October’s playoff meltdown. And now the Mets — once buried under a 5–16 tailspin — have taken four of five, pulled within five games of the Phillies in the division, and reminded everyone that no one collapses quite as theatrically in Queens as their favorite visitors from Philadelphia.
Edmundo Sosa’s groundout plated Alec Bohm for the Phillies’ other run. Pete Alonso went 4-for-5 and was the constant thorn. Edwin DÃaz struck out four of the five hitters he faced to bridge it home.
And so Wednesday night, the Phillies, battered by history, battered by ghosts, battered by the Mets, will try again. Taijuan Walker gets the ball, and if you’ve heard this before, it’s because you have: another chance to stop the bleeding in Queens. Another chance to prove they don’t still live in the Mets’ shadow, at least on the road.
If This Were a Playoff Game
Here’s the part that should make Phillies fans twitch: imagine this exact script unfolding in October. Duran walking off without an out. Alonso ripping doubles. Nimmo walking it off. Another five-run fifth sinking a perfectly good start. Another trip to Queens ending in another ninth-inning walk-off. That’s not just a regular-season nuisance. That’s the kind of nightmare that flips a postseason series and lingers for years. And after what happened in Flushing last October, it’s not crazy to think those same ghosts would be waiting.
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