Whit Merrifield headlined a six-run fourth inning with a three-run homer and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 7-2 on Saturday in the opener of a two-game set in London.
Bryce Harper also went deep in the fourth for Philadelphia, which served as the visiting team. Sunday’s series finale will be a home game for the Phillies.
Harper came up a triple shy of the cycle while going 3-for-4 as Philadelphia won for the seventh time in its past eight games.
The outburst in the fourth provided more than enough run support for Phillies starter Ranger Suarez (10-1), whose 10 wins lead the majors. Suarez yielded two runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings, walking one and striking out six.
Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, Starling Marte and Jose Iglesias had two hits apiece for the Mets, who saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.
With Philadelphia trailing 1-0, Harper got the Phillies going with a one-out solo shot in the fourth, his 15th of the season. Alec Bohm singled before Nick Castellanos flied out, and Philadelphia then broke the game open with a ferocious two-out rally.
Bryson Stott walked, and Edmundo Sosa brought home Bohm with a single to right for a 2-1 lead. Merrifield followed with his three-run blast, sending a changeup from New York starter Sean Manaea (3-3) over the wall in left-center. The homer was Merrifield’s third of the season.
Kyle Schwarber later made it 6-1 with a single that drove in Cristian Pache, who had doubled.
Manaea ended up with all six runs on his ledger, and he was roughed up for seven hits in 3 2/3 innings. Manaea issued one walk and fanned three.
It looked like the Mets were going to get something going an inning later after Lindor singled and Alonso doubled to open the frame. But New York only managed to scratch across one run, pulling within 6-2 on J.D. Martinez’s run-scoring groundout.
The Phillies got that run back in the eighth thanks to a solo home run from Castellanos, his ninth of the season.
Marte ripped an RBI double to put the Mets up 1-0 in the first.