Mark Canha gets 4 RBI in win against Philadelphia Phillies
Mark Canha wants to stop turning his head when he’s swinging a bat. But he made heads turn all over Citi Field on Wednesday with his home-run heroics.
The Mets outfielder went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and drove in all four runs to help the Mets edge the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-1, and take a key series from their NL East foes.
Canha hadn’t hit a home run since May 3 and had struggled to match his production from last season. The Mets had given him days off in recent weeks as he worked in the cages to tweak his swing. He was confident that a turnaround was coming, and this game could have been the start of that.
With the Mets (29-27) down 1-0 after Edmundo Sosa’s home run in the top of the third, Canha hit one out of the park to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. He drove in two more with a single in the fourth and Carlos Carrasco and the bullpen made the lead stand up.
Carrasco (2-2) seems to have turned a corner after a dismal start to the season and an injured list stint with bone spurs in his elbow. He won his second straight decision Wednesday by limiting the Phillies (25-30) to one run on six hits and one walk. He struck out four over six innings, his second-longest start of the season. He lowered his ERA by a full point, from 6.75 to 5.74.
The Mets are now 15-0 when their starting pitcher gives them at least six innings.
The only jam Carrasco found himself in came in the second inning with two on and two out. Kyle Schwarber hit a grounder up the left side but Brett Baty made a long throw to get the out. In the sixth, he got a boost from Francisco Lindor who turned an unassisted double play for the first two outs of the inning and fielded a grounder from Sosa for the third.
Daniel Vogelbach walked to lead off the third inning and Canha got ahead on Aaron Nola (4-4) before sending a 2-1 cutter over the left-center field stands. Nola, who came in fourth in NL Cy Young Award voting last season, loaded the bases in the fourth. With two outs and two strikes, Canha lined a single through the gap on the right side to score Pete Alonso and Baty.
Left-hander Brooks Raley pitched the seventh inning and pitched out of two-on, two-out trouble. He struck out Bryce Harper to get the first out of the eighth before the Mets went to the bullpen for Adam Ottavino.
The righty held the lead for David Robertson, who escaped his own jam to convert his 10th save of the season and his second in as many nights. With one out, Brandon Marsh hit one toward the mound and Robertson deflected it toward Jeff McNeil at second. He then hit Kody Clemens before striking out Sosa and Bryson Stott to end the threat and the game.