The fans at Citizen Bank Park got their money’s worth on Friday night. The hometown Philadelphia Phillies hosted the New York Mets for a 14-inning marathon. The Phillies eventually prevailed 6-5.
Philadelphia third baseman Reid Brignac was the hero of the game, smacking a bases-loaded single to left field to drive in the game-winning run.
The Mets got on the board first with three runs in the second inning. First baseman Lucas Duda drove in the first run of the game with a double. Catcher Travis d’Arnaud followed him up with an RBI ground out. Shortstop Ruben Tejada drove in Duda with a single.
Philadelphia got one run back in the bottom of the third inning and then took the lead on left fielder Domonic Brown’s three-run home run in the fourth.
The Mets retook the lead the following inning when right fielder Bobby Abreu drove in two runs on a double to right field.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Phillies once again turned to Brown, who delivered an RBI groundout to tie the game at five. That was the last run to score until the 14th inning.
“The key thing was six relievers didn’t give up a run,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said in his postgame press conference on mlb.com. “It gave us a chance.”
Phillies starter A.J. Burnett went seven innings, giving up five runs on five hits and striking out a season-high 11. Reliever Justin De Fratus recorded the win, pitching two shutout innings.
Mets starter Rafael Montero, making only his fourth Major-League start, lasted 3 2/3 innings. He gave up four runs on seven hits and saw his ERA increase to 5.40.
Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz amassed four hits, one walk and one run scored in the game, according to ESPN.
After splitting the first two games of the five-game set, the two teams will square off on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.