Kodai Senga and two relievers combined on a two-hitter Tuesday night as the host New York Mets blanked the Philadelphia Phillies 2-0 in the opener of a three-game series.
Francisco Lindor homered in the fourth inning and Eduardo Escobar had an RBI single in the seventh for the Mets, who snapped a two-game losing streak.
Kody Clemens and Josh Harrison had singles for the Phillies, who have lost five of eight.
Senga (5-3) struck out nine in a career-high seven innings. The 30-year-old rookie from Japan retired his first seven batters before Clemens singled cleanly to shallow left.
Senga then retired the final 14 batters he faced with a couple assists from center fielder Brandon Nimmo, who robbed Nick Castellanos of a homer in the fourth by leaping at the wall and grabbing the ball just as it was about to fly over the orange home run line.
In the seventh, Nimmo glided into the gap in right-center to snare a liner by Trea Turner and rob the shortstop of an extra-base hit.
Adam Ottavino issued a leadoff walk in the eighth to J.T. Realmuto, who was then caught stealing. Harrison delivered a pinch-hit single with one out in the ninth against David Robertson before Robertson notched his ninth save by getting Bryson Stott to hit into a double play.
Ranger Suarez (0-2) matched zeroes with Senga until Lindor homered leading off the fourth.
The Mets built an insurance run in the seventh, when Starling Marte singled with one out and moved to second on a bunt by Jeff McNeil before Suarez walked Tommy Pham. Connor Brogdon entered and gave up the single to Escobar, whose hit behind second base just eluded the grasp of a sliding Turner.
Escobar and Marte had two hits apiece, and Marte added a stolen base.
Suarez took the hard-luck loss after allowing the two runs on five hits and two walks while striking out four over a season-high 6 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
