Sweep denied: Mets 3, Phillies 2

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports Tonight was another edition of “the most important game of the year” for the Phillies. The Braves had already won, so the Phillies knew what they had to do in order to stay a game back. This one being on ESPN, a national broadcast that is seen by many more eyes than a usual Phillies-Mets affair, they knew they had to come out smoking. In the first inning, they got some fireworks to make sure they made an impression.

Bryce Harper walked with two outs, then took his lead off of first on a 3-2 pitch to J.T. Realmuto. Taking a running head start, he saw that Realmuto hit a ball softly in between Jeff McNeil in leftfield and Brandon Nimmo in centerfield, he ran…