Baseball

Mets Go Ahead in 9th, but Lose on Home Run by Phillies


PHILADELPHIA — Jean Segura had no problem with three water coolers’ being dumped on his head after a big hit off his former teammate.

Segura ripped a three-run, game-winning homer against closer Edwin Diaz moments after Maikel Franco had hit a tying two-run shot off him in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Mets, 6-3, on Thursday, completing a four-game sweep.

The Mets’ Todd Frazier hit a go-ahead, two-run homer off Hector Neris with one out in the ninth, but the Phillies rallied in the bottom of the inning — their fourth straight win since utility man Brad Miller brought a bamboo plant into the clubhouse as a good-luck charm.

Diaz (1-5) walked Cesar Hernandez to start, and Franco followed with his third homer of the series. He hit go-ahead two-run homers in each of the first two games. Pinch-hitter Sean Rodriguez walked with one out and advanced to second on Scott Kingery’s hard-hit, bad-hop single off Frazier’s glove at third.

Segura then slammed his 10th homer into the seats in left. He leapt on his way down the first base line, was mobbed by teammates after circling the bases and was showered by sports drinks and water.

“I’ll take 10,” he said. “The guys are having fun, so I’ll take that.”

Segura played for Seattle last season, when Diaz had 57 saves for the Mariners.

“That guy last year was incredible,” Segura said. “The fastball is his best pitch, so when you come to the plate, you look for his fastball.”

It was Philadelphia’s first four-game sweep of the Mets since Aug. 27 to 30, 2007. That season, the Phillies overcame a seven-game deficit with 17 remaining and edged the Mets on the final day of the regular season for the first of five straight National League East titles.

“This one stings the worst because it just happened,” Mets Manager Mickey Callaway said after his team dropped to a season-worst eight games under .500 at 37-45.

Diaz has allowed at least a run in three of his past five appearances, and his E.R.A. ballooned to 4.94. An All-Star closer, Diaz is in his first season since being acquired from Seattle for a package of prospects. He has blown four saves this season, one shy of his career high.

“I was trying the best I could,” Diaz said through an interpreter. “It seems like they were prepared for every pitch. Bad day for me.”

Aaron Nola allowed one hit and struck out 10 batters in seven scoreless innings but did not get a decision. J. D. Hammer (1-0) got two outs for his first career win.

Pitcher Zack Wheeler’s single off Nola leading off the sixth was the Mets’ only hit until Michael Conforto hit a single off Neris with one out in the ninth. Frazier then blasted a 3-2 pitch out to left. Amed Rosario’s run-scoring groundout extended the lead to 3-1.

Bryce Harper crushed a 438-foot homer in the sixth for Philadelphia’s first hit since Kingery had lined a single on Wheeler’s first pitch.

Wheeler gave up one run and two hits, striking out seven in six innings.

Nola, a 2018 All-Star, has allowed one earned run in his last 15 innings and is pitching more like an ace again.

“I’m feeling good,” Nola said. “My body is healthy.”

The Phillies had lost seven in a row and 16 of 22 and had fallen out of first place before the Mets came to town.

“The group is confident, they’re playing easy, and there’s some swagger in that room right now,” Manager Gabe Kapler said.



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