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Philadelphia Phillies: PHI catches huge break in series versus Mets

By Tim Boyle

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 14: Bryson Stott #5 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 14, 2022 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Phillies 6-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - AUGUST 14: Bryson Stott #5 of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on before a game against the New York Mets at Citi Field on August 14, 2022 in New York City. The Mets defeated the Phillies 6-0. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images) /
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The Philadelphia Phillies play the New York Mets again this weekend. After going 1-2 last weekend on the road, they get to host the first-place Mets for four games this time.

The main reason why the Phillies were only able to scratch together a single victory was the pitching alignment for New York. Game one featured Max Scherzer. The very next day, the Mets tossed Jacob deGrom at Philadelphia.

The Mets won’t have the same advantage over the Phillies this weekend. Despite there being four games due to the doubleheader on Saturday, the Phillies will manage to miss not only Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom this time, but also Carlos Carrasco, and possibly even Taijuan Walker.

The Philadelphia Phillies will miss four of the Mets top five starters

Home field. No Scherzer or deGrom. Some other questions in the Mets rotation. The Phillies need to win three out of the four this weekend.

Philadelphia has only a slim shot of catching the Mets in the division. That’s not necessarily their goal anyway. Realistically, the aim should be to at least secure home-field advantage in their first playoff series. This means taking the top wild-card spot.

It also wouldn’t be so awful for the Phillies to finish with the last wild card spot. They’d likely face the winner of the National League Central, which might actually give them a better matchup than facing the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, or even the Mets if they fall out of the lead in the division.

The bats were mostly silent for the Phillies last weekend with a pair of shutouts. One of the two runs they scored came thanks to the runner on second base to start extra innings. They were able to awaken briefly against the Cincinnati Reds earlier this week but ended the series with another painful 1-0 loss. Does anyone else always think of Game 5 of the 2011 NLDS when they see a 1-0 score?

The series will open with Chris Bassitt versus Aaron Nola before finishing with Kyle Gibson on the mound for the Phillies on Sunday. Things are a little bit more mysterious after that.

The Mets aren’t certain Taijuan Walker will be ready to finish things off as he exited his most recent start early, but he could still be available for them on Sunday. New York could toss Trevor Williams and David Peterson in the doubleheader. Both have been exceptional as emergency starters this year, yet not something nearly as dominant as Scherzer or deGrom.

For the Philadelphia Phillies, we can expect Zack Wheeler to appear in one of the games and Bailey Falter to get the ball in the other. It’s the Falter start where the bats will have to liven up the most.

Next. 3 Phillies who will be off the roster by September 1. dark

There is no excuse for the Phillies not to hit this time around. They’ve lucked out in a big way.

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