Max Scherzer grinds through Phillies lineup as Mets grab much-needed victory, 4-2 – The Denver Post

PHILADELPHIA — After weeks of saying they need to get better, the Mets did, in fact, play better in a 4-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

The team has avoided the cliche saying of playing one game at a time, but they’ve acknowledged that it makes little sense to look ahead right now when they are still looking up at three other teams in the NL East standings. They’re trying not to panic in the midst of a disastrous season.

So hours after a disastrous game, they cleaned up some aspects of their game. They caught routine popups and made routine groundouts. The Phillies tied the game and the Mets pushed back.

Max Scherzer tossed six innings in a gritty, 107-pitch performance the Mets (35-41) badly needed. The ace cruised through the first three innings before running into trouble in the third with a leadoff home run by Nick Castellanos. The damage was minimal, but the Mets’ lead was cut in half, 2-1. The Phillies (39-37) tied the game in the fifth when Brandon Marsh doubled and Trea Turner singled through the left side to drive him home.

Scherzer’s fastball was losing juice. Castellanos singled and stole second. But he struck out Bryce Harper using mostly off-speed offerings to end the inning and get out of a second-and-third jam.

The veteran exited after giving up two runs on seven hits, walking one and striking out eight. He struck out Kyle Schwarber looking three times.

In the top of the sixth, the Mets chased left-hander Christopher Sanchez from the game and loaded the bases with no outs on Yunior Marte. Pete Alonso hit into a force out to score one and with runners on the corners, Tommy Pham poked a single through the right side to score another and make it 4-2.

Starling Marte hit his fourth home run of the season in the first inning off Sanchez to put the Mets up 1-0. Luis Guillorme’s triple helped them go up 2-0 before the Phillies tied it. The Mets stayed patient and persistent.

Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino and David Robertson locked down the lead. With the help of inning-ending double plays in the eighth and ninth, Robertson got the final five outs of the game for his 11th save of the season. Robertson had nearly a week in between outings because the Mets didn’t have any high-leverage innings to use him for over the last week, which shows how things have been going for the team lately.

Robertson, who went to Philadelphia in a trade from the Chicago Cubs last season, received his NL championship ring at home plate prior to the start of the game. Justin Verlander received his World Series ring before the first game of this six-game road trip in Houston on Monday. It was a reminder of better days with other teams.

The Mets hope better days are ahead with this team, but looking ahead any further past Sunday’s series finale will help no one.

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