Mets blow four-run lead in loss to Phillies
Philadelphia Phillies' Cal Stevenson, center, is doused by Bryson Stott, right, and Brandon Marsh, left, after a baseball game against the New York Mets, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Derik Hamilton
PHILADELPHIA — Cal Stevenson is a 28-year-old rookie, a participant in a few dozen major-league games with several teams and a waiver-wire, injury-induced backup option for the NL East-leading Phillies. In the grand context of the national pastime, he is pretty much some random guy.
Depending on how the next couple of weeks sort out, though, he may well have carved out a niche villain role in the story of this improbable Mets season.
The Mets lost, 6-4, on Saturday in what reasonably can be described as The Cal Stevenson Game. He crushed a go-ahead two-run double off Reed Garrett in the bottom of the seventh and robbed J.D. Martinez of a potential tying home run in the top of the eighth, helping Philadelphia finish off a dramatic comeback win.
“I didn’t know much about him till before this series, when you scout him,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But he had a really good game. Comes up with a huge hit and that huge play for J.D. Good player. They’re a good team.”
Martinez said: “It’s a great game for him. Whatever. Tomorrow is a new day.”
With Atlanta’s blowout win over the Dodgers, the Mets (81-67) fell back into a tie for the last NL wild-card spot.
The Mets led by four runs heading into the middle innings, then stopped scoring. Bryce Harper’s two home runs off Luis Severino helped Philadelphia (89-59) get back in it.
The game turned during that late pair of half-innings, with the Phillies setting up a scoring threat via back-to-back soft singles off Danny Young. Garrett entered and was a strike away from escaping, lead intact, when Stevenson, the No. 9 hitter, got hold of a cutter down and in. It slammed off the rightfield wall and the tying and eventual winning runs scored easily.
“If I walked him [and loaded the bases for Kyle Schwarber], it’s a worse at-bat than throwing a pitch in the zone,” Garrett said. “I’m trying to make a pitch, trying to get him out. He put a good swing on it. I tip my cap. Unfortunately, it didn’t go my way that time.”
Stevenson’s leaping grab of Martinez’s drive at the centerfield wall smothered the Mets’ last real threat before it even began.
All Martinez could do was watch. “You’re sitting there and you’re like, ‘Get up, get up, get up,’ ” he said. “That’s literally what it’s like.”
Severino lasted six innings, allowing only the three runs driven in by Harper. He had a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run blast in the sixth.
Facing lefthander Kolby Allard, the latest arm getting a shot at the Phillies’ messy No. 5 spot in the rotation, the Mets scored four runs in three innings.
Allard beat himself for the first of those runs, walking three consecutive batters — the last to force in a run — with two outs in the first inning. Francisco Alvarez ended their quest for more with a first-pitch flyout immediately thereafter.
The Mets rallied for another three in the third, a sequence highlighted by Starling Marte’s two-run triple.
Former Mets righthander Taijuan Walker, recently demoted to the bullpen, pitched three scoreless innings, allowing Harper & Co. to get back in the game.
A day after tweaking his back during an awkward baserunning play, Francisco Lindor did not play, ending his bid to participate in all 162 games for the first time in his career.
Lindor reported feeling better than he did Friday night, but neither he nor Mendoza spoke confidently about his availability Sunday.
“There is some level of disappointment that I wasn’t there today for the team,” Lindor said. “Hopefully tomorrow.”
Luisangel Acuna, making his major-league debut, played shortstop in Lindor’s place and went 2-for-4. His first hit was a bouncer up the middle off Walker. He added a single in the ninth off Phillies closer Carlos Estevez, bringing the potential tying run to the plate with none out.
“He looked fantastic today. I’m encouraged by what I saw,” Lindor said. “There’s no limit for him, so hopefully he continues to get better.”
Severino said: “Of course, every time you don’t have Lindor in the lineup, it’s going to be a different lineup. I feel like we scored runs today; the guys gave us a chance to win the game.”
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
