|
 As it turned out, it was exactly where Bourjos needed to be, as
far as the Phillies were concerned.
Bourjos drove in the winning run with a two-out infield single in
the bottom of the 11th inning, lifting Philadelphia to a 5-4 victory
over the Mets.
"It's great to salvage a win from these guys, as well as they've
been swinging the bats," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
The Mets hit 10 home runs in winning the first two games of the
three-game series, and they added two more Wednesday, back-to-back
shots in the fifth inning by Yoenis Cespedes and Lucas Duda.
The Phillies, meanwhile, scored 37 runs in 15 games before
Wednesday, equaling the major leagues' lowest total. They had just
100 hits, their fewest in that span in the modern era (since 1900),
and had not had as many as 10 in any game, also their longest
drought to open a season in the modern era.
Mackanin, not a proponent of hitting the pitcher eighth, decided to
give that a try.
"Whether it's right or wrong, I don't know," he said before the
game. "I'm trying something different."
 It was the first time a Philadelphia pitcher hit eighth since June
1, 1979, when Steve Carlton batted ahead of Bud Harrelson.
Bourjos, signed off waivers by the Phillies in December after
spending two years in St. Louis, was unbothered by the batting-order
move. He was, however, bothered by the fact that he began the night
hitting .167.
"Getting off to a start like this has been tough," he said. "It's
not fun."
His RBI single in the seventh forged a 4-4 tie.
In the 11th, Philadelphia's Freddy Galvis doubled off Hansel Robles
(0-1) with one out. David Lough was intentionally walked. Both
runners advanced on a wild pitch, and pinch hitter Emmanuel Burriss
flied out to short center field.
Bourjos then bounced Robles' 0-2 pitch down the third base line.
Mets third baseman David Wright backhanded the ball but bounced his
throw belatedly to first base, allowing Bourjos to reach and Galvis
to score.
"I knew he was a fast runner," Wright said. "It was a
catch-and-release type of thing. I knew the only way I would get him
was if he stumbled out of the box."
Bourjos, for his part, was well aware of Wright's defensive
abilities.
"I didn't feel comfortable," he said, "until I touched the bag."
Bourjos was credited with a hit, the Phillies' 10th of the night.
Jeanmar Gomez (2-0) pitched two scoreless innings in relief to earn
the victory. In all, the Philadelphia bullpen blanked the Mets over
6 2/3 innings and recorded 11 of the Phillies' 17 strikeouts.
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"When you strike out 17 times, you might have been swinging at balls
out of the zone," New York manager Terry Collins said. "That's what
happens when you see quality pitching."
Mets starter Bartolo Colon worked six innings and allowed three runs
and four hits while striking out four and walking one.
Hellickson went 4 1/3 innings and surrendered four runs and 10 hits
while striking out six, walking one and hitting a batter.
It appeared New York's Asdrubal Cabrera hit a three-run homer when
his drive to right bounced off the top of the out-of-town scoreboard
and into the stands with two men aboard in the second inning.
After a replay review, however, it was ruled that a fan touched the
ball, and Cabrera was awarded a ground-rule double. That drove in
Duda, who led off the inning with a double.
Neil Walker, who singled earlier in the inning, scored on a wild
pitch by Hellickson, making it 2-0.
Galvis tied it with his first homer of the season, a two-run shot
off Colon in the bottom of the second, and the Phillies claimed a
3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly by Lough in the fourth.
With one out in the fifth, however, Cespedes lined Hellickson's 2-1
curveball into the seats in left for his fifth homer of the season,
his second of the series. Duda followed with a shot off the facing
of the upper deck in right to put the Mets ahead 4-3.
NOTES: Mets 2B Neil Walker went 4-for-5, raising his average to
.293. ... New York 1B Lucas Duda homered in his third consecutive
game, the second time in his career he has done that. ... The Mets
hit back-to-back homers in all three games in the series. ... The
Phillies designated LHP James Russell for assignment and selected
the contract of RHP Andrew Bailey from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Russell gave up nine runs in 4 1/3 innings for the Phillies. Bailey
went 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA in four appearances for Lehigh Valley. ...
The Mets hit 17 home runs in their previous five games, including
six Tuesday in an 11-1 victory over the Phillies. According to the
Elias Sports Bureau, that is the most homers in a five-game span in
club history. The previous mark was 16 from Aug. 19-24, 2015.
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