Sports
Mets settle for split vs. Phillies after getting shut down by Bailey Falter
PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have been no sweat for the Mets this season, but when the Phillies start somebody named Bailey Falter, look out.
A rookie, Falter accomplished something Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader that neither Wheeler nor Nola have been able to do against the Mets this year: He beat them.
The Mets managed just two hits over six innings against the left-hander and three total in a 4-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Earlier in the day, the Mets jumped on Wheeler and rolled to an 8-2 victory in the first game.
The Mets are 13-5 against the Phillies in 2022 and will finish the season series on Sunday. Most notably, the Mets are 9-0 in games the Phillies’ top guns, Wheeler and Nola, have started against them.
But the Mets managed just two singles against Falter, in his ninth major league start.
“His ball was getting on us,” Francisco Lindor said. “It seemed like his fastball had a little bit more on it than we expected. It had more ride on it. We didn’t make the adjustment quick enough.”
David Peterson lasted 4 ²/₃ innings for the Mets in the nightcap and allowed three earned runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Stephen Nogosek contributed to keeping those numbers respectable by entering with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth and striking out Matt Vierling.
Jeff McNeil’s lunging catch an inning later on J.T. Realmuto’s bloop with the bases loaded kept the Mets’ deficit at 3-1. Rhys Hoskins stroked an RBI single in the eighth (the run was charged to lefty Rob Zastryzny) that gave the Phillies a 4-1 lead.
Alec Bohm’s two-run double in the third accounted for most of the damage against Peterson, who had last started for the Mets on July 7. Realmuto delivered a two-out RBI single in the first after Kyle Schwarber’s leadoff double.
“They are a pesky team and they put up good at-bats,” Peterson said.
Falter’s wild pitch in the first inning allowed Lindor to race home from third with the game’s first run. Starling Marte, after he was hit by a pitch, was thrown out attempting to steal second base, costing the Mets a scoring opportunity. The Mets’ next best shot came in the ninth, when David Robertson, in his second inning of work, allowed a double to McNeil and walked Mark Canha before Brett Baty grounded into a force out to end the game.
“We had a good first game and then we couldn’t string much together,” manager Buck Showalter said. “We had a couple of opportunities … they have got some good guys down in their bullpen, we knew it was going to be a challenge after that.”
The Mets spread around the load offensively in Game 1, with Marte’s walk in the sixth and RBI single in the ninth contributing to two scoring rallies. Marte reached base four times.
The Mets were already ahead 4-1 in the ninth, when they received an RBI double from Brandon Nimmo before Marte’s single brought in another run. Darin Ruf and McNeil each added an RBI single to continue the rampage.
The Mets received four strong innings from Trevor Williams in a spot start, before Seth Lugo, Joely Rodriguez, Adam Ottavino and Sam Clay handled the final five.
Tomas Nido is on the COVID list and still not expected to return to the team for a few days, so Michael Perez has received chances as James McCann’s backup at catcher. Perez contributed with both his bat and his glove in the first game.
Perez drove in the first two runs of the game with a single against Wheeler in the fifth, an inning after he swipe-tagged Bryson Stott out to stop a delayed steal attempt of home.
For the second time in six days, the Mets beat Wheeler. The right-hander was removed after 5 ¹/₃ innings in which he allowed four earned runs on five hits with four walks. At Citi Field last Sunday, he allowed six earned runs over six innings. Wheeler’s ERA over those last two starts has jumped from 2.63 to 3.07.
Williams extended his scoreless streak to 24 innings, holding the Phillies without an extra-base hit over his four-plus frames. Overall, the right-hander allowed four hits and two walks over 71 pitches.
“Your goal is to try to win both of them,” Lindor said, referring to the games in the doubleheader. “But if you can at least get one it’s a good day.”
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The NBA’s longest win streak is finally over after the Knicks suffered their first loss in nine games on Wednesday. Expect New York to start a new streak Friday against a team it dominated the last time they faced off.
The Knicks were playing like the best team in basketball during their lengthy win streak, posting the league’s best net rating (+17.3) with six double-digit victories in that eight-game run. That included a 23-point beat-down of the Bulls exactly a week ago, when New York drained 17 3s and saw three players score at least 22 points in an easy win.
Knicks vs. Bulls (7:30 p.m. Eastern) prediction: Knicks -5.5 (Caesars Sportsbook)
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That game marked the worst offensive showing of the season for Chicago (91 points), which has struggled with chemistry and spacing issues all year long. The Bulls rank dead last in 3-point attempts per game (28.8) and third-worst in offensive rebounding rate (23.6%), which leaves very few easy scoring chances for one of the NBA’s worst offenses.
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It’s the opposite story for the Knicks, who boast three legitimate shot-creators and also rank among the league leaders in points in the paint. Julius Randle (31 points) relentlessly attacked this Chicago defense in their first meeting before allowing RJ Barrett (27 points) to lead the way in the second affair — his fourth of five straight games with at least 22 points.
I don’t see this Knicks attack slowing down against one of the league’s most inconsistent defenses. And until Zach LaVine returns to his All-Star form, I’m skeptical of the Bulls’ offense showing up on Friday, too.
Knicks vs. Bulls pick: Knicks -5.5 (Caesars Sportsbook)
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After starting the season 21-4-1, it looked like the New Jersey Devils were going to run away with the Metropolitan Division as one of the very best teams in the NHL.
Not only were the Devils cruising, but their underlying metrics were elite. New Jersey was the best 5-on-5 team through the first quarter of the season.
Three weeks and one six-game losing streak later, and the Devils have fallen back to earth and are now two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes in the Metropolitan Division.
The Devils were able to get off the schneid with a win over Florida on Wednesday, but the task doesn’t get any easier with the league-leading Boston Bruins in town.
New Jersey is a slight +102 home underdog against Boston starting at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and the NHL Network.
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Bruins vs. Devils prediction
Even though the Devils have struggled to get results over their last 10 contests, their underlying numbers don’t suggest there’s all that much wrong with how they’re playing. New Jersey isn’t posting the pace-setting numbers it did through Thanksgiving, but it’s still skating to the fifth-best expected goals rate and high-danger scoring chance rate in the league over its last 10 contests.
Those numbers should help ease any sense of panic that New Jersey could continue to fall back further into the pack as we head toward the New Year.
So if New Jersey is still tilting the ice in the right direction, what is the issue for the Devils?
For one thing, the Devs are struggling to find the back of the net like they did when they were rolling. New Jersey has scored just nine goals in its last five games, and four of those tallies came in a 4-2 victory over Florida on Wednesday. Over their last 10 games, the Devils rank 25th in the NHL with a 6.56% shooting percentage.
Additionally, the Devils are not getting the goaltending needed to stabilize them. New Jersey’s netminders were always thought to be the team’s biggest weakness, and that has started to show lately as the Devils rank 23rd in the NHL in 5-on-5 save percentage over the last 10 games.
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The Bruins, meanwhile, continue to roll. Boston is 7-1-2 over its last 10 contests and ranks third in the league over that span in expected goals rate and fourth in high-danger chance percentage. The Bruins pace the NHL with a +54 goal differential, which is 25 goals better than the team in second (Toronto).
But as impressive as Boston has been over its first 31 games of the season, the Bruins are playing on a back-to-back on Friday, while the Devils were off on Thursday night.
The Bruins are the better team in a vacuum, but this is a good buy-low spot on the Devils, who are still playing solid hockey but are just not getting the results.
Devils vs. Bruins pick
New Jersey Devils +102 (FanDuel)
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