Juan Soto rounded the bases as the lights flickered and the fans roared. Finally, he had hit a home run in his new home ballpark.
Or so it seemed.
Soto’s monstrous three-run shot to the second deck in right field off Aaron Nola was called back after a review. At the last second, the ball had hooked foul.
The Mets were already up 2-0 and went on to win 5-4, thanks to a three-run homer by Francisco Lindor in the seventh inning — his second of the game, third in two days and his fourth since Friday.
It was the first meeting between the two NL East rivals since the Mets (16-7) eliminated the Phillies (13-10) from the playoffs in five games of the Division Series last fall, and the first meeting between the two with Soto wearing blue and orange. But the Mets rely on the depth of their lineup instead of one hitter.
“I give credit to everybody,” Lindor said. “I watch everyone and just try to pass the baton, like I’ve been saying all along. One of the best hitters in the game behind me, so just let them do their job. I just try to focus on my process, and then I pass it to them.”
They used three homers and a 10-strikeout, shutout performance from Tylor Megill to win their fifth straight and 10th game at home in 11 tries. Megill matched his career-high mark with 10 strikeouts and now has a 1.09 ERA in five starts.
The big righty avenged an October playoff loss to Philadelphia with 5 2/3 scoreless innings, with the Phillies managing only one hit. They had chances against him with four walks and one hit batter, but Megill (3-2) deftly navigated the only jam he found himself in.
With the bases loaded and two out in the third, struck out cleanup Kyle Schwarber, getting him to swing and miss on two straight changeups after evening the count at 1-1.
“He knows his stuff is good, especially when he’s in the strike zone,” said manager Carlos Mendoza. “We saw it today. Every time he was in the strike zone, he got swings and misses, especially with the fastball today. The fastball-sinker combination today, it had life or hop, [whatever] you want to call it. I just feel like now he knows that when he’s in the strike zone, stuff plays.”
Megill was replaced by right-hander Reed Garrett with one on and one out in the sixth. Garrett was already warm by the time he walked Bryce Harper to lead off the inning. The free passes put a dent in his pitch count, but the Mets were ready. Nick Castellanos popped out to the catcher for the second out, and after Max Kepler singled up the center to put two on, Garrett struck out J.T. Realmuto to end the threat.
“It wasn’t an easy decision there,” Mendoza said. “But once I got Reed Garrett hot, I was just like, ‘OK, I’m going to pull the trigger.’”
Lindor homered off Nola in the bottom of the first. The first at-bat of the game for the home team, it set the tone for the rest of the night. Jesse Winker (2-for-3) led off the bottom of the second with his first of the season, also off Nola (0-5), who was charged with four earned runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings.
The Mets stranded two in the sixth, but didn’t miss in the seventh. Nola got the first out but then put the next two on, forcing the Phillies to go to the bullpen for right-hander Jose Ruiz. Tyrone Taylor narrowly beat out a double play to put runners on the corners.
With two outs and two strikes (1-2), Ruiz threw Lindor a 95 MPH four-seam fastball right over the heart of the plate. Lindor ripped it 412 feet to the center field bleachers. The shortstop is now one of only three shortstops to have hit two or more homers in a game 20 times, joining Alex Rodriguez (33) and Ernie Banks (24).
“Lindor doesn’t get to that if Tyrone Taylor doesn’t bust down the line and beat the double play,” Mendoza said. “It’s a team effort, but Lindor is locked in right now.”
The Phillies rallied in the ninth, with Max Kranick allowing a run on three straight hits after two scoreless innings. Mendoza said he knew they were asking a lot of Kranick, and once it became clear that he didn’t have his same command, he got closer Edwin Diaz up in the bullpen.
Diaz then came in and served up a three-run homer to Bryson Stott with one out, but struck out Trea Turner and Bryce Harper for the save (six).
“He continued to get the job done,” Mendoza said.
Soto has faced criticism from fans and radio hosts alike over his “slow” start to the season. Undoubtedly, a home run would have endeared himself to just about every fan in Flushing had he homered against the Phillies. But slow is a relative term for Soto. One of the best hitters in the game, Soto will have plenty more chances to doom the NL East teams in the next 15 years.
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