The humidity dropped, allowing for Philadelphia’s intense summer heat to be the perfectly playable, survivable baseball weather it was meant to be this afternoon. South Philly was alive with the scent of boiling humans as Zach Eflin took the mound for the rubber match of a series against the Mets.
Eflin’s change-up was curling Larry Andersen’s nose hairs all afternoon, and effectively getting hitters out at the plate. But, as Phillies starters always seem to, he faltered. After a 1-2-3 first, the 22-year-old didn’t have another clean inning until the sixth. In between, a Juan Lagares RBI triple, a Curtis Granderson solo shot, and a double from gurgling turd-bucket Jose Reyes all gave the Mets their 3-0 lead going into the sixth.