PHILADELPHIA —Jose Alvarado pumped the third strike past Dominic Smith on Friday night, turned towards the outfield and hollered. He started the at-bat by throwing three-straight balls before battling back to strike out the New York Mets left-fielder to finish the eighth inning of a 2-1 win.
But Alvarado was not content to just shout into the night. He turned back to Smith, who was returning to the visiting dugout in South Philly after leaving two runners on base, and yelled at him. Smith turned back and removed his helmet as Alvarado held out his arms and removed his hat.
The inning was over, but Alvarado wasn’t finished yet. Players from both teams stormed toward home plate from the dugouts and bullpen as Alvarado had to be pulled away from the fray. The Phillies were missing four regulars on Friday night, but they still fought to win the series opener.
Alvarado and Smith exchanged words earlier this season when Alvarado hit him in New York. Weeks later, the tension was still simmering. The dugouts emptied again in the bottom of the inning after Mets reliever Miguel Castro walked Rhys Hoskins, who took exception to Castro twice throwing inside.
Bryce Harper had a sore wrist Friday night and J.T. Realmuto was out with a sore hand. Didi Gregorius was placed on the injured list before the game and Jean Segura is still nursing a strained quadriceps. The Phillies played the 26th game of the season with a lineup of reinforcements.
They had just three hits, came up empty in their only five chances with runners in scoring position, and struck out 12 times. Yet the Phillies still won.
Both of their runs scored on a passed ball charged to Mets catcher James McCann after Chase Anderson, the starting pitcher, swung at strike three. It would have been the third out of the second inning, but Marcus Stroman’s slider went to the backstop after Anderson whiffed. Brad Miller and Andrew Knapp scored. Anderson was safe at first. The Phillies, on a night when they would be hard pressed to score, took it.
The Phillies will try Saturday to win back-to-back games for the first time since April 5. Harper, Realmuto, Gregorius, and maybe even Segura could be in the lineup. They returned Friday to .500 for the eighth time this season and have not had a winning record since April 18.
Anderson gave the Phillies five scoreless innings and the one pitch he threw in the sixth inning made him the first pitcher besides Aaron Nola, Zack Wheeler, and Zach Eflin to pitch past the fifth inning. Anderson allowed just one hit, struck out six, and walked two. But perhaps just as importantly, he went 0-for-2 with a strikeout that yielded two runs.
Harper took batting practice and played catch before the game, but his wrist still does not feel right after the 97 mph fastball that hit his face on Wednesday night also cracked his wrist. Gregorius was placed on the COVID-19 injured list as a precaution and Segura is eligible to return as early as Saturday after he tested his quadriceps before the game.
None of the injuries appear to be leading towards long-term absences, but they were felt on Friday when the Phillies charted a lineup without a bulk of their lineup. And then they lost Realmuto two hours before first pitch when his hand felt sore during batting practice.
It seems hard to imagine the Phillies out slugging the Mets with a lineup missing so many regulars. But that wasn’t the only way they could win. They instead took the two runs the Mets gave them and turned it over to their pitchers. Anderson and four relievers -- JoJo Romero, Alvarado, Brandon Kintzler, Alvarado, and Sam Coonrod -- combined for a shutout. The Phillies found a way to fight.
