NEW YORK _ It used to be that the Mets' starting pitchers were one-man shows _ marquee talents, with big arms and big responsibilities.
And in a lot of ways, that's still the case. But as the last few days have proved, the Mets' new secret weapons can provide a sliver of relief in a situation where there used to be no room for error.
Robert Gsellman pitched two innings of scoreless relief, coming to the aid of a shaky Noah Syndergaard, as the Mets were able to beat the Phillies, 4-2, at Citi Field. Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run home run in the first inning and Amed Rosario broke a tie with a two-run triple in the sixth. Syndergaard, meanwhile, repeated some of the flaws in his Opening Day performance, lasting only four innings and throwing 92 pitches (57 strikes). He allowed four hits, walked two and struck out seven.
Gsellman allowed no hits through the fifth and sixth and struck out three, in many ways recreating the two-inning relief performance Seth Lugo put together on Tuesday.
Bolstered by the two dominant innings from Gsellman, the Mets pulled ahead in the sixth. With runners on first and third and two outs, Rosario, who was batting ninth, hit one over the head of right fielder Nick Williams, who was playing very shallow. The triple scored Asdrubal Cabrera and Wilmer Flores, who walked as a pinch hitter for Gsellman, and gave the Mets the 4-2 lead.
Prior to that, the Mets continued to benefit from Mickey Callaway's lineup mojo, when Brandon Nimmo led off the first with a walk (though, at the speed he hustles to the bag, it's more like a jog). Then Cespedes, who was 14-for-46 with five homers against the Phillies last year, kept tradition alive, jolting a 2-and-2 curveball from Aaron Nola to the second deck in left for a 2-0 lead.
Things took a turn for the strange in the third, when the Phillies got two on with one out. Williams' fielder's choice brought Cesar Hernandez in to cut the Mets' lead to 2-1, and Rhys Hoskins walked to put runners on first and third. Hoskins attempted to steal second, but a pitchout had him dead to rights _ that is, until Adrian Gonzalez decided to forgo the tag and throw home. Carlos Santana was safe with the tying run, and though the Mets said that Hoskins ran out of the baseline trying to evade the tag, the play was non-reviewable.
