Mets Smack Four Homers in 11-3 Drubbing of Phillies

History doesn’t repeat, but it rhymes.

The New York Knicks were in Toronto on Valentine’s Day in 2012. In a tie game at 87 with the clock winding down. Jeremy Lin drilled a three-pointer with less than a second to go. “Linsanity continues!” bellowed announcer Mike Breen.

The New York Mets were in Toronto on Wednesday. Down 1-0 in the ninth and with an 0-2 count, Francisco Lindor drilled a game-tying solo homer to right. “Lindsanity!” exclaimed announcer Gary Cohen.

Lin’s shot helped the Knicks improve to 14-15, which on that date landed them in the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Lindor’s blast helped the Mets improve to 80-66, which entering Friday had them in the final playoff spot in the National League.

The Knicks would go on to make the playoffs that season. The Mets? We’ll see, but they took another step forward Friday in Philadelphia with an 11-3 victory fueled by three, three-run homers.

Francisco Alvarez hit the first of them off the left-field foul pole to break a scoreless tie in the fifth inning and stun a packed Citizens Bank Park. Not to be outdone, Brandon Nimmo launched a three-run homer later in the fifth to make it 6-0 and chase Phillies ace Aaron Nola (12-8).

It was the second six-run inning for the Mets (81-66) in as many games. Alvarez hit a three-run shot in Toronto on Wednesday as well. Harrison Bader added a three-run blast in the eighth inning that extended the lead to 10-0.

Jose Quintana (9-9) hurled seven scoreless innings while allowing just three hits. He fanned four, walked none and watched the defense make some nice plays behind him. The best gem came from Pete Alonso, who made a diving backhanded stop on an in-between hop that was 112 mph off the bat of Kyle Schwarber in the first inning. He went on to flip the ball to Quintana for the out.

Lindor (2-for-4, double) left the game in the seventh inning with lower back soreness, the Mets announced. He fouled a pitch off his foot in the sixth and the trainer looked at him after he was tagged out running the bases to end the inning. He played one inning on defense before being pulled. Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters after the game that they’ll handle his availability on a day-by-day basis, and that he may return to the lineup on Saturday.

Alonso hit his 32nd homer of the year in the ninth after the Phillies (88-59) called on infielder Kody Clemens to pitch. Brandon Marsh hit a three-run homer off Alex Young with two outs in the ninth to spoil the shutout.

On Wednesday in Toronto, Bowden Francis no-hit the Mets for eight innings before the Mets scored six runs in the ninth. On Friday in Philadelphia, Nola no-hit the Mets for four innings before the Mets scored six in the fifth. History didn’t repeat, but it rhymed.

Stat of the Game

The last time the Mets had two home runs that each drove in at least three runs in the same inning was in July 2021 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Alonso connected for a three-run shot and Lindor hit a grand slam in that outing.

Player of the Game

With seven scoreless frames, Quintana has now pitched 15 2/3 consecutive innings without giving up a run. He lowered his ERA to 3.91 in the process.

On Deck

Luis Severino (10-6, 3.74 ERA) will make his 29th start, his most in a season since 2018. Coincidentally, that was also the same year he made his only career start against the Phillies, and struck out nine over seven scoreless innings in that contest. The Phillies’ projected starter is Kolby Allard, who owns a 3.50 ERA across four appearances on the year. The 4:05 p.m. ET game will air on SNY.

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