PHILADELPHIA >> Take a look at the great moments in the Mets-Phillies rivalry — from Jim Bunning’s Father’s Day perfect game to New York’s epic collapse in the 2007 NL East race, to each team scoring 20-plus runs against the other and all the way to a London series this season — and one thing is missing.
The Mets and Phillies have never faced each other in the playoffs
The 1,081 all-time meetings between the Mets and Phillies since New York’s inception into the National League in 1962 have yielded all kinds of moments for the highlight reel.
None bigger than the start of the best-of-5 NLDS today in Philadelphia.
“It’s a tricky lineup and they’re hot right now,” Philadelphia Game 1 starter Zack Wheeler said. “They’re playing good baseball.”
Pete Alonso used a dose of pumpkin power to hit a three-run homer off Milwaukee closer Devin Williams in the ninth inning to put the Mets up for good in a 4-2 victory over the Brewers on Thursday in the decisive third game of their NL Wild Card Series.
The ninth-inning rally continued New York’s — well, since the Mets are talking pumpkins — Cinderella season. The Mets were 22-33 in late May, but had the best record in baseball the rest of the regular season.
New York is the first team to clinch a postseason spot and a playoff series by winning both games after trailing in the ninth inning or later.
The NL East champion Phillies went 7-6 against the Mets this season, with one notable asterisk. The Phillies lost three of those games when Taijuan Walker started. The beleaguered starter has largely pitched himself out of postseason role, if the former Met even makes the roster.
Unlike Walker, Wheeler has aced his transition from New York to Philadelphia. Wheeler went 44-38 with a 3.77 ERA in 126 starts with the Mets, but missed the 2015 and 2016 seasons following Tommy John surgery. He’s blossomed into a Cy Young Award candidate with the Phillies, winning 55 games over the last four seasons. He went 16-7 with a 2.57 ERA this season.
“I’ve been over here for a while now and there’s no hard feelings, everything has kind of changed over there personnel-wise,” Wheeler said Friday. “There’s no hard feelings, it’s just baseball at this point. But at the end of the day I want to win. “
Wheeler is 5-5 with a 3.56 ERA in 15 starts against the Mets.
Kodai Senga, who has thrown just 5 1/3 major league innings all year, is the surprise Game 1 starter for the Mets
The 31-year-old Japanese pitcher made just one start this season as he dealt with injuries that included tightness in his right triceps. The team’s projected No. 1 starter this year, Senga also was sidelined by a strained left calf.
The Phillies named Cristopher Sánchez (11-9, 3.32 ERA) their Game 2 starter.
One reason to give the nod for a home start to Sánchez is this: He has a 2.21 ERA in Philly this season, compared to a whopping 5.02 ERA on the road.
“It’s really amazing the steps that he’s taken, the growth that he’s had, not only physically, but mentally and emotionally,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “This guy started the year at 92, 93 miles an hour, really commanding the baseball, and now he’s 95, 96, touching 97 and maintaining his command.”
Aaron Nola will start Game 3 for the Phillies. Luis Severino will start for the Mets in Game 2, with Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana the likely starters in New York in Games 3 and 4.
Notable
• Longtime Phillies TV announcer Tom McCarthy is set to shift to the radio for two innings each game on WIP 94.1 FM for the series while his son, Pat McCarthy, handles various radio duties for the Mets on 880 AM in New York.
Tom McCarthy has worked as a Phillies broadcaster for 22 of his 24 years calling baseball games. He worked as the Mets’ radio play-by-play announcer from 2006-07. Tom McCarthy, who has broadcast a wide array of sports, serves as the play-by-play announcer for Phillies’ broadcasts on NBC Sports Philadelphia.