PHILADELPHIA — Jon Niese was running on empty because of the flu, but still managed to command his pitches effectively enough to give the Mets a chance yesterday.
But rallies do not come easily for this team. The two runs produced by the Mets early never became anything more substantial, leaving manager Terry Collins’ crew to head for South Beach in search of the hitting spree that might deliver a respectable finish to this season.
Niese’s six solid innings weren’t enough in a 3-2 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park that snapped the Mets’ four-game winning streak.
“We won two out of three and we’ve got to continue to win two out of three,” said Collins, whose Mets finished 7-2 in this ballpark for the season.
“This is a tough place for us to play and we played good here, but we’ve got to use it to our advantage. We’ve got to take it to the next town and win two of three in the next place. For us to finish where we want to finish, we’ve got to start winning series after series.”
Collins didn’t elaborate on where the Mets want to finish. From team brass’ perspective, the answer is third place, ahead of the Phillies and Marlins. Collins agreed somewhat with that sentiment earlier in the week, but more recently stated he’s focused on getting back to .500.
On either count, the Mets (61-70) will be challenged. The Phillies lead the Mets by one game for third place in the NL East, and returning to .500 seems like a long shot for a team that hasn’t scored more than three runs in consecutive games since Aug. 16 and 17.
Niese (10-8) allowed three earned runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and one walk over six innings. The lefty had been battling the flu for several days heading into yesterday’s start.
“It really didn’t feel like I had much energy out there,” Niese said. “I just battled through it and tried to execute pitches when I needed to.
“You know going in you’re not going to have it, but it’s one of those things where you’ve just got to get it done, execute pitches when you need to.”
The Mets’ best chance to tie the game came in the eighth, when Raul Valdes retired Ike Davis to end the inning after Daniel Murphy and David Wright had singled in succession with two outs.
Ryan Howard’s sacrifice fly in the sixth gave the Phillies a 3-2 lead after Kevin Frandsen’s leadoff double against Niese. Frandsen’s RBI single in the third had pulled the Phillies within 2-1 and Steven Lerud’s run-scoring single an inning later tied the game.
“[Niese] threw the ball fine,” Collins said. “The fact he had to pitch hard to get out of a couple of jams I think wore him out. But he kept us in the game. He threw the ball well.”
Mike Baxter’s homer leading off the game got the Mets started before Scott Hairston hit a solo blast in the second. Baxter’s homer was his second in three games after going 116 at-bats this season without one. Hairston’s homer was his 15th – but first since July 30.
Kyle Kendrick (8-9) allowed only four hits over his final 5 2/3 innings. The Mets had only two runners in scoring position the entire game. But they will take the silver lining.
“It’s always a good road trip when you come into Philly and take two of three,” Niese said. “Today was tough, but we’re in a positive direction right now as far as playing and we’re playing well and hopefully can take it into Miami.”