Field Level Media
Jul 5, 2019
Jay Bruce exacted some revenge on his former team Friday night, when he laced a tiebreaking RBI single in the ninth inning to jumpstart a five-run rally that lifted the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to a 7-2 win over the New York Mets in the opener of a three-game series.
Bruce got the go-ahead hit off Edwin Diaz a little more than seven months after he was dealt to the Seattle Mariners in a blockbuster trade that brought Diaz and Robinson Cano to the Mets. Bruce was traded by the Mariners to the Phillies on June 2.
The Phillies are just 9-14 since June 10, but they've won all five of their meetings against the Mets in that span. The Mets are a National League-worst 7-16 since June 10.
J.T. Realmuto led off the ninth with a double against Diaz (1-6) and scored when Bruce singled on a 1-0 pitch. Roman Quinn, pinch-running for Bruce, stole second and took third on a throwing error by Mets catcher Wilson Ramos before trotting home on a one-out pinch-hit single by Sean Rodriguez.
The Phillies piled on with two outs when Jean Segura hit a two-run double and scored on Bryce Harper's double.
Adam Morgan (3-3), the Phillies' fourth pitcher, earned the win by recording the final two outs in the eighth.
Realmuto also factored into the Phillies' game-tying rally in the seventh. Rhys Hoskins drew a leadoff walk against Jacob deGrom before Realmuto doubled. One out later, Hoskins beat the throw home on Cesar Hernandez's 40-foot single up the third base line.
Realmuto's seventh-inning hit was the first for the Phillies since Scott Kingery homered on deGrom's first pitch of the game.
The Mets tied the game on Pete Alonso's leadoff homer in the fourth, his 29th long ball of the season, and took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Jeff McNeil singled with two outs and scored on Alonso's double.
Phillies starter Vince Velasquez allowed two runs on six hits and no walks while striking out three over five innings. DeGrom gave up two runs on three hits and three walks while striking out 10 over seven innings.
--Field Level Media