Mets drop rubber match to Phillies, fall behind in wild-card chase

PHILADELPHIA — The series finale between the Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies felt less like a roller coaster and more like a high-stakes chess match. It was a nail-biter from start-to-finish, and the Mets were forced to play nearly all of it without Francisco Lindor.

Tyrone Taylor hit just his seventh homer of the season in the top of the eighth to break a scoreless tie, but the Phillies came right back and evened the score in the bottom of the inning.

But closer Edwin Diaz (5-4) gave up the walk-off single to J.T. Realmuto with two outs in the ninth, and the Mets lost the rubber match 2-1, Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

The pitch to Realmuto was an 0-2 fastball that the catcher lined into the right-center gap. It scored Nick Castellanos, who had singled off Diaz with one out and stole second to reach scoring position.

The pitch was exactly what Diaz wanted to throw.

“I thought it was a really good pitch,” Diaz said. “I was trying to throw it up and away, and I think I made the pitch. He was looking for that pitch and hit it.”

The Mets considered walking Realmuto, but manager Carlos Mendoza said he trusted “one of the best closers in the game” to get him out.

“It’s Edwin Diaz, he has some good numbers,” Mendoza said. “We gave up a couple of 0-2 pitches, one to Castellanos and then Realmuto, but Diaz was throwing the ball well. There was life on the fastball and he was attacking. He just, at 0-2, left it there and [Realmuto] made him pay.”

All appeared to be well as the game started, with Lindor leading off the game with a single to shallow center field that Johan Rojas couldn’t control after he dove for the catch. But then left-hander Cristopher Sanchez struck out Mark Vientos, Pete Alonso and Brandon Nimmo and a battle between Sanchez and left-hander David Peterson ensued.

Less than two innings into that battle, Lindor exited once again with back discomfort.

“He felt good before the game and during that at-bat and the swing he took,” Mendoza said. But then when he got to running the bases, after a few steps it kind of grabbed at him again. He came out of there and gave us a heads-up to get [Luisangel] Acuña ready, and then went out there for the defense.”

Lindor will undergo imaging Monday in New York.

Both pitchers were sensational, each allowing only one run. Peterson allowed only four hits and walked one, going heavy on the sinker and fastball early on and then using the slider to get ahead in later innings. The Phillies hit the ball hard but they mostly hit it on the ground. After turning in his worst start of the season in Toronto his last time out, Peterson was solid for seven shutout innings, striking out six.

After Lindor’s single, Sanchez didn’t give up another hit until the fourth inning when Alonso hit a hard grounder past a diving Trea Turner at shortstop for a single. J.D. Martinez nearly homered with two outs, but Rojas made the catch at the warning track to end the inning.

Martinez came close again in the seventh with one on and none out, but his drive to center field came just two feet short of clearing the fence. Rojas made the catch at the fence.

Finally, Taylor came through in the eighth, sending a 2-2 slider from Sanchez into the left field stands. The home run gave Peterson a jolt of adrenaline.

“I think as you get deeper into the games, obviously you’re wearing down, but I didn’t feel that,” he said. “I felt like — especially after scoring that run — I really wanted to go out there and put up a zero.”

The Mets took six hits off Sanchez over seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven.

“He’s going to keep the ball down, which he did, but we also hit some balls hard, especially to the opposite side,” Mendoza said. “It was just right at people.”

Diaz started warming up in the bullpen around the start of the eighth inning, but the Mets let Peterson face four batters. The first two might have been two too many.

He gave up back-to-back doubles to the Nos. 7-8 hitters Weston Wilson and Buddy Kennedy, with Kennedy’s single to the left field corner tying the game. A sellout crowd chanted “Buddy” as the Mets met on the mound with Peterson.

“When you look at his pitch count, it was a decision against the bottom of the lineup or one of our righties against their lefties,” Mendoza said. “They had three lefties ready to go there and he was at 86 pitches. So I don’t think we talked about it, but it was an easy decision for me.”

With two out and Kennedy on third base after a sacrifice bunt, the Mets went to Phil Maton. Peterson had thrown 99 pitches by then, a valiant effort in 7 2/3 innings of a rivalry game that could ultimately end up having postseason implications.

The Mets (81-68) have 13 games left to play, starting with the Washington Nationals on Monday at Citi Field. They’ll wrap up the season series against the Phillies (90-59) next weekend at home.

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