It started with chaos. Four Mets runs. Twenty-three pitches. A lefty staring at the dugout as if the night might already be lost.
And then, somehow, Jesús Luzardo turned disaster into dominance.
From the moment he gloved Jeff McNeil’s comebacker and spun a double play to end the first inning, the game flipped. The same pitcher who looked like he might not survive the opener went on to retire the next 22 batters he faced. By the time Francisco Lindor swung through a fastball in the eighth — strikeout number 10, milestone number 200 on the season — the Phillies were on their way to a 6–4 comeback win that shoved the Mets to the brink of irrelevance in the NL East race.
The sweep left Philadelphia 11 games clear with 15 to play. New York, once the supposed challenger, trudged away looking more like a wild-card pretender.
It wasn’t. Not when he had already surrendered five hits, four runs, and plenty of momentum before the first beer vendor reached the upper deck. But what followed was as close to perfect as anything he’s ever done — literally. Seven innings without a baserunner. No three-ball counts. Not one Met crossing first base again.
He pleaded for the ninth inning. Rob Thomson didn’t budge. “No way,” the manager said. Instead, trade-deadline revelation Jhoan Duran finished off the Mets with three strikeouts of his own.
The Phillies, meanwhile, just kept piling on the signs that this is a different September. Otto Kemp homered and drove in three. Bryce Harper chipped in. Harrison Bader, the ex-Met tormenting his old team like it’s a hobby, delivered the go-ahead hit.
And then there’s Luzardo, the guy who once couldn’t stay healthy long enough to finish a season. He threw only 12 starts a year ago. He spent chunks of his career worrying about his elbow, his back, his future. Now he’s pumping 99 mph in the eighth inning of September games that bury division rivals.
Even with Zack Wheeler shelved, the Phillies’ rotation suddenly looks terrifying again. Cristopher Sánchez. Ranger Suárez. A resurgent Aaron Nola. And Luzardo, who on this night turned four runs into a footnote and a sweep into a statement.
The Mets, once again, were left to play the role of September punching bag.
Could be worse, as Jeff McNeil muttered afterward.
Could be better, too.
Just ask Jesús Luzardo.
Quotable
“The whole game, really, was probably as impressive a win as we've had all year,” manager Rob Thomson said. "[Luzardo] just settled right in and gave us eight strong innings. It's really unbelievable. And the offense kept coming, they just didn't quit." - per MLB.com Loading Phillies schedule...
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