Mets' bats pick up Syndergaard to beat Phillies

NEW YORK -- While the Mets have struggled to produce runs all season at Citi Field, they had no problem doing so on Saturday against the contending Phillies in a 10-5 win.
Jeff McNeil led the offense, going 3-for-5 on the night with a triple and two runs. McNeil has paced the Mets' offense since he made his Major League debut on July 24. The rookie has hit safely in 20 of his last 21 starts and is batting .384 over that period with six doubles, three triples, nine RBIs and 14 runs.
"He's added a whole other dimension to the way our lineup looks," Mets manager Mickey Callaway said. "He has a little bit of a different skill set than some other guys. He's able to spread the ball around the field. He's great left-on-left, so just adding that whole other dynamic to your lineup makes it that much more challenging for a pitcher to come out and navigate things. So we've seen that that really helps."

The concern early on for McNeil was his ability to turn two, but on Saturday he turned two double plays and made a number of defensive plays that continue to boost his value as the Mets' second baseman of the future.
"Early on, he was going to his left really good and making some really good plays," Callaway said. "Lately, I've seen him going up the middle and turning and throwing on the run, making some even better plays. Ever since he's got here, I've seen a pretty good defender at second base, and he's definitely improved on turning two."

Noah Syndergaard was not his dominant self on Saturday, and he exited with two outs in the seventh inning when he was drilled in the right side by a line drive hit by César Hernández. He gave up four runs on 12 hits with five walks and four strikeouts.
But on a night when the starter faltered, the bats provided plenty of support.
Tomás Nido opened the scoring in the second inning with a bases-clearing double. In the third, McNeil led off by lining a triple down the right-field line. Jay Bruce was intentionally walked by Phillies right-hander Zach Eflin before Todd Frazier brought them both home on a three-run blast to left field.

The Mets tacked on another run in the fourth. Amed Rosario ripped a double, McNeil moved him to third with a single and Bruce plated him with a bloop single to left field.
From there, the runs just kept coming. In the sixth inning, two more runs were added when Frazier drove in McNeil with a sacrifice fly and Michael Conforto crossed the plate on an RBI single from Brandon Nimmo. Conforto capped the Mets' scoring with a solo homer to right-center in the eighth.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
With Devin Mesoraco out with a bulging disk in his neck, Nido got the nod as the starting catcher, giving Kevin Plawecki the night off. Nido stepped up to a bases-loaded situation and plated the first three runs of the game on a double. The three RBIs were a career high for Nido.

SOUND SMART
McNeil is the fifth player in Mets history with four triples in his first 43 career games. Also on that list are Mookie Wilson, Rosario, José Reyes and Bud Harrelson.

INJURY UPDATES
Both Dominic Smith and Syndergaard exited the game with injuries. Smith left with a tight left groin that was tweaked on a play Friday night. He felt it tighten up on Saturday, so the medical staff felt it was best to get him out of the game. Syndergaard's X-rays came back negative, and he was feeling better afterward.

HE SAID IT
"It's a scary situation. It's been my nightmare ever since I've started playing baseball. Today was just my judgement day of having a screamer come back at me. I mean, everyone was asking if I'm OK. I'm just concerned if the ball is all right." -- Syndergaard
UP NEXT
In his last start against the Dodgers, Jacob deGrom set two records: He reached a franchise-high 20 straight quality starts and an MLB-best 25 straight starts allowing three runs or fewer (dating back to 1913). The National League Cy Young Award candidate will look to continue his historic season at 1:10 p.m. ET on Sunday against the Phillies. Right-hander Vince Velasquez will take the mound for Philadelphia.