Asdrubal Cabrera Was Golden (Haired)

Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera let everyone know right off the bat the Mets were not going to take a second division club lightly by hitting back-to-back homers to start the bottom of the first.

They also brought their gloves. After Cabrera made a nice play in the fourth, Reyes followed up with a better one:

At the time, it preserved a Bartolo Colon no-hitter. Colon would lose it in the fifth on an Odubel Herrera hustle double. Herrera scored after the Mets gamble of intentionally walking Peter Bourjos, who is hitting .179 in the second half, to get to the pitcher Adam Morgan. Morgan hit an RBI single to close the gap to 2-1. That’s as close as the Phillies would get. 

In the bottom of the fifth, Wilmer Flores made it 6-1 with a grand slam off Morgan:

Once again both Flores and this iteration of the Mets lineup just crushes lefties.  

In the sixth, the Mets would put the game out of reach off Phillies reliever Frank Herrmann. Travis d’Arnaud hit an RBI double, and he would come around to score on Cabrera’s second home run of the game. It was the first time he homered from both sides of the plate. It gave the Mets a 9-1 lead effectively ending the game. 

The Phillies would touch up Colon a bit in the eighth to close the gap to 9-4, but in reality it was just putting lipstick on a pig. Colon was terrific in every way tonight starting with a quick defensive reaction in the first:

He didn’t just help himself in the field, he helped himself at the plate going 2-3 with two runs and a double . . . yes, a double. 

His final line was seven innings, six hits, four runs, four earned, two walks, and six strikeouts. 

On what was a terrific day for the Mets, Cabrera put the capper on the night with a terrific defensive play in the eighth. Reyes tried to bare-hand a ball at third, and he missed it. Cabrera backed him up, and dive to tag out Aaron Altherr. 

  
After a second lackluster appearance by Sean Gilmartin and his bleeding thumb, Terry Collins wasted no time in bringing in Jeurys Familia even though it wasn’t a save situation. Familia got out of the first and second no out jam to preserve the Mets 9-4 win. 

Game Notes: Neil Walker was activated from the paternity list, and he went 1-3 with a run and a walk. T.J. Rivera was sent back down. Jay Bruce returned to the lineup as well, and he went 0-4 with the golden sombrero. Curtis Granderson sat against the left-handed again. 

Pennant Race: The Nationals beat the Rockies 8-5. The Marlins are losing to the Padres 6-3 in the ninth. The Pirates are leading the Brewers 5-4 in the sixth. The Cardinals lead the Athletics 3-1 in the seventh. 

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