Nimmo and Alonso lead Mets past Phillies 6-5 after Helsley’s latest flop
NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Nimmo singled home the winning run in the ninth inning, Pete Alonso had four hits and the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 6-5 on Tuesday night.
Alonso delivered a two-run double in a five-run fifth that gave New York a 5-2 lead. Harrison Bader tied it for Philadelphia with a two-run homer in the eighth off struggling reliever Ryan Helsley, booed off the Citi Field mound by a crowd of 41,914.
Juan Soto and Mark Vientos each provided an RBI single for the Mets, who won for the fourth time in five games following a 5-16 stretch. They pulled within five games of first-place Philadelphia in the NL East by winning their ninth straight against the rival Phillies at home — including last year’s playoffs.
Bader and Bryce Harper each had three hits for the Phillies, who have lost 23 of 29 in Queens, counting the 2024 postseason.
The Mets loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth against closer Jhoan Duran (6-6) on singles by Starling Marte, Alonso and Brett Baty. Nimmo lined a clean hit through a drawn-in infield for his fifth career walk-off RBI.
Nimmo also had a sacrifice fly in the fifth.
Edwin Díaz (6-2) struck out four of the five batters he faced in 1 2/3 perfect innings.
Harper’s two-run single off reliever Gregory Soto gave Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo a 2-0 lead in the fifth, but he failed to get another out. After being removed from the game, Luzardo shouted at plate umpire Willie Traynor as he walked off the field and was ejected.
Key moment
Luzardo plunked No. 9 batter Luis Torrens on the foot with an 0-2 breaking ball leading off the bottom of the fifth.
Key stat
Bader, who played for the Mets last season, is 9 for 14 against them this year. But he also made a costly throwing error from center field in the fifth.
Up next
Phillies RHP Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.44 ERA) faces one of his former teams Wednesday night. Impressive rookie Nolan McLean (2-0, 1.46) makes his third major league start as the Mets try for a three-game sweep.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer
