Philly Leader

The Philadelphia Phillies faced a challenging start to their National League Division Series against the New York Mets, losing 6-2 in Game 1 at Citizens Bank Park. Despite a remarkable performance by pitcher Zack Wheeler, who delivered seven scoreless innings and allowed only one hit, the Phillies' bullpen could not maintain the lead.

Wheeler's postseason ERA now stands at 2.18, ranking as the third-lowest in MLB history for pitchers with a minimum of ten starts since earned runs became official in 1913. "I felt good, I felt locked in," Wheeler said after his performance.

The game began promisingly for the Phillies when Kyle Schwarber hit a leadoff home run, giving them an early advantage. However, as Bryce Harper noted, "Chasing balls in the dirt didn’t work deep into counts like we should have."

The Mets capitalized on this situation late in the game. Jeff Hoffman allowed a game-tying single after getting ahead of several batters early in their counts. Matt Strahm followed and despite throwing all strikes, he conceded two singles and a sacrifice fly that put the Mets ahead 3-1. "They smelled blood in the water," Strahm commented on his outing.

Orion Kerkering further struggled as he allowed two more runs before closing out the inning. The loss puts pressure on Philadelphia as historically teams winning Game 1 have gone on to win best-of-five series 72% of the time.

Looking ahead to Game 2, Nick Castellanos expressed optimism: “Wash it off in the shower, come back with a new attitude, ready to win the day.”