Brown, Mayberry slug Phillies past Mets
NEW YORK -- There are few infields in baseball with the offensive track record of the Philadelphia Phillies'. Their outfielders, on the other hand, are still in the process of proving themselves as major leaguers.
More afternoons like Saturday, though, will go a long way towards solidifying the reputations of Domonic Brown, John Mayberry and Laynce Nix, the trio of Phillies outfielders who combined for two homers and five RBI to lead Philadelphia to a 9-4 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
"That's good, that's definitely good," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said. "That's what we've been waiting for. Now we've got to make it more often."
Brown's three-run homer and Mayberry's home run on consecutive pitches fueled a five-run fifth inning for the Phillies, who set a season high in runs scored. Philadelphia had scored just 14 runs in its previous five games combined.
Brown, Mayberry and Nix finished 4-for-13 with two walks. Phillies outfielders entered Saturday hitting .205 with three homers and 17 RBI.
"We've got to do a better job, man," Brown said. "Especially with runners in scoring position. We're just trying to do a little too much, Today was a different outcome. That's what we're capable of doing."
Michael Young had three hits for the second consecutive game while Brown and Jimmy Rollins had two hits apiece for the Phillies (11-14).
Rollins, Chase Utley, Young and Ryan Howard -- the infielders who comprise the top four of the Phillies order and who entered the season with a combined 6,629 major league hits -- combined to score six runs.
Rookie Jonathan Pettibone earned his first major league win by allowing three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts over five innings. He also singled for his first career hit in the third and scored the Phillies' first run.
"I felt like every inning I was in some sort of circumstance, struggling somewhere," Pettibone said. "But I was able to make a few good pitches at certain times. My teammates picked me up offensively and defensively."
The Mets (10-12) lost their third in a row and scored four runs or fewer for the fifth time in the last six games. Shawn Marcum took the loss in his Mets debut after allowing three runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts in four innings.
Mets manager Terry Collins said he wasn't going to deliver a "rah-rah" speech to try and fire up the Mets before Sunday's series finale.
"I don't talk to them every night, that's football stuff -- we play every day, they don't need to hear it every day," Collins said. "They're very aware of the situation.
"We've just got to rise up. And when we've needed to, we've done it thus far. So we've got to do it again."
The Phillies led 3-2 entering the fifth, when they turned the game into a rout with four hits and a walk against Robert Carson over a six-batter sequence.
Rollins hit a leadoff double and Young drew a one-out walk. Rollins came home when Howard singled through the legs of shortstop Ruben Tejada, who was shielded by Rollins.
Brown then crushed a 2-1 pitch from Carson well over the right-field fence and Mayberry followed with a homer to left.
The back-to-back homers were the second of the season for the Phillies. Howard and Young homered in consecutive at-bats off the Mets' Dillon Gee on April 9.
"We haven't been hitting in those right situations to knock those runs in," Manuel said. "Today, we did. We had a little bit of everything. We had some sacrifice flies (by Howard in the third), we had some doubles, we had some homers (that) we were fortunate enough to get with guys on base."
The fifth-inning outburst marked the second time in as many days the Phillies scored at least four runs in an inning. Philadelphia scored all four of its runs in the sixth inning of a 4-0 win on Friday night.
Jordany Valdespin and David Wright had RBI doubles, Ike Davis had a sacrifice fly and John Buck hit a ninth-inning homer for the Mets, who stranded four runners in scoring position in the first five innings.
Wright's RBI double pulled the Mets within 8-3 in the bottom of the fifth, but Raul Valdes and Chad Durbin retired the next nine batters before Buck homered leading off the ninth against Jeremy Horst.
NOTES: To make room for Marcum on the 25-man roster, the Mets optioned left-handed reliever Josh Edgin to Class AA Binghamton. Collins said Edgin was sent to Binghamton and not Class AAA Las Vegas partially so that he could be with the team almost immediately if they needed to recall him. Binghamton is three hours north of Queens but also the hitter-friendly conditions of the Pacific Coast League aren't conducive to restoring a pitcher's confidence. Edgin soared from Binghamton to the majors last year, when he had 30 strikeouts in 25 2/3 innings for the Mets, but he was 0-1 with a 9.83 ERA in 11 games this season. ... Collins said rookie Juan Lagares will likely draw his second career start Sunday when the Mets oppose left-hander Cole Hamels. Lagares was recalled from Las Vegas on Tuesday and started against the Los Angeles Dodgers the next day. ... Pettibone's father, Jay, played under Phillies manager Charlie Manuel at Class AA Orlando in 1984. ... Phillies outfielder Ben Revere missed his third straight game with a sore quad. ... Phillies starting catcher Carlos Ruiz returns Sunday from a 25-game suspension for amphetamine use. Manuel said Friday that Ruiz would start upon his return. Ruiz hit .325 with 16 homers and 68 RBI last year. Phillies catchers this year have hit .209 with two homers and nine RBI in 86 at-bats.