Mets' clutch hitting the difference in 5-1 win over Phillies

The Mets continued to roll, defeating the Philadelphia Phillies 5-1 at Citi Field on Tuesday night, extending their current winning streak to six games and raising their home record to 11-1.

They also extended their lead in the NL East over the Phillies to four games.

Here are the takeaways….

-The pitching continues to be a remarkable storyline for this team. Already leading MLB in team ERA, the Mets used four pitchers, beginning with Griffin Canning, to hold the Phillies’ ever-dangerous offense to just one run.

Their staff has allowed only 10 home runs all season, easily the lowest number in the majors.

–Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso continued to lead the way offensively.

 Lindor went 3-for-5, scored a run and drove in another, and raised his batting average to .301 as the notoriously slow starter is enjoying perhaps the best April of his career.

Alonso, meanwhile, went 2-for-4 to raise his batting average to .349, and his two-out, seventh-inning double off the wall in left drove in Lindor to give the Mets a 3-1 lead that soon went to 5-1 on Luis Torrens’ two-run single.

Alonso is now hitting .444 (4-for-9) with two outs and runners in scoring position — quite a turnaround from the problems he had in the clutch last season.

-Canning delivered another strong start, albeit over only five innings. The Phillies put eight runners on base against him, but the right-hander repeatedly made pitches to get out of trouble, limiting the damage to one run.

Canning threw 84 pitches and had to work hard to get through the fifth. With runners on second and third and two outs, he struck out Nick Castellanos swinging at an outside slider.

As a result, Canning lowered his ERA to 3.12 after five starts and continues to be a nice surprise for the Mets.

Also, Canning did not allow a home run, and so Mets starters have now gone 12 games at home this season without allowing a long ball. It’s the longest such streak to start a season in franchise history.

In addition, their starters have gone 11 straight games, home and away, without allowing a homer. It’s the longest such streak for them since 2014.

–Huascar Brazoban, AJ Minter, Ryne Stanek, and Jose Butto all pitched scoreless innings in relief, as the Mets’ bullpen continues to excel.

-Phillies starter Christopher Sanchez figured to be a tough matchup, coming off a 12-strikeout outing against the San Francisco Giants that featured a whopping 23 swings-and-misses against his changeup alone. That was the most whiffs against a changeup in a game since the pitch-tracking era began in 2007.

Yet the Mets made life difficult for Sanchez from the start, seemingly making it a priority not to be fooled by the change while fouling off other pitches with defensive swings in long at-bats. As a result, they forced the Phillies’ lefty to throw 58 pitches in his only two innings of work.

Sanchez, who began the night 2-0 with a 2.96 ERA, gave up four hits, two walks, and two runs. The Phillies announced that he was taken out of the game because of left forearm soreness.

Game MVP: Francisco Lindor

His hot bat continues to ignite the Mets. After Lindor led off two straight games with home runs, he was in the middle of every rally on Tuesday, with three singles that all led to runs, one way or another.

Lindor is now hitting .461 (12-for-26) on this homestand.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets and Phillies complete their three-game series on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:10 p.m.

David Peterson (1-1, 3.27 ERA) is on the mound with Zack Wheeler (2-1, 3.73 ERA) on the bump for Philadelphia.

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