Phillies 3, Mets 0
PHILADELPHIA – Jerad Eickhoff combined with two relievers on a six-hit shutout as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 3-0 on Thursday afternoon, completing a sweep of the teams’ three-game series.
First baseman Darin Ruf and third baseman Andres Blanco homered for the Phillies, who have won four straight.
Eickhoff, facing a lineup of Mets reserves, went seven innings and allowed four hits to improve to 3-3 in eight starts with the Phillies. The rookie right-hander, acquired from the Texas Rangers in the Cole Hamels trade on July 31, struck out 10 for the second straight game and walked one.
He also became the first Phillies rookie to work seven innings or more and allow two earned runs or fewer in four straight starts since Ben Rivera in 1992.
Jerome Williams worked a scoreless inning in relief, and Luis Garcia pitched the ninth for his second save.
Right fielder Kirk Nieuwenhuis had three of the Mets’ hits.
Sean Gilmartin, making his first major league start, took the loss for New York. Gilmartin (3-2) went five innings and allowed two runs and three hits, while striking out three and walking one.
The game, originally scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., started at noon because of the threat of inclement weather. It was played before a crowd of 13,238, the smallest in the 12-year history of Citizens Bank Park.
Gilmartin did not allow a hit until Phillies right fielder Jeff Francoeur doubled with two outs in the fourth. Ruf followed by hammering a 3-2 slider down into the left-field seats, giving Philadelphia a 2-0 lead. It was Ruf’s 12th homer of the season.
Blanco added a solo shot off reliever Dario Alvarez in the eighth inning. It was Blanco’s seventh homer of the season.
NOTES: The Phillies activated 3B Maikel Franco from the 15-day disabled list before the game. He had missed the previous 44 with a broken bone in his left wrist. … Seven Phillies relievers combined to work 8 1/3 scoreless innings in Wednesday’s 7-5 victory over the Mets, which according to the Elias Sports Bureau is the Philadelphia bullpen’s longest stint without allowing a run since four relievers pitched nine scoreless innings against the Mets on April 25, 1991. … The Mets and Phillies combined to use 17 pitchers Wednesday, the most in a major league game since Pittsburgh and St. Louis used a record 18 on Sept. 30, 2007.