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Phillies rip Mets again

Aug 24, 2011 - 3:59 AM Philadelphia, PA (Sports Network) - Home runs by Shane Victorino and John Mayberry, Jr. in the third inning got the Phillies started, but they were hardly finished and rolled to a 9-4 victory over the Mets.

Philadelphia got another good start from rookie Vance Worley, who escaped two early jams with strikeouts. Worley (9-1) went on to post a career-high nine while giving up just one run in seven innings, and also drove in a run.

"We had Worley on the ropes the first two innings," said Mets manager Terry Collins. "Let good pitchers off the hook early, they'll beat you."

The Phillies have won each of his last 12 starts, the longest stretch for the team this season and the longest for any MLB rookie since 1986, when Texas won 12 consecutive starts by Bobby Witt.

Philadelphia won his outing Tuesday thanks to several bursts of offense. After Victorino's solo blast and Mayberry's three-run shot, the home team added one run in the fourth and four in the fifth.

As the runs piled up for the Phillies, the miscues piled up for the Mets. A few times, the two coincided -- like in the fifth inning, when Mets center fielder Angel Pagan misjudged a fly ball by Victorino, having it fly over his head for a two-run triple.

That's just how things are going for the Phillies and Mets these days. NL East-leading Philadelphia has outscored New York 19-4 in the first two games of this set, and has won each of the four series so far this season. Meanwhile, the Mets fell to 2-11 in their last 13 games.

New York starter Jon Niese (11-11) took the loss after allowing eight runs in four-plus innings, and could be headed to the disabled list with a ribcage injury. But early on, Worley looked like he might take an early hook.

Pagan and Ruben Tejada opened the game with singles to put runners on the corners, and David Wright followed by hitting a ball to third base. Pagan tried to score on the play but was easily thrown out by Placido Polanco.

Worley then caught Lucas Duda looking at a third strike, and after he walked Jason Bay to load the bases, he froze Nick Evans with a fastball on the outside corner to end the inning.

The Phillies right-hander was in more trouble in the second, when Josh Thole led off with a single and Justin Turner doubled. But Worley struck out the following three batters -- all looking -- to escape the jam. He ended the inning as he did the first, by painting the outside edge with a fastball.

Worley required 47 pitches to get through the first two innings, but was perfect through the next four. The only run he allowed came in the seventh, when Turner drove in Evans with a groundout.

That occurred well after the Phillies chased Niese.

The Mets left-hander gave up his initial runs in the third, when his high fastball to Victorino resulted in a long home run down the left-field line.

Niese allowed a single to Polanco and hit Chase Utley with a pitch, then delivered a bite-less cutter up in the zone to Mayberry with two outs. The Phillies' budding slugger blasted it to left-center field for his 12th homer of the season and a 4-0 lead.

"I'm feeling relaxed and feeling comfortable," said Mayberry, who has homered three times in his last five games. "I'm getting good pitches to hit and right now, I'm not missing them."

The Phillies added a run in the fourth thanks to two close plays. Worley reached base when Duda couldn't quite catch a soft liner in right, and scored from second when Bay made an unsuccessful attempt to rush in and catch Polanco's line single to left.

Niese was removed after loading the bases with nobody out in the fifth on two singles and a walk, but Pedro Beato couldn't prevent the Phillies from tacking on more runs.

Wilson Valdez hit a sacrifice fly and Worley plated a run with a hard-hit ball up the middle.

Victorino then lifted a ball toward center. Pagan didn't judge the depth of the ball immediately and quickly found himself out of position, furiously chasing back. He jumped in an attempt to make the catch, but the ball bounced to the wall, allowing Victorino to reach third and both runners on base to score for a 9-0 lead.

The Mets added three late runs against Michael Stutes -- Duda's two-run homer in the eighth and Thole's RBI groundout in the ninth -- but couldn't make up the difference.

Game Notes

Victorino's triple was his career-high 14th. He also hit his 14th homer of the season and extended his hitting streak to 11 games...Worley hasn't lost since May 29, when he gave up eight runs in three innings to the Mets. Since then, he has gone 7-0 with a 2.33 ERA...The Phillies placed pitcher Cole Hamels on the 15-day disabled list Tuesday with left shoulder inflammation and recalled infielder Pete Orr from Triple-A.