Did the Mets, with their foot on the throat of the Phillies, wake up their rivals just before clocking out on Tuesday night?
“Yeah, could be,” Ryhs Hoskins said, after his club suffered a 9-0 blowout loss at Citi Field. “Big game tomorrow. Yeah, it’s a big game tomorrow before we go back home.”
This big game for Mets winning pitcher (and sudden slugger) Zack Wheeler was checking some final boxes, Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen already lifted as a concession by the visitors, when Mets reliever Jacob Rhame unexpectedly elevated the stakes. With two outs in the top of the ninth inning, Rhame threw his first pitch, a 97-mph fastball, behind the first baseman Hoskins, who took a couple of steps toward the mound as Phillies manager Gabe Kapler bounced out of the dugout.