Jeff McNeil added four hits, Edwin Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth, and the Mets beat the Phillies 6-5 on Saturday. >> Box score
Six things to know from Saturday's game
1) Noah Syndergaard battled his way through five innings, but he didn't have his best stuff on Saturday. He allowed four earned runs on seven hits, including a pair of home runs to Jay Bruce and Maikel Franco in the top of the second inning, putting the Mets in an early 3-1 hole after Michael Conforto had given them a 1-0 lead. Syndergaard finished his first half of the season with a 4.68 ERA.
2) McNeil, looking to become just the second Met ever to lead the majors in batting average at the All-Star break, helped his cause in a big way on Saturday, recording four more hits. McNeil now has four four-hit games on the season, and his league-leading batting average is up to .356.
3) Todd Frazier and Mickey Callaway were both ejected in the bottom of the fifth inning. Phillies starter Jake Arrieta plunked Frazier with a changeup, who then jawed at Arrieta all the way down the line until he was eventually ejected. Two batters later, Arrieta hit Amed Rosario, but was not ejected, leading to Callaway shouting at home plate umpire Tripp Gibson until he was ejected.
4) The ejections seemed to fire up the Mets, as Tomas Nido hit a three-run double to give the Mets a 6-3 lead. Nido was paired with Syndergaard for the second straight time through the rotation, and he's proven to be a reliable bat as well as a good receiver behind the plate.
5) Steven Matz pitched to mixed results in his second outing out of the bullpen. Brought into the game in the top of the seventh inning, Matz allowed a single to Bryce Harper and an RBI single to JT Realmuto. He did get Bruce to bounce out to second to end the inning, but he went on to allow a leadoff infield single to Cesar Hernandez in the top of the eighth, but Seth Lugo would get the Mets out of the inning unscathed.
6) Diaz was called upon to close the game for the Mets with a 6-5 lead. He retired Harper and Rhys Hoskins before allowing a single to Realmuto. With two away, Diaz struck Bruce out to end the ball game.
Highlights
Tension rising in New York.
- FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 7, 2019
Todd Frazier was hit by a Jake Arrieta pitch, and then ejected a few seconds later after he exchanged some words with Arrieta and umpires. pic.twitter.com/6ht8SLYk2r
What's next
The Mets and Phillies will wrap up their first half schedules on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. at Citi Field. Zack Wheeler will get the ball for the Mets against Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola.