The New York Mets got power from Juan Soto and pitching from Zac Thornton to get a good win.
The New York Mets took the second game of their four-game set against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, 6-3, as they built an early three-run lead and fought off a late Phillies comeback to end their latest winning streak at five.
The Mets rookies showed the way out of the gate. Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing singled home runs in the first inning off Phillies opener Tim Mayza, with Benge’s hit scoring one and Ewing’s bringing home two more to make it 3-0.
Starter Zac Thornton also played a big role with another good start, although the Phils got one run back in the third via an RBI double from Bryson Stott to cut the lead to 3-1. The Phillies crept closer in the sixth on a solo homer by Edmundo Sosa to make it a 3-2 game.
But Juan Soto answered with a three-run homer in the same inning to up New York's lead to 6-2 and essentially put the game away, although the Phillies did get another solo homer from Derek Hill in the seventh to account for the 6-3 final score.
Thornton got the win to even his record at 5-5, as he went six innings and gave up two runs on five hits and two walks to go with four strikeouts. The left-hander has now permitted two runs or less in eight of his 14 starts, and he continues to look like an automatic add to next year’s rotation.
Nate Lavender and Dedniel Nunez picked up Thornton in relief, with Nunez getting his first save of the season as he came on in the eighth with two outs after Lavender gave up the home run.
Soto had three hits on the night, and Benge and Francisco each had two hits. The Mets hammered out 13 hits on their way to the win, as New York executed an offensive turnaround after getting shut out in the first game of the series.
Mayza took the loss, but waiver pickup Jose Urquidy threw 4-2/3 innings of scoreless relief in his Philadelphia debut after coming over from the Chicago White Sox.
The loss was especially painful for the Phillies, who find themselves locked in a three-way tie with Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres in the wild-card race. That race has now turned into a complete scramble with eight games left, and all three teams will be doing plenty of scoreboard watching in the next week.
