After posting back-to-back shutout victories, the Philadelphia Phillies could not continue their strong pitching Friday night, allowing crooked numbers in two innings which proved to be the difference in a 6-3 loss to the New York Mets Friday night at Citi Field. 

Tim Mayza, who has quietly been very solid for the Phillies this season, served as the opener and failed to get through the first inning after allowing hits to three of the first four batters he faced including a Carson Benge RBI single. After walking Mark Vientos, Mayza was lifted for newly acquired righty José Urquidy. 

The newcomer served up a two-run single to A.J. Ewing to make it a 3-0 deficit for the Phillies after the opening inning. 

Urquidy did settle in afterwards and while those runs were charged to Mazya that he surrendered, Urquidy officially went 4 2/3 innings, scattering five hits while striking out six batters in his first appearance with the Phillies. He used his full five-pitch mix and got ahead of 14 of his 19 batters faced while pummeling the strike zone, throwing 47 of his 64 pitches for a strike. 

Gran debut de José Urquidy con Philadelphia ⚾🔥 El mazatleco lanzó 4.2 entradas en blanco y recetó 6 chocolates 🍫 en su primera aparición con Philadelphia. pic.twitter.com/ac8UKLayCp

— MLB México (@MLB_Mexico) September 19, 2026

Bryson Stott laced double No. 30 of the season to plate Edmundo Sosa in the second to get on the board before both offenses were held in check over the next three innings. Sosa made it a one-run game in the sixth with a solo blast, part of his three hit night where he fell a triple shy of the cycle. 

However, the bullpen struggles continued once more with Orion Kerkering being the culprit in this one, allowing a three-run blast to Juan Soto which put the game out of reach for the Phillies. Derek Hill hit a solo homer in the seventh, but Philadelphia’s bats wouldn’t muster anything else afterwards with the final eight hitters going down in order. 

Phillies Bullpen Woes

The bullpen problems once again appeared Friday night with Kerkering being the most recent arm to give up a backbreaking hit late in the game. The righty has allowed at least a run in seven of his last eight appearances while posting an 8.84 ERA over that stretch. 

Wild Card Update 

With the loss, the Phillies’ magic number remains sits at four and they are currently in a three-way tie with the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres for the top Wild Card spot. Chicago owns the tiebreaker over Philadelphia, but the Phillies hold the advantage over the Padres. 

Up Next 

The Phillies and Mets are back in action for the third game of the series on Saturday with first pitch slated for 4:10 p.m. Righty Andrew Painter (3-9, 5.54 ERA) gets the start for the Phillies and will battle fellow right-hander Christian Scott (4-5, 3.76 ERA). 

Keywords

Phillies,

Mets,

Orion Kerkering,

MLB,

NL East,

Phillies bullpen,

Jose Urquidy,

Edmundo Sosa,

Wild Card