Burnett struggles, Mets crush Phillies 7-1

RACHEL COHEN
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — The Mets were smacking doubles off A.J. Burnett. The Phillies mostly managed singles off Bartolo Colon.

Philadelphia lost 7-1 on Monday night despite outhitting New York 13-9. The Phillies left 12 men on base.

Burnett (6-10), like Colon a veteran who could attract suitors before Thursday’s trade deadline, was coming off a stellar outing. But after throwing 131 pitches Wednesday, one shy of his career high, Burnett got off to a shaky start this time.

Curtis Granderson walked to open the bottom of the first, and Daniel Murphy drove him in with a double. Lucas Duda had an RBI single and Juan Lagares a two-run double later in the inning.

Burnett settled down, retiring 11 of the next 13 batters with four strikeouts. But with two outs in the fifth, he walked Duda. Chris Young singled, then Travis d’Arnaud made it 7-0.

“There was no life, nothing,” Burnett said. “Balls were in the middle, were not on the corners. So, yeah, it was a brutal effort.”

Catcher Carlos Ruiz was 4 for 4 with Philadelphia’s only RBI. The Phillies twice struck out with the bases loaded to end an inning.

“It is just about getting that one extra hit,” manager Ryne Sandberg said.

With the Mets up 7-0 in the sixth, the Phillies loaded the bases after umpire Jerry Meals ruled that Murphy’s foot didn’t touch the bag on a two-out force play at second base. New York challenged, and the call stood on review.

But Colon (10-8) promptly struck out Cody Asche to end the threat. The big right-hander was taken out after 121 pitches upon allowing his only run on consecutive two-out doubles in the eighth.

“You’re not just looking at a guy who’s got experience,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “This guy is down to earth. He’s calm. He’s not rattled by anything. He’s an inning-eating machine.”

HOWARD’S END

A day after hitting a two-run homer in a 4-2 win over Arizona, recently benched 1B Ryan Howard had a tough night, going 0 for 5 with an error. Trailing 4-0, the Phillies had runners on first and third with two out in the third, but Howard hit a hard ground ball right into the shift, with shortstop Ruben Tejada making the play from the second baseman’s spot. Howard then struck out with the bases loaded to end the game.

BYRD FLYING

Phillies RF Marlon Byrd showed off his range with two long running catches. With a runner on first and nobody out in the bottom of the fourth, Byrd sprinted toward center and stretched out his glove for a tough running nab of Tejada’s liner. With a runner on second and two outs in the fifth, he went the other way and reached into the stands to corral Tejada’s foul pop.

MOVES

The Phillies released OF Tony Gwynn Jr., who had been designated for assignment last Monday. The son of the late Hall of Famer had batted .163 (16 for 98) with three extra-base hits and three RBIs.

ON DECK

LHP Cole Hamels (5-5) starts for the Phillies against Mets RHP Dillon Gee (4-3) on Tuesday night in the middle of the three-game series.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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