Wheeler, Phillies hold off Mets 4-3 to boost playoff hopes

NEW YORK (AP) — Cy Young Award candidate Zack Wheeler wore down early, MVP contender Bryce Harper was mostly quiet at the plate and still the Philadelphia Phillies found a way.

“If you want to win four, five games in a row, you want to win series, it has to come from everybody,” infielder Brad Miller said.

With a longshot chance at an October splash still in play, the star-driven Phillies leaned on their depth Friday night.

Wheeler limited the damage in a short but effective outing against his old team, Miller hit a tiebreaking homer and Philadelphia held off the New York Mets 4-3 in a showdown between teams clinging to postseason aspirations.

The Phillies remained 2 1/2 games behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card, with San Diego and Cincinnati also in the way. They were three games behind NL East-leading Atlanta entering Friday, with the Mets another 2 1/2 games back of that.

Miller put the Phillies ahead 2-1 in the fifth with a solo shot, his 19th homer of the season. Freddy Galvis and Matt Vierling had sacrifice flies, and Didi Gregorius padded the lead with a late RBI double. Harper was 1 for 4 with a double a night after homering and driving in four in a wild 17-8 win over the Chicago Cubs.

“I feel like we’re scratching and clawing,” Miller said.

Philadelphia’s bullpen — which leads the majors with 32 blown saves — nearly gave up Wheeler's lead. Archie Bradley allowed two runs in the eighth on doubles by Francisco Lindor, Michael Conforto and Kevin Pillar before Ian Kennedy took over and got the last out of the inning.

Kennedy also pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 23rd save of the season, including seven since a deadline trade from Texas. Brandon Nimmo flied out to the warning track in left-center for the final out, and the Mets (72-76) dropped to 2-15 in...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Wheeler-Phillies-hold-off-Mets-4-3-to-boost-16468873.php