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Supporting Cast Leads Phillies to Series Win Over Mets

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Weston Wilson and Buddy Kennedy were definitely guys I thought would play key roles in the Phillies taking a mid-September series against the Mets, 2-1. Yeah, right.

Yet, their back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the 8th inning on Sunday gave the Phillies a 1-1 tie just after the Mets had taken a 1-0 lead in the top of the inning on a solo homer by Tyrone Taylor. The seemingly crushing blow by Taylor helped end starting pitcher Christopher Sanchez’s more than solid day after the next batter singled. Orion Kerkering entered the game in relief and recorded two strikeouts before getting the final out with runners on first and third base.

After the heroics by Wilson and Kennedy, Jose Ruiz put the Mets down in the 9th recording three straight outs. Nick Castellanos hit a one-out single after Bryce Harper struck out to start the bottom of the inning. After Alec Bohm also struck out, JT Realmuto got the walk-off single, bringing Castellanos home.

It feels like a huge win for the Phillies, giving them a potentially crucial series that started with a blow-out 11-3 loss Friday night in which Aaron Nola got crushed for 6 runs in the 5th inning of a game that was 0-0 at the start of the inning. The two 3-run homers Nola gave up no doubt brought back concerns from last year over his habit of giving up the long ball.

The Phillies needed a comeback win on Saturday, and again relied on the heroics of a relatively unknown player. Cal Stevenson . . . who? . . . not only doubled with two runners on base in the bottom of the 7th inning to drive in 2 runs to put the Phils up 5-4. He flat out stole a game-tying home run in the top of the 8th with an amazing leaping catch above the low wall in centerfield.

Harper ended an extended home run drought with two homers in the 6-4 win Saturday. The bullpen was great in the final two games giving up 0 earned runs, including three innings by Taijaun Walker.

The Phillies “magic number” to win the National League East division was 6 after Sunday’s game.

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