PHILADELPHIA — This felt like an oncoming disaster.
J.D. Davis had just botched a chopper, setting up the Phillies. They had two men on base, nobody out and the middle of the order coming up.
Escaping the third inning without trailing seemed like a best-case scenario. Chris Bassitt, however, did better than that. He held onto the lead.
He struck out Bryce Harper, retired Nick Castellanos on a fly ball and got Rhys Hoskins to pop up. Crisis averted, and any hope the Phillies had of sweeping the doubleheader was gone.
Bassitt didn’t allow another base runner until the sixth inning — he retired 11 in a row before a Castellanos double — and the Mets cruised to a 6-1, Game 2 victory Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, extending their season-long streak of not losing a series to nine.
An offseason trade acquisition from the A’s, Bassitt continued his strong start as a Met, giving up just five hits while walking one over 5 ²/₃ innings for his fourth victory. The lone Phillies run scored upon him came on a Jean Segura solo homer to the opposite field in the second.
Chris Bassitt pitches Sunday during the Mets’ win over the Phillies.APThe big moment came in the third, with the Mets holding a 2-1 lead. Kyle Schwarber singled to start the inning and Alec Bohm reached on the Davis error. Harper, who had homered in the opener of the twin bill, stepped to the plate. Bassitt got ahead of him with fastballs and put him away with a 1-2, 72 mph curveball down and in. He got Castellanos out with a fastball and went back to slow stuff to retire Hoskins, expertly mixing his pitches as he has all season.
Bassitt has now allowed one earned run or fewer in four of his six starts as a Met. He has a 2.45 ERA — the lowest in the starting rotation, even lower than Max Scherzer’s 2.92. The Mets have won four of his six starts, and he has shut down strong lineups belonging to the Cardinals, Braves and Phillies.
His addition to the rotation has been essential to the Mets’ success, a key part of their strong start. The Mets haven’t missed Jacob deGrom quite as much with Bassitt delivering strong performances every fifth day. That trend continued on Sunday.
