Pete Alonso hit a home run, J.D. Martinez delivered a go-ahead single in the 11th inning, and the New York Mets managed to avoid a four-game sweep against the Philadelphia Phillies with a 6-5 victory on Thursday night, despite another blown save by Edwin Díaz.
Starling Marte contributed with two hits for the Mets, who responded to a closed-door meeting led by rookie manager Carlos Mendoza on Wednesday by securing their second win in the last seven games. “The guys continued to battle,” Mendoza said, what a great team win.”
Kyle Schwarber and Alec Bohm each had RBI doubles for the Phillies, who lead the majors with 31 wins but suffered only their fourth loss in 20 games. Philadelphia maintains a 10-game lead over the Mets in the NL East division.
“We were resilient the whole night and kept trying to find a way to come back,” Schwarber said. “We just weren’t able to get that big one at the end. New one tomorrow.”
The Phillies had previously won twice in New York on Monday and Tuesday before taking the first game of the series in Philadelphia on Wednesday. This unique home-and-home series was arranged to accommodate a two-game series between the teams in London on June 8-9.
Díaz allowed a run in the ninth inning, resulting in a tie at 4-all with the Phillies. This was his second consecutive blown save and third in four chances since May 5.
“I feel really good,” he said. “I just have to find a way to get the last out.” Neither team scored in the 10th inning, but the Mets took the lead with two runs in the 11th inning off José Alvarado (1-2).
Martinez hit the first pitch into right field to score automatic runner Francisco Lindor from second base, and Harrison Bader doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. Alvarado struck out the next two batters before Martinez scored on a wild pitch.
Jorge López (1-0) pitched a scoreless inning, and Jake Diekman got out of a tough situation in the 11th inning to earn his first save since 2022 with Boston.
“Huge for us,” Mets starter Jose Quintana said. “We stayed together.”
Philadelphia loaded the bases with one out in the 11th inning and narrowed the gap to a run on Bryson Stott’s groundout. Diekman struck out Schwarber with runners on second and third to end the game after 3 hours, 29 minutes. Schwarber threw his bat toward the Philadelphia dugout.
