Mets bash team-record eight homers, rout Phils

[August 25, 2015]  (The Sports Xchange) - Second baseman Wilmer Flores hit two of the Mets' franchise-record eight homers and drove in five runs on Monday to welcome back third baseman David Wright as New York cruised to a 16-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.

It was the Mets' fourth consecutive victory and helped them increase their lead in the National League East to 5-1/2 games over the idle Washington Nationals.

Sean Gilmartin (3-1) earned the victory by pitching 3-1/3 scoreless innings in relief of an ineffective Jacob deGrom.

Wright, who sat out the previous 115 games, first due to a hamstring injury and then because of lumbar stenosis, led off the second inning with a homer off Philadelphia starter Adam Morgan, and he finished 2-for-5. He also committed two errors.

"It couldn't have been any better for me, personally, my first at-bat," he said.

"There's some things I need to do better. There's some things I did well, but it's a good feeling to help the team a little bit more than I hurt the team tonight."

Flores, catcher Travis D'Arnaud, first baseman Daniel Murphy and right fielder Michael Cuddyer all had three hits, with d'Arnaud, Cuddyer and Murphy each hitting homers.

Center fielder Juan Lagares and left fielder Yoenis Cespedes also homered for New York, who trailed 7-2 after three innings.

Flores' second homer, a three-run blast off Philadelphia reliever Hector Neris (2-1) in a four-run fifth inning, gave the Mets an 8-7 lead they did not relinquish.

"Every once in a while you run into these lopsided games, but this was disappointing," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said. "It was embarrassing. Not what we wanted to see."

(Compiled by Greg Stutchbury)

[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.