Mets doze off, get swept by Phillies
PHILADELPHIA — After three days of hitting the snooze button, the Mets have a sense of urgency in trying to complete their mission.
Homefield advantage for the NLDS is still something they value, but the Mets also want to complete the 2015 regular season playing at a respectable level.
Getting swept in three games by the lastplace Phillies did nothing to help the Mets’ homefield chances or improve their selfesteem.
“This was a bit of a letdown series for us,” David Wright said Thursday following a 30 loss at Citizens Bank Park, with fewer than 1,000 fans watching, after the game was rescheduled to noon because of weather concerns. “It will be nice to hopefully clean some things up in New York and finish on a strong note.”
The Mets (8970) saw their lead in homefield disappear as the Dodgers beat the Giants 32 in San Francisco. But the Mets own the tiebreaker based on winning the season series against the Dodgers.
In returning to Citi Field for a threegame series against the Nationals to conclude the regular season, the Mets will see the home fans for the first time since clinching the NL East title last Saturday in Cincinnati.
Wright’s regret is the Mets didn’t clinch at home in front of their fans.
“But it would be nice to get some wins for them and then maybe celebrate a little bit with them afterward and get them tuned in for the playoffs as well,” Wright said.
Manager Terry Collins rested Wright, Curtis Granderson, Lucas Duda and Daniel Murphy, among others, and Yoenis Cespedes needed a day off after getting drilled in the left hand the previous night.
Collins expects to play his full lineup Friday, weather permitting.
“We’re going to have our fans [Friday], it’s going to be kind of exciting,” Collins said. “We always have a little scout meeting before the series and I will try to give my ‘A’ speech.”
In a spot start, Sean Gilmartin allowed two earned runs on three hits over five innings with three strikeouts and one walk. The lefty surrendered a tworun homer in the fourth to Darin Ruf that accounted for the Phillies’ runs against him. Gilmartin got the call after Steven Matz was bumped from his start because of back spasms. Logan Verrett was the Mets’ starting pitcher a day earlier to get extra rest for the rotation.
Andres Blanco blasted a homer leading off the eighth against Dario Alvarez for the Phillies’ final run.
The Mets finished the season 145 against the Phillies and will now turn their attention to the Nationals. The Dodgers conclude the regular season with a threegame series against the Padres.
“It stinks, you want to go ahead and control your own destiny a little bit better than what we’ve done,” Kelly Johnson said. “We’ve got to play better all the way around. It was bad — a bad three games. It would be nice, though, to line it up and play a normal slate of games with our normal starting pitching.
“We’re obviously trying to balance getting guys rest and making sure that they’re strong, and I get it — it’s just kind of frustrating.”
Michael Cuddyer said home field is important.
“Especially when you know you’re going to play the Dodgers,” he said. “That’s East Coast to West Coast and it’s a lot better to play those first two games at home and you don’t have to go 3,000 miles.”