PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Daniel Murphy's offense and defense helped the New York Mets remain on a roll.
Murphy hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the 13th inning after making a spectacular defensive play to end the 10th, leading New York to its seventh straight victory, 9-5 over the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday night.
Reliever
Carlos Torres led off the 13th with a single to center, went to second
on Curtis Granderson's single to left and they both scored on Murphy's
opposite-field hit off Hector Neris (2-2). Helped by two errors by
Neris, the Mets scored two more runs in the inning.
"(Murphy) can stinkin' hit, flat hit," Mets manager Terry Collins said. "When he's swinging good, we're dangerous."
Murphy's defense also shined.
He
sent the game to the 11th with a tremendous defensive play. Jeff
Francoeur's hard liner deflected off Torres' leg toward first base.
Murphy made a diving stop before flipping a no-look toss toward the bag
that was caught by a hustling Torres, who beat Francoeur by a half-step.
"You'll see it tonight if you turn on your TV," Collins said. "It will be shown many times."
Murphy credited Torres for staying with the play.
"I wasn't sure who was going to be there, but I flipped it anyway," he said.
Torres said extending his leg and running to cover the bag were just natural reactions.
"It just happened to hit my foot," he said. "I'm happy (Murphy) stayed at home."
Torres (5-5) pitched 2⅓ scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.
Yoenis
Cespedes, Kelly Johnson and Travis d'Arnaud homered for the Mets, who
thrilled the large contingent of New York fans by sweeping the four-game
series to give them nine straight wins over Philadelphia. New York
remained 6½ games ahead of Washington, a 4-2 winner over San Diego, in
the NL East.
"The signs were pointing for us to win this game," Collins said.
New York has averaged 10.4 runs during their winning streak. The Mets outscored the Phillies 40-21 the series.
"I'm happy they're leaving town," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said.
Darin Ruf went deep for the Phillies, who have dropped 12 of 13 to the Mets this year and 29 of the last 36.
The game took 4 hours, 32 minutes.
Philadelphia
had a chance to win it in the 12th, but third baseman David Wright made
an excellent defensive play on Andres Blanco's chopper with two outs
and Cesar Hernandez coming home from third. Wright charged the ball,
fielded it on a short hop and then gunned down Blanco to keep the Mets'
hopes alive.
Five Mets relievers pitched seven scoreless innings.
The Phillies scored five runs in the third to open the game's scoring.
Francoeur's
two-run single and Ruf's opposite-field shot off Jonathon Niese
highlighted the inning. Niese entered 5-0 with a 1.61 ERA in his last
seven games against the Phillies, but he got a no-decision after
allowing five runs and five hits in six innings.
But the Mets came
back with two runs in the fourth on d'Arnaud's opposite-field drive
before tying the game in the fifth on Cespedes' two-run homer to right
and Johnson's solo shot to right. All three homers came off Aaron
Harang, who gave up five runs and nine hits in six innings. Harang
entered tied for the most losses in baseball with 14.
CESPEDES STREAKING: It
was the sixth homer in seven games for Cespedes, who tied his
career-high with his 26th of the season. He has 15 RBIs in the last
seven games and is batting .303 with eight home runs and 23 RBIs with
the Mets since they acquired him from Detroit on July 31.
HOMER HAPPY: The Mets set a franchise record for homers in a month with 43.
NEW NETS? In
the second inning, a woman sitting five rows off the field was hit in
the forehead by a foul ball off the bat of Freddy Galvis of the
Phillies. The team said she was evaluated and didn't need to go to a
hospital.
Commissioner
Rob Manfred talked at Citizens Bank Park before the game and said there
was a chance that extra safety nets could be put up around the majors
as early as next season.
TRAINER'S ROOM: Phillies — Catching
prospect Jorge Alfaro singled and caught three innings in a rehab start
for the Gulf Coast League Phillies on Thursday. One of the prospects
acquired from Texas in the Cole Hamels trade, Alfaro had been sidelined
since June 11 with a left ankle injury. ... LHP Elvis Araujo left with a
left groin strain after throwing one pitch to Cespedes, the second
batter he faced, in the 11th.
UP NEXT: Mets — New
York opens a three-game home series against Boston on Friday night with
RHP Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.57) facing Red Sox LHP Henry Owens (2-1,
4.50). Harvey is 4-0 with a 1.11 ERA in his last 7 starts at Citi Field
dating to June 16.
Phillies — Rookie RHP Aaron
Nola (4-1, 3.59) takes the mound for Philadelphia in the first of a
three-game home series against San Diego on Friday night. Nola pitched
eight shutout innings, allowing three hits, in his last start in
Sunday's 2-0 win at Miami. RHP Ian Kennedy (8-11, 4.01) starts for the
Padres.