Sluggish Phillies Lose Again, 7-2 To Mets
NEW YORK (AP) — The winless Philadelphia Phillies are having a hard enough time scoring with their everyday lineup intact. Trying to beat Mets ace Jacob deGrom minus their best young hitter was too much to ask.
The right-hander maintained his focus on the mound with a baby on the way, and New York got big hits from Neil Walker and Michael Conforto to beat the Phillies 7-2 in its home opener Friday.
Philadelphia slugger Maikel Franco, hit by a pitch Thursday in Cincinnati, sat out with a sore left forearm. That made things easier on deGrom (1-0), who threw 76 pitches over six sharp innings. He was removed from his chilly season debut as a precaution with tightness in his right lat.
"I think we just took too many big swings off of him," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Guys are trying to do too much already."
Odubel Herrera and Cesar Hernandez each had an RBI single for the Phillies, held to two runs for the third time in four games. They are 0-4 for the first time since 2006.
"We're not the best hitting team in the league, but we're certainly better than we're showing," Mackanin said. "We've got to get everybody going. It seems like they're trying too hard."
Right up until Friday, it was uncertain if deGrom would start because his wife is due to give birth to their first child, a boy. He's said all along he plans to head for home in Florida whenever she goes into labor.
So deGrom called his wife in the morning and received some comforting news: At her doctor's appointment Thursday, she was told the baby probably wouldn't arrive Friday.
"She probably knew better than anybody," Mets manager Terry Collins said with a smile.
"I think that gave me a little peace of mind," deGrom acknowledged.
The 2015 All-Star hardly looked distracted — even knocking in the first run with a groundout. He yielded one run and five hits with six strikeouts and no walks.
Lucas Duda lined a leadoff double in the sixth and Walker followed with a tiebreaking single, endearing himself to New York fans after being acquired from Pittsburgh in an offseason trade.
Conforto followed with an RBI double that chased Jerad Eickhoff (0-1), who faced the Mets for the fourth time in nine major league starts. He was doing fine once again until going back out to the mound following a trip around the bases in the top of the sixth.
"I'm in great shape, so it didn't affect me at all," Eickhoff said. "I felt good at the onset of things. I was just kind of frustrated I wasn't executing my fastball."
Walker added another RBI single and Conforto hit a two-run single in a four-run seventh against left-hander James Russell.
Travis d'Arnaud capped the outburst with an RBI single off David Hernandez, completing the latest meltdown by Philadelphia's beleaguered bullpen.
COLD RECEPTION
Eickhoff doubled to deep right-center leading off the sixth for his first career extra-base hit. He was booed by the sellout crowd of 44,099, the largest in Citi Field history for a regular-season game, when he donned a jacket at second base to stay warm on a windy, 47-degree afternoon.
BIG MISTAKE
With the Phillies trying to rally in the eighth, Hernandez ran into an inning-ending double play when Herrera's popup dropped after the infield-fly rule was invoked.
"That was unacceptable. You can't excuse that. That's just not the smart play, and he should know better. He's an infielder," Mackanin said. "It shouldn't happen and I'm not happy about it."
Hernandez said he didn't see the umpire's signal and couldn't hear his first base coach because of the crowd noise. But he said he knows the rule and takes full responsibility for the blunder.
"When the ball hit the ground, I reacted to it. However, there are no excuses," he said through an interpreter. "It won't happen again."
NEW SURROUNDINGS
Emmanuel Burriss played left field for the Phillies, and Cedric Hunter shifted to right. It was Burriss' first career start in the outfield — he is primarily a second baseman — and his first major league start at any spot since 2012 with San Francisco.
SEEN THAT BEFORE
Last season, deGrom went 6 1/3 innings to beat Philadelphia 2-0 in the Mets' home opener.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Franco was available off the bench and will be back in the lineup Saturday, Mackanin said. Andres Blanco started at third base.
FLAG DAY
Former pennant-winning Mets stars Rusty Staub, John Franco and Edgardo Alfonzo raised the 2015 NL championship banner during pregame festivities.
UP NEXT
Phillies: Rookie RHP Vince Velasquez makes his Philadelphia debut on Saturday night, weather permitting. Velasquez was 1-1 with a 4.37 ERA in 19 games (seven starts) for Houston last year. He was obtained in the offseason trade that sent reliever Ken Giles to the Astros.
Mets: RHP Bartolo Colon makes his first start this season at age 42 on Saturday night, followed by postgame fireworks.
(© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
