The Philadelphia Phillies‘ struggles are real. The Phightins were hoping to avoid the sweep on Sunday Night baseball on national TV. That was not the case. The Phillies were swept by the Mets due to bullpen woes. The game seemed grim until the 8th inning. The Phillies only could muster 1 run until that moment. The struggling Nick Castellanos steps to the plate against Mets reliever, Adam Ottavino.

Where It All Went Wrong
To this point, Castellanos had not hit a homer for the last 76 at-bats. That would soon change. With an 0-2 count, Ottavino made a mistake and threw a fastball right down the shute. A three-run blast by the newest Phillie gave the team a late 4-3 lead. According to Sunday Night baseball’s telecast, Philly had a 63% of winning. Obviously, the analytic department at ESPN did not factor in that the Phillies bullpen is terrible.
Nick Plummer provided the heroics in the ninth for the Mets. The outfielder recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday, smashed a homer against Corey Knebel. That blast to right field tied the game at 4-4, giving the Mets their first run in eight innings. Plummer became the 14th player in Mets history whose first career hit was a home run. It was all downhill for the Phillies at this point.
Eduardo Escobar delivered the dagger into Phillies’ fan hearts. He stroked a walk-off RBI double in the 10th inning that delivered a 5-4 victory at Citi Field that completed a three-game sweep. This became the Mets’ first sweep this season. Escobar’s hit scored the ghost runner, Starling Marte. The Mets improved to 9-3 against the Phillies this season.

Pitching
Chris Bassitt allowed one earned run on two hits over six innings with seven strikeouts and three walks for the Mets. Showing how cold the bats were for most of this circus. Bassitt even survived a 34-pitch third inning in which he walked three batters, but allowed only one run.
Odubel Herrera hit a fly to left that Plummer misplayed into a double leading off the inning before Bassitt walked Johan Camargo and Kyle Schwarber to load the bases. Alec Bohm hit into a double play and Phillies fans got that all-too-familiar chill down their neck. The run did score. That was about it. In the end, Harper walked and Castellanos struck out.
Wheeler pitched well. His line included six innings pitched, allowing four hits, one earned run, and seven strikeouts. It was the bullpen that continues to haunt our dreams.
The Phillies’ lead remained 4-3 in the ninth inning but closer Corey Knebel recorded another blown save after giving up a leadoff homer to Nick Plummer. This was Knebel’s third blown save of the season.
Like a broken record all we can say is hopefully they can turn it around at home starting with the San Francisco Giants. This is a 4:05 start on Memorial Day. Anything to get the taste of the Phillies being swept by the Mets.

Al is one of the two co-creators of Edge of Philly Sports. Al started radio and podcasting in 2012 and covering sports in 2015. A lifelong Philly sports fan since watching the Eagles, Phillies, Sixers, and Flyers with his grandfathers at age 7. Al always looks at the other side of the hot topics and gives his different outlook on those topics. Web and Graphic Design.