Mets deliver big first punch to hated rival Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — The crowd arrived early, 45,751 strong, and they came loud and lively and lubricated. Phillies fans have earned a reputation these past few Octobers as the Phillies’ 10th man, their secret weapon. This wasn’t going to be a reprise of last spring, when the Wells Fargo Center across the parking lot had been taken over by Knicks fans.

“That was a pretty cool atmosphere,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza would say. “It was a loud crowd, and they were into every pitch. But we were able to control our emotions. We knew we’d have to.”

A lot was lining up against the Mets. There was the crowd. There was old friend Zack Wheeler, who allowed only one hit across seven ace-worthy innings and 111 gritty pitches. There was the 425-foot blast Kyle Schwarber launched off Kodai Senga’s third pitch.

(There was also, shall we say, a somewhat, um, “inconsistent” strike zone from home plate umpire Andy Fletcher, who seemed to be channeling 1997 Eric Gregg much of the afternoon.)

“It wasn’t easy,” Brandon Nimmo said. “But it’s not supposed to be easy.”

That was fine, as it turned out. That was perfect. The Mets lately seem to specialize in difficult, they thrive on thrills, and more to the point: They do not panic. The fun all started, after all, with comeback rallies in the eighth and ninth innings Monday in Atlanta. They came back from the brink in the eighth Thursday in Milwaukee.

One of those deficits had been three runs. One was two.

You think 1-0 scared them?

“We’ve been scrapping all year,” J.D. Martinez said. “We find a way to get it done.”

This time, the degree of difficulty was almost silly. In the eighth, after Francisco Alvarez greeted Jeff Hoffman with a sharp single over short, Hoffman and Matt Strahm started out the next five hitters 0-and-2. The crowd, still standing, still shouting, still spitting fire from every corner of the grandstand, was howling.

And this is what happened next:

Francisco Lindor worked a walk every bit as remarkable as the one that started everything Thursday in Milwaukee. The thunder was cut by a decibel or three.

Mark Vientos curled a single down the left-field line, tying the game 1-1. It was barely a mild roar now.

Nimmo singled up the middle off Strahm, a lefty. Lindor scored. Two-one now, and very, very quiet inside Citizens Bank Park.

Alonso hit a deep drive to center. Sac fly. Vientos scored, 3-1. Now you could actually hear a cheer of “Let’s Go Mets” from the few thousand brave invaders.

Then Jose Iglesias fouled off eight straight pitches — eight! — after falling behind 0-2 and laced a single up the middle. The Mets fans were inaudible now because CBP was rapidly filling with acres of boos.

By inning’s end, it was 5-1, and by game’s end, it was 6-2, and this merry tour of baseball nirvana was extended another day. The Mets came here looking for a split. They got their split. On Sunday, they can afford to get greedy because it’s impossible to calculate the tonnage of pressure the Phillies will be feeling when they report to work, hoping to avoid going to New York down 0-2.

Knowing that by the time this series shifts to Citi Field, that crowd is likely to make 4 o’clock Saturday sound like Tuesday morning mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral.

“One pitch at a time, one at-bat a time,” Mendoza said. “We keep fighting. We keep putting the ball in play. Use the whole field, not thinking too big.”

That’s one part of the formula.

This is the other: Everyone pulls on the rope. Everyone takes a turn. You already read about the five grinders who made the eighth inning possible. But there was also Senga, who admitted he was “amped up” at the start but settled in to keep the Phillies at one for his two innings of work.

There was David Peterson, who since August has become everything the Mets always quietly hoped he could blossom into, taking the baton from Senga for three solid innings and passing it on to Reed Garrett, who was perfect for two, keeping the game 1-0 and giving the offense a chance to bleed the Phillies out in the eighth.

“It felt like a zero-zero ballgame, no matter what the scoreboard read,” Peterson said, and that’s all part of it, too: At times this year when the Mets scuffled, 1-0 could feel like 10-0. Not anymore. Not after this week. You change the channel on the Mets at your own peril.

“The energy was awesome,” Vientos said. “I can’t wait to go back to Citi Field and play in front of our fans.”

By then, by Tuesday, it will be 16 full days since the Mets graced the grounds of their home office, 16 days since Mets fans have seen them wearing home whites.

You can already hear the rumble. You can already feel the din. The Mets will show up tied at worst, but there ought to be greed in their hearts, see if they can bring it all back to Queens with real money on the table. Advice: You might want to pack your ear plugs for that.