Loney powers Mets to the postseason
PHILADELPHIA -- James Loney got all of a 3-1 pitch in the top of the sixth inning and sent a two run homerun over the fence in right field to give the Mets a 4-2 lead.
New York never relinquished the advantage and clinched a 2016 National League Wild Card berth with a 5-3 win over the Phillies. An amazing feat after they sat 5.5 games out with a 60-62 record on August 19th.
Loney's two-run homer proved to be the difference as the Mets bullpen took over from there, holding the Phillies to one run and two hits from the sixth inning on with four different relievers.
Coming off of his worst start in 2016, where he allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings pitched in Miami earlier in the week, Mets starter Bartolo Colon went five innings, scattering five hits and striking out six. He gave up two earned runs on one pitch to Ryan Howard in the bottom of the fifth, but earned his 15th and final win in the 2016 regular season.
Asdrubal Cabrera punctuated the Mets win with an RBI bloop single off of Hector Neris in the top of the ninth to score pinch-runner Eric Campbell and make it 5-3.
Mets closer Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless bottom of the ninth to record his 51st save of the season and secure the Mets win and Wild Card berth.
Phillies starting pitcher Phil Klein got through three scoreless innings but ran into trouble in the top of the fourth. Curtis Granderson reached base for the Mets on a double to left field with two outs. After intentionally walking Jay Bruce, who had homered in three straight entering Saturday's contest, T.J. Rivera singled to center and brought Ganderson home for a 1-0 lead.
Travis D'Arnaud led off the top of the fifth with a single for the Mets and Jose Reyes singled him home two batters later for a 2-0 lead.
Granderson, in addition to going 3-for-4 from the plate and scoring a pair of runs, made a shoestring grab to rob Cameron Rupp of an RBI hit in the bottom of the sixth and preserve New York's 4-2 lead.
Darin Ruf hit a pinch-hit home run off of Fernando Salas deep to left field in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Mets' lead to just 4-3.
Howard, in what is presumably his penultimate game as a Phillie, took Colon deep in the fifth inning with a two-run homer to tie the game at two. It was career homerun No. 382 for Howard, tying him with Jim Rice and Frank Howard for 67th place all-time on the career homeruns list. Howard finished the game going 2-for-4, but struck out swinging to lead off the ninth inning.
Yoenis Cespedes struck out looking to end the top of the ninth inning and was ejected by umpire Will Little for arguing balls and strikes. Little ejected Phillies manager Pete Mackanin from Friday night's ballgame.
Klein, making his second spot start of the season, lasted just four innings against the Mets before being relieved in the top of the fifth by RHP Frank Herrmann. Klein threw 67 pitches and gave up just one run on four hits and two walks.
Patrick Schuster (0-1) took the loss for the Phillies. This was the Phillies sixth consecutive loss. They'll have one final chance to stop the bleeding and end their season of rebuild on a positive note.
In the final game of the series and the season, the Mets will put RHP Noah Syndergaard (14-9, 2.60 ERA) out on the hill to oppose Phillies' RHP Jerad Eickhoff (11-14, 3.72 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 3:05 PM ET.
NOTES: The Mets entered the afternoon 28-16 during day games in 2016, including 13-8 on the road. Their .636 winning percentage during the day ranks second in the majors. ... New York went 17-10 in September. The 17 wins were the most in September for the Mets since 1995. ... Phillies manager Pete Mackanin was ejected for the first time as manager of the Phillies by first base umpire Will Little in the top of the eighth inning last night. ... On August 19, the Mets were 60-62 and stood 5.5 games out of the first wild card spot. They have gone 26-12 since that day, the best record in the league over that span, and they now sit atop the wild card race.