NEW YORK — Alex McFarlane decided to challenge him.
The rookie reliever inherited a runner from Cristopher Sánchez in the seventh on Sunday, and allowed two singles to flip the Mets’ lineup back over. To get out of the jam, he now had to contend with New York’s biggest power threat: Juan Soto.
But in the two months that McFarlane has been a mainstay in the Phillies bullpen, he’s been put in a lot of tough situations. Soto, even with his 1.001 OPS against righties like McFarlane, was hardly any different.
“Big spot,” McFarlane said. “Just went at him.”
He attacked Soto with three straight heaters, dialing it up to 100 mph to blow it by the Mets slugger for the strikeout. McFarlane stranded the tying run at first base in a key moment in the Phillies’ rain-soaked 7-2 win over the Mets, as the club shrank its magic number to clinch the playoffs to three.
McFarlane’s performance, which lowered his ERA to 2.35, was also significant in light of the recent turmoil in the bullpen. The Phillies optioned Orion Kerkering to triple-A Lehigh Valley earlier on Sunday after his second-half struggles reached a boiling point. Brooks Raley has allowed at least one run in his last four appearances. Jonathan Bowlan has been progressing, but is still down with a groin strain. The bullpen has been hanging by a thread, but McFarlane again proved his mettle.
Interim manager Don Mattingly lifted Sánchez after 98 pitches and one out in the seventh — to Sánchez’s visible frustration — to allow McFarlane to face a pocket of right-handers at the bottom of the Mets order.
NL wild-card standings
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But New York wound up using two pinch-hitting lefties, who both singled to drive in the inherited runner, bringing up switch-hitting Francisco Lindor and then Soto.
“Obviously gave up a couple hits on the breaking ball, and then just kind of popped up Lindor, and then attacked Soto,” Mattingly said. “First time probably seeing him, it’s a kind of advantage our guy. Didn’t quite know the movement. Just coming right after guys.”
And McFarlane wasn’t the only rookie to come through. An inning later, Justin Crawford delivered a three-run triple with a line drive that split the Mets outfielders. Even a minor collision with an umpire on the base paths couldn’t stop J.T. Realmuto from scoring from first base.
Mattingly was planning to bring McFarlane back out for the eighth as yet another test for the 25-year-old as the playoffs near, but Crawford’s big hit gave the Phillies plenty of separation and Chase Shugart took the ball instead.
Crawford helped out defensively as well, recovering from an initial misread on a liner from Bo Bichette to make a sliding grab. Bryson Stott also made the catch on a fly ball while falling down for the second out.
Sánchez turned in 6⅓ innings to reach 200 on the season for the second time in his career. The lefty threw his changeup less than normal for him — just 26% of the time, compared to his season average of 37% — but filled the strike zone with his fastball. Three of his six total strikeouts came on his slider.
“I think I looked way better today,” Sánchez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “I mean, changeup was working and the slider was working as well.”
He made some mechanical changes since his previous start against the Nationals, when he gave up five runs on eight hits. Sánchez has been doing extra work with the Phillies training staff to help him feel smoother on the mound, and he thought it paid off Sunday.
“We’ve also been working on some mobility, working on my body, and adding some mobility to it,” Sánchez said.
Bichette spoiled the shutout in the sixth inning with his 17th homer of the year. Sánchez had him in an 0-2 count, but Bichette fouled off six straight pitches until he got a slider over the plate.
Mattingly said the decision to pull Sánchez in the seventh was with the bigger picture of the postseason in mind, wanting to keep his pitch count in the 90 range. As he walked off the mound, Sánchez let out a yell in frustration.
“That’s just me, just part of who I am and what I do on the field when I’m on the mound, and trying to stay in competition right there,” Sánchez said. “So that’s just me. That’s how I felt. I wanted just to give the team the best chance, put them in a good position to win.”
The Phillies led all game, jumping on Mets right-hander Jonah Tong early. Kyle Schwarber started the first and third innings by drawing a walk, and both times it sparked a rally from the top of the order. He was aggressive on the base paths, successfully tagging up on a Luis Arraez sacrifice fly to left field in the first inning, and then scoring from first base on a double from Trea Turner in the third.
Schwarber finished with four walks while Turner worked two. In the four-game series in Queens, Turner finished 4-for-13 (.308) to go with six total walks.
“We need him to get on base,” Mattingly said of Turner. “When he’s on base, we’re better.”
Brandon Marsh struck out three times in his first three plate appearances, once looking, but saw a positive result in the eighth inning with a single off Kodai Senga.
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