Cristopher Sanchez, surging Phillies seek to fluster Mets

The New York Mets have lost their first two games against the Philadelphia Phillies this week -- and now they have to face one of the best pitchers in baseball.

Cristopher Sanchez will get the nod for the Phillies on Wednesday evening when they continue their four-game home series with the Mets.

Sanchez (12-5, 2.60 ERA) is trending toward a high finish in the National League Cy Young Award race. His last two starts particularly have been impressive.

The left-hander closed August by giving up one run in seven innings against the Atlanta Braves, and he repeated that stat line in his first September start -- a 9-3 win over the Miami Marlins on Friday.

"He was really efficient," Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said after that outing. "(His) strike-throwing ability (made him effective). Changeup was really good, had a lot of swing-and-miss, had a lot of soft contact. It was good that we had that lead and could get him out after seven. ... He's gonna be going on normal rest next time, so it was good."

Sanchez has not enjoyed his two starts against the Mets this season. First, he left after two innings due to forearm tightness on April 22. Then he was torched for a season-high six runs in 5 1/3 innings on Aug. 25.

Sanchez is 2-4 with a 4.63 ERA in 11 career appearances (eight starts) against New York.

The Mets will summon right-hander Clay Holmes (11-7, 3.61) to make his first career start against the Phillies. He has faced them five times in relief in his career, posting a 6.75 ERA without a decision.

Holmes is coming off a 6-2 defeat against the Detroit Tigers last Wednesday in a game in which he gave up three runs (two earned) in 4 2/3 innings. He has logged more than five frames only once in his last eight starts, but he said he still felt good after his most recent outing.

"I came out today and my stuff was really good -- probably some of the best stuff I have had early on and kind of really throughout," Holmes said. "I feel like overall I am in a good place. It's just competing. And this is the time of year where you really have to execute and each pitch matters."

Since getting swept by the Mets at Citi Field last month, Philadelphia (85-60) has won nine of 12 games to take a nine-game lead over second-place New York (76-69) in the National League East. The Mets have lost eight of their last 12 games but still hold the third and final wild-card spot in the league.

The Phillies' 9-3 win on Tuesday was highlighted by Kyle Schwarber's 50th home run of the season. That marked just the second time in franchise history that a player has hit 50 in a season. Ryan Howard hit 58 in 2006.

"It's such a cool thing to do something like that, a nice round number," Schwarber said of his milestone. "But there's still so much baseball to be had."

Ranger Suarez struck out a career-high 12 hitters in six scoreless innings for Philadelphia on Tuesday. Mark Vientos hit a homer for New York, while Pete Alonso and Juan Soto each struck out three times.

"No, we will (make the postseason). We're good," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. "But we've got to play better. We've got to fight."

--Field Level Media