*Photo from the Philadelphia Inquirer*
Big ben? Big game. Bryce Harper homered, Whit Merrifield homered and drove in 3 runs, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the New York Mets with a 7-2 victory Saturday afternoon in London.
This year marks the 3rd edition of MLB's London Series, with the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees playing the inaugural games in 2019 and the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals squaring off last year. Home of the premier league club West Ham, London Stadium becomes a baseball field for two games this weekend.
It also became another venue for the Phillies to dominate in. Playing their first game outside North America, the Phillies picked up their 4th straight game and have wins in 7 of their last 10, improving to a major league best 45-19 at this point of the season.
Starling Marte got the Mets on the board first, hitting an RBI double in the first inning that scored JD Martinez. In the top of the 4th inning, Harper equaled the score for the Phillies, hitting a solo home run and finishing it off with a soccer style slide in front of the dugout. Edmundo Sosa added an RBI single to make it 2-1.
Harper said of his slide that "I love the moment, I love the opportunity. I was able to do it. I was just wondering if I would actually do it when I crossed home plate because I had been talking about it. I think my only fear was if I got caught on the turf with my knees. But it didn’t happen."
Later in the inning, it was Merrifield's turn, hitting a 3 run home run to extend the Phillies lead to 5-1. Kyle Schwarber tacked on with an RBI single to make it 6-1 after 4 innings. Martinez scored Francisco Lindor in the 5th with a groundout to make it 6-2. Nick Castellanos made it 7-2 Phillies in the 8th with a solo home run to left field.
Merrifield said of his homer that "I feel like I’ve left the whole Premier League on base the past couple months. I finally made a good swing on a good pitch and did something good for the team. It’s what I’m here to do. I haven’t done a great job of that, but we’re the best team in baseball on a historic run. Hopefully, I can gain some momentum from that. There’s a long season left. Really, the season starts in October. That’s what the end goal is."
Ranger Suarez allowed two runs on 8 hits and a walk, striking out 6 in 5 2/3 innings in his start for the Phillies. Orion Kerkering handled the next 1 1/3 innings while Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Ruiz pitched an inning apiece to seal the win.
Sean Manaea lasted 3 2/3 innings in his start for the Mets, allowing 6 runs. Danny Young allowed a run in 2/3 of an inning while Sean Reid-Foley, Adrian Houser, Adam Ottavino, and Jake Diekman held the Phillies scoreless out of the bullpen.
The second and final game of the London Series takes place on Sunday. Taijuan Walker is the starting pitcher for the Phillies against Jose Quintana of the Mets.
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