NEW YORK — Pete Alonso and Jonathan Villar each hit an RBI single in the eighth inning to give the New York Mets a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the first game of their doubleheader Tuesday.
Dominic Smith socked an early two-run homer for the Mets, who took the opener of a four-game series between NL East rivals in extra innings. Both games of the single-admission twinbill, booked to make up Monday night’s rainout at Citi Field, were scheduled for seven innings in keeping with a rules change introduced during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
With the Mets down a run, Alonso opened the bottom of the eighth with a sharp single off Héctor Neris (0-1) that scored placement runner Francisco Lindor from second. It was New York’s first hit since the second inning.
Jeff McNeil beat out a potential double-play ball, Michael Conforto walked and James McCann’s infield single loaded the bases with one out.
Villar, who entered as a pinch-runner in the seventh and stayed in to play third base, lofted a full-count pitch to left-center over the head of left fielder Andrew McCutchen, playing shallow in the hopes of cutting off the winning run.
Helped by McCann’s passed ball, the Phillies went ahead 3-2 in the top of the eighth against Trevor May when McCutchen scored from third on Didi Gregorius’ two-out infield single.
May (1-1) struck out Jean Segura with two runners in scoring position and ended up with his first win for the Mets.
Philadelphia tied it 2-all in the sixth after Rhys Hoskins drew his first walk of the season leading off against reliever Miguel Castro. Hoskins advanced on Bryce Harper’s single that beat the shift and went to third on a groundout. He scored when Segura beat out a dribbler to third for an infield single on an 0-2 pitch.
Taijuan Walker struck out eight over 4 1/3 innings in his second start with the Mets, again showing some increased velocity on multiple pitches in his repertoire.
The right-hander was pulled following consecutive walks in the fifth, and the Mets escaped the inning with a one-run lead thanks to a terrific defensive play by substitute third baseman Luis Guillorme to thwart a double steal.
Brandon Nimmo drew a leadoff walk from Chase Anderson in the first inning and Smith put New York on top with his second homer this season.
Nimmo entered leading the majors with a .565 on-base percentage. Smith, raised to third in the lineup with slumping Conforto dropped to sixth, also hit a two-run shot off Anderson a week prior in Philadelphia.
Alec Bohm doubled to start the second and scored on Andrew Knapp’s sacrifice fly.
Anderson allowed two runs and three hits in four innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: Knapp caught the opener, splitting doubleheader duties with All-Star backstop J.T. Realmuto. … With reliever Archie Bradley placed on the 10-day injured list Sunday because of a strained left oblique, top prospect Spencer Howard was added to the roster as the 27th man for the twinbill. The right-hander has never pitched in relief as a pro.
Mets: Guillorme started at 3B for J.D. Davis (bruised left hand), who is eligible to come off the injured list Saturday.
UP NEXT
Phillies: Aaron Nola (0-0, 2.53 ERA) makes his third start of the year in the nightcap. The right-hander threw 92 pitches over four innings against the Mets at home last week, allowing one run and six hits. He is 8-2 with a 3.26 ERA in 17 career outings versus New York. Nola tossed seven-inning complete games in his last two starts that were part of doubleheaders last September. Those were the first two complete games of his career after going 135 starts without one.
Mets: Marcus Stroman (1-0, 1.42) takes the ball again, two days after his start against Miami lasted only nine pitches because the game was suspended due to rain.
More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
