NEW YORK — Chris Bassitt hurled five scoreless innings, Francisco Lindor set the franchise record for RBIs by a shortstop and the New York Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 Sunday for their 17th win in 20 games.
Burly slugger Daniel Vogelbach homered and Mark Canha had two hits for New York, which moved 35 games over .500 for the first time since September 2006.
The Mets posted their second straight shutout and kept 5 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta atop the NL East. The Mets and Braves open a four-game series in Atlanta beginning Monday. New York leads the majors with 16 shutouts.
“To me, that’s the story of this series,” New York manager Buck Showalter said. “The way our guys pitched, boy, they were just solid.”
The Phillies have dropped three of four after winning seven straight.
After Mets aces Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom combined to allow just a single run over 12 innings in the first two games of the series, Bassitt (10-7) took his turn keeping Philadelphia off the board.
“I think there’s no secret how good our pitching staff is, especially when you have guys like Jake and Max,” Bassitt said. “It’s hard to score on us and it’s kind of what we’re built for.”
The right-hander, who scattered four hits and struck out five, has gone 24 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
“We had some trouble scoring runs in this series, obviously,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Part of it is due to good pitching and part of it was due to the fact that when runs are at a premium, sometimes you try to do to much and I saw a lot of that today.”
Lindor singled home Brandon Nimmo, who led off the Mets first with a double. It was Lindor’s 82 RBI, surpassing José Reyes’ total of 81 set in 2006.
“He’s one of the players I grew up watching,” Lindor said of Reyes. “I respect him a lot and whenever I can be next to him on something like this, it’s special.”
New York struck for four runs in the fourth against former Mets pitcher Zack Wheeler (11-6).
Pete Alonso doubled and Canha, Luis Guillorme and James McCann hit RBI singles. Center fielder Brandon Marsh initially overran McCann’s blooper and didn’t rush his throw back to the infield — Jeff McNeil, who was held up by third base coach Joey Cora, read the play and darted home ahead of second baseman Jean Segura’s throw.
“I wasn’t really sure what happened,” McNeil said. “I kind of saw they weren’t paying too much attention and I thought it was pretty good chance to make it and put some pressure on the defense, so I decided to go.”
Wheeler, who left the Mets as a free agent after the 2020 season, allowed six runs in six innings. He struck out five and saw his ERA climb to 2.92. He entered the game having allowed just 11 earned runs over his last seven starts (45 2/3 innings).
Four relievers combined to finish the shutout. Trevor Williams went two innings and hasn’t permitted a run over his last 20 innings.
SHAKE IT OFF
With Rhys Hopkins at the plate in the fourth inning, Bassitt kept covering his right ear and shaking off McCann, who was communicating with the new PitchCom system. It took nearly 40 seconds for the two to find a pitch to Bassitt’s liking. Hoskins eventually walked.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: OF Bryce Harper (left thumb fracture) will take batting practice Monday at Citizens Bank Park. Thomson indicated that the seven-time All-Star is progressing towards a rehab assignment. … OF Kyle Schwarber (strained right calf) was held out of the lineup for the second straight game … RHP Cory Knebel (right lat strain) came out of the game in the seventh inning after throwing 14 pitches, only five of which were strikes. He’ll undergo an MRI in Philadelphia on Monday.
Mets: INF Eduardo Escobar (left oblique) entered the game as a defensive replacement in the fifth. The switch-hitter batted lefty vs. left-hander Brad Hand to protect his tender side. ... Guillorme (left groin tightness) came out of the game after scampering home on McCann’s single. He is scheduled to undergo imaging Monday.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Noah Syndergaard (6-8, 3.96 ERA) takes the mound for his third start after being acquired from the Angels at the trade deadline as Philadelphia opens a three-game series in Cincinnati. He’s 5-0 with a 2.11 ERA in six career starts against the Reds. He’ll be opposed by LHP Mike Minor (1-9, 6.24 ERA).
Mets: RHP Carlos Carrasco (13-4, 3.76 ERA) pitches for New York to open a four-game series in Atlanta. He’s 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA over his last seven starts with 42 strikeouts. RHP Spencer Strider (6-4, 3.11 ERA), who is coming off the shortest start of his career last time out, pitches for Atlanta.