Cespedes, Syndergaard help Mets rout Phils

Syndergaard matched his career low for hits allowed, yielding only two in seven innings.

The Phillies felt better about the idea of offering the soon-to-be free agent a qualifying offer, and should he leave as a free agent this winter, recouping the compensation draft pick as a result. A contending team could have a greater need for pitching than they did a month ago, and they’d need to acquire Hellickson before September 1 in order for him to be eligible for a postseason roster.

Mets: LHP Steven Matz (shoulder) threw a bullpen and is expected to throw another one before coming off the disabled list to start Thursday against Miami rather than Wednesday, Collins said.

“Tonight”, manager Pete Mackanin said, “was embarrassing”. The trio, which occupied the top three spots in the lineup in each of the last two games, is a combined 13-for-23 with five homers, nine RBIs and 10 runs scored against the Phillies. In six innings, he allowed five runs on seven hits while striking out seven and walking two. In 438 plate appearances for the Mets this year, the 30-year old shortstop is having a nice season, slashing.269/.320/.444 with 16 home runs. They’re hot right now.

“I talked to him this morning, and he needs a lot of time to get it stretched and loosened up”, Collins said, adding that Walker was available to pinch hit. Then I fell behind and had three walks in four innings.

Hellickson didn’t have his good control, working at a painfully slow and deliberate pace for most of the night while nibbling at the edges.

The Mets now trail the Cardinals by 2.5 games in the wild card race after the Cardinals lost to the Oakland A’s.

Walker’s home run in the eighth inning was his 23rd, which ties his career high for a single season. But since the All-Star break, their starting pitching has been just as terrible.

Asdurbal Cabera hit a 2 run homer in the 3rd inning. They have won six of their last seven games, and have scored 76 runs spanning their last 12 contests.

Perhaps the loss was predictable, considering the home team’s lineup.

The Mets have gotten the best of the Phillies in head-to-head matchups this season, going 7-4.

Over at Citi Field on Monday, the Miami Marlins will be visiting the New York Mets in Major League Baseball action.

Asdrubal Cabrera answered in the bottom of the inning with his third home run in two nights.

Syndergaard also hit a double – his sixth extra-base hit of the season (one shy of Tom Seaver’s 1972 record for most extra-base hits by a Mets pitcher) – and ducked out of the way of a Cespedes foul ball, just before his home run. “So it’s hard to figure out. But after that, nothing”, Mackanin said.

The Cubs’ four-game winning streak ended behind the shortest outing of the season from Jason Hammel (13-7) (see full recap). “We’ve just got to regroup”.

“We’ll have to continue to monitor how they feel each day”, the manager said.