News » Lester likes the way he’s pitching of late

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — As the losses mounted and the Phillies tumbled far out of first place Barry Bonds Jersey , it was clear many players were pressing.Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler noticed something different about Jorge Alfaro on Tuesday, though, long before the rookie catcher delivered the biggest blow of the night.Alfaro hit a go-ahead, three-run homer in the sixth inning and the Phillies rallied past the New York Mets 5-2 to improve their faint playoff hopes.“It was quite evident from the very beginning that he was standing a little looser in the batter’s box and swinging with a little less, I guess, ferociousness,” Kapler said of Alfaro, who finished 2 for 3. “And the bat was whistling through the zone.”Philadelphia overcame an uneven outing from ace Aaron Nola and a home run by starter Steven Matz that made him the third Mets pitcher to go deep in consecutive appearances.The Phillies’ third win in 10 games moved them within 5½ games of NL East-leading Atlanta, which lost 8-1 at St. Louis. And the Phillies insist they still have a shot with 12 games left.“We have a chance for sure,” Nola said. “We have seven games (coming up) against the Braves.”Wilson Ramos and Justin Bour delivered pinch-hit RBI hits in a five-run sixth before Alfaro drilled a curveball from Drew Smith (1-1) to left-center for his 10th homer.And with that, Matz’s eventful performance was wasted by the Mets.The left-hander had zero homers in his first 70 major league games before connecting last Thursday against Miami. He entered Tuesday hitting .093 (4 for 43) this season and .140 in his career, but lifted a curveball to left against Nola in the third that just cleared the wall and withstood a video review to put New York ahead 1-0.What’s gotten into Matz?“I don’t really know,” he said, smiling. “I have no explanation for you.”The other Mets pitchers to homer in back-to-back outings were Hall of Famer Tom Seaver (1972) and Ron Darling (1989).Matz worked around five walks and gave up two hits in five scoreless innings. He also snagged a line drive behind his legs to start a double play, before the bullpen faltered and the Mets’ bats went silent.“He’s a great athlete. Strong kid and he kind of put it on display tonight http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-madison-bumgarner-jersey ,” manager Mickey Callaway said. “He’s just a good baseball player.”Pat Neshek (3-1) relieved Nola and got the final out of the sixth. Seranthony Dominguez, Tommy Hunter and Hector Neris each pitched a scoreless inning as the Phillies improved to 7-11 against the Mets this season.Neris earned his 11th save.Nola allowed two runs and six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks in 5 2/3 innings as his ERA climbed to 2.44. He’s given up eight home runs in September after allowing seven over the first five months of the season.Connecting against Nola, one of Mets ace Jacob deGrom’s competitors for the NL Cy Young Award, was not lost on Matz.“I told him, that was for you, friend,” Matz said.TRAINER’S ROOMMets: Jay Bruce started in right field, the fourth straight game he has not played first base. But Callaway said Bruce’s troublesome back is fine and he’ll return to first soon.Phillies: Alfaro stayed in after Jacob Rhame drilled him on the arm with a fastball in the eighth, his first plate appearance after his home run. Alfaro was receiving treatment after the game and was unavailable to speak with reporters. . Ex-Mets INF Asdrubal Cabrera, who exited Monday’s game early with a left calf strain, and 3B Maikel Franco (right shoulder) were out. Kapler put Scott Kingery at shortstop and J.P. Crawford at third.WHEELER DECISIONThe Mets were still mulling whether to shut down RHP Zack Wheeler, who has pitched nearly 100 more innings than last season. “The main things we want is him going into the offseason feeling good about the season and being totally healthy,” Callaway said.CROWDED CLUBHOUSELHP Aaron Loup was activated off the disabled list, giving Philadelphia the September limit of 40 players. Kapler used 18 in the game.HIJINKSMets RHP Noah Syndergaard swiped the Phillie Phanatic’s four-wheeler before the game and drove around the outfield as the mascot chased him on foot. . After dealing with real rats in the dugout in Boston last weekend, a long-tailed plastic rat was spotted in the Mets clubhouse before the game.UP NEXTSyndergarrd (12-3 Juan Marichal Jersey , 3.26 ERA), who has won three straight starts and four consecutive decisions, goes for the Mets in the season series finale Wednesday night against RHP Zach Eflin (10-7, 4.26). NEW YORK (AP) — Angel Hernandez hit .250 in Game 3 of the AL Division Series. That’s a mediocre batting average for a player and awful replay average for an umpire.Hernandez was overruled on three of four video reviews of his decisions at first base during Boston’s 16-1 rout of the New York Yankees on Monday night.“There were several very close calls at first base tonight, and we are glad that instant replay allowed the umpiring crew to achieve the proper result on all of them,” Major League Baseball said in a statement.The Red Sox, Yankees and fans around the country will see plenty of Hernandez on Tuesday night, when he’s scheduled to work the plate in Game 4.The 57-year-old Hernandez was born in Havana, joined the major league staff in 1993 and worked the World Series in 2002 and 2005. He sued MLB in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati in July 2017, alleging race discrimination and citing his lack of World Series assignments in the past decade and baseball not promoting him to crew chief. The suit alleges MLB chief baseball officer Joe Torre “has a history of animosity towards Hernandez stemming from Torre’s time as manager of the New York Yankees.”MLB moved to dismiss the case, but U.S. District Judge Michael Barrett transferred it to federal court in Manhattan in Sept. 30 without ruling on the motion to dismiss.“Angel was horrible,” Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez said on TBS’ postgame show. “Major League Baseball needs to do something about Angel. It doesn’t matter how many times he sues Major League Baseball. He’s as bad as there is. That’s the main reason we’re sitting here so late.”Hernandez’s troubles started in the second inning, when Didi Gregorius bunted with Giancarlo Stanton on first and the umpire ruled Gregorius beat the throw from pitcher Nathan Eovaldi . The call was overturned, giving New York a runner on second with one out. When Gleyber Torres hit a three-hopper off the mound in the third with the Yankees trailing 3-0, shortstop Xander Bogaerts gloved the ball http://www.giantsfanproshop.com/authentic-orlando-cepeda-jersey , continued onto the second-base side of the dirt and threw to first, when Hernandez signaled safe . That, too, was overturned by the replay room umpires, which include Marvin Hudson, Brian Knight, David Rackley and Bill Welke during the Division Series.New York trailed 10-0 in the fourth when Luke Voit hit a comebacker off the bare hand of Eovaldi, and Hernandez signaled Voit beat the throw from second baseman Brock Holt for an infield hit . That was upheld by the replay room umpires.Stanton then singled to put runners at the corners, and Gregorius grounded to Holt. The second baseman made a backhand flip to Bogaerts covering second for a forceout, and Bogaerts threw to first, where Hernandez signaled out for a double play . That led to Hernandez’s third reversal.Expanded video review in the major leagues began in 2014.Hernandez has had first-base calls overturned in 14 of 18 video reviews during the last three regular seasons, according to Sports Info Solutions, and his 78 percent overturn rate was above the 60 percent overall figure for first-base calls during that span, the company said.“The guy’s had a long career and a good career. You know he’s going to get it right,” Voit said. “It happens Gaylord Perry Jersey , man. I mean, so many bang-bang plays consistently. You get it, and you just hope he makes the right calls.”Former Yankees catcher John Flaherty took issue with Hernandez on the postgame broadcast of the Yankees’ YES Network.“I think back to the replay of the Luke Voit play at first base, that Angel Hernandez actually got right. And when he came back, next to Voit, he made a little comment to him and smiled a little bit, almost like, you know, ‘I got one right,'” Flaherty said. “It’s not that funny, Angel. These are playoff games. These are big deals. And replay bails him out — the play eventually is going to be right. But you got to be thinking at first base, maybe take a little more pride in what you’re doing.”