In a rather blasé ballgame on an uncomfortable night, one explosive moment stood out by far among the rest.
Will that moment remain memorable for the duration of this National League East race?
Such a question seemed reasonable after Jake Arrieta, the losing pitcher in the Mets’ 5-1 defeat of the Phillies, went nuclear on his teammates — most notably new guy Bryce Harper, who in turn fell on his sword.
In the wake of Harper getting ejected in the top of the fourth inning for chirping from the dugout about home-plate umpire Mark Carlson’s balls-and-strike calls, the veteran Arrieta said of the $330 million man: “We need him in right field. I don’t care how bad he is. I need him in right field. I need him at the plate. And he wasn’t there. So it hurts.”
Harper, who risked a suspension by storming out of the dugout and bumping his manager, Gabe Kapler, into Carlson, owned up to his mistake.
Said the outfielder: “It just can’t happen. On a game like that against the Mets, division rival, things like that, it can’t happen. For myself and this team as well, we’re a better team with me in the lineup. I’ve got to stay in there.”
The Phillies (12-10), losers of four of their past five games, committed three errors and went hitless in three at-bats with runners in scoring position as they fell into a tie with the Mets (12-10) for first place in the National League East.
“We were flat,” said Arrieta, the 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner. “The dugout was flat. Defense wasn’t good. Didn’t throw the ball well as a staff overall. We got beat.”
Referring to the 1-hour, 35-minute rain delay before first pitch, Arrieta said, “We started at 8:45. I don’t think our guys were ready to play. We’ve got to come out tomorrow ready to play.”
“Yeah, we’ve got to play better, plain and simple,” agreed Harper, the 2015 NL Most Valuable Player. “We’ve got to go out there, and these games matter. They matter now. They matter in September. And we’ve got to go out there tomorrow, put our best foot forward and try to win a ballgame.”
Kapler, overtly acknowledging the importance of having Harper’s back, questioned Carlson’s decision to toss Harper.
“Because there was normal chirping from the dugout that is in every dugout on every single night,” the Phillies’ skipper said. He added: “Our dugout did not agree with a lot of Mark’s calls. I think everybody can go back and look at the game and form their own opinions.”
However, Kapler’s own starting pitcher Arrieta said, “He missed some pitches, but for both sides. … That happens on a nightly basis, usually. The umpire’s gonna miss some calls. So what? Next pitch. We’ve got a game to play.”
They’ve got a slump to end, and their two most accomplished players threw down the gauntlet. The Mets will get to see the response firsthand.