Phillies eager for next 'battle' with Mets

NEW YORK -- Maybe Kyle Schwarber expected it. Maybe that was why he did not react to the first two pitches he saw in the ninth inning on Sunday night at Citi Field.

Both were fastballs. Both were inside.

It seemed evident to some that Mets right-hander Yoan López may have tried to hit him. Schwarber homered twice earlier against Max Scherzer in the Phillies’ 10-6 loss. He hit a big home run in Saturday’s 4-1 victory, too. But Schwarber was not a possible target just because he homered three times this weekend. Cristopher Sánchez hit New York shortstop Francisco Lindor with a 93.8 mph fastball in the eighth inning. It was the 20th time the Mets have been hit by a pitch this season, which leads baseball. The Phillies have hit them six times in six games.

Nobody in Philadelphia's clubhouse seemed too upset about it afterward. They seemed to get it.

“I think they were trying to hit him,” Phillies manager Joe Girardi said. “But that’s part of the game. We didn’t try to hit Lindor. We didn’t try to hit anyone there. But I understand. You get hit a few times, you start to take exception. I think we hit them with some breaking balls at our park, but it wasn’t on purpose.”

López was the pitcher who threw high and tight last week to Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado at Busch Stadium, sparking a benches-clearing fracas.

“I don’t really give two craps,” Schwarber said, matter-of-factly. “He was keeping it down. So, I don’t know. He could have been missing just down and in. It’s the same dude in St. Louis, but I’m not here to say he was trying to hit me. I’m not here to say he wasn’t trying to hit me. I don’t know. All I know is he got me out.”

Before Schwarber grounded out, home-plate umpire Jerry Meals issued a warning to López and both benches. López hit Alec Bohm in the back with a 1-2 changeup in the next at-bat, but he was not ejected.

“I don’t think that was on purpose, and that’s why I didn’t raise a stink,” Girardi said.

But the ninth inning is something to keep in mind as the Mets return to Citizens Bank Park for a four-game series beginning on Thursday. So far, the Mets have handled the Phillies. They won two of three in Philadelphia, then two of three at Citi Field, which included them no-hitting the Phils on Friday.

New York has the best record in the National League at 16-7. Meanwhile, Philadelphia is 11-12.

“I think they’re a really good team,” said Bryce Harper, who homered in the sixth against Scherzer. “They’re playing really good baseball right now. They played really good baseball in April. Going into tomorrow, a good off-day for us, then get ready for the Texas series, then we’ve got them again. It’s going to be a battle. We know they’re a good team. We don’t expect anything less from what they’ve been able to do. I don’t see them going anywhere.”

But the Phillies think they can hang. They like how they swung the bats on Saturday and Sunday. They have pitched pretty well recently, too.

“I think we’re fine,” said right-hander Zach Eflin, who allowed six runs (five earned) in 4 1/3 innings. “Obviously, I need to do a better job of getting clean innings. But I think we’re right where we need to be. It’s early. We’re going to get this thing rolling, and it’s going to be fun. Nobody in this clubhouse is worried at all.”

Schwarber’s solo homer in the second gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead. His two-run homer in the third gave them a 3-2 lead. It was the 15th time in Scherzer’s career that he allowed two homers to a player in a game. Schwarber joined a list that includes David Ortiz, Ronald Acuña Jr., Justin Morneau, Jorge Posada, Adam Dunn, Adam Jones, Ben Zobrist, Carlos González and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who last did it on April 27, 2021.

The Mets answered each time. Then, they scored three runs in the fifth, which included a passed ball involving left-hander José Alvarado that occurred because Alvarado misheard the pitch call on the new PitchCom device.

“You can’t look too far in the past,” Schwarber said. “You’ve got to be able to move on to the next one. We’ve got Texas coming up. Take care of business there. These guys come back into town, and we’ll see what happens.”