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Brookover: Eflin provides hope during lifeless loss

The background noise and the Phillies' dormant offense made it difficult to see the future on a sweltering Sunday afternoon in South Philadelphia. Chants of "Let's go Mets" and a standing ovation for the opposing pitcher as he stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning made Citizens Bank Park feel like Citi Field South.

The background noise and the Phillies' dormant offense made it difficult to see the future on a sweltering Sunday afternoon in South Philadelphia. Chants of "Let's go Mets" and a standing ovation for the opposing pitcher as he stepped to the plate in the top of the ninth inning made Citizens Bank Park feel like Citi Field South.

It was painful for whatever portion of the crowd showed up in the hope of seeing a Phillies victory, but at least it was quick - two hours and 21 minutes - and the fans left with a beach towel that came compliments of the Phillie Phanatic and his bouncy friends in the Galapagos Gang.

Not much else good could be gleaned from the Phillies' 5-0 loss to the New York Mets. The home team managed only one hit and one walk against Jacob deGrom, who pitched the first complete game of his career. By taking the three-game series in front of a large number of their own fans, the banged-up Mets reminded the rebuilding Phillies that they still have a long way to go before they can be considered contenders again.

There was, however, a single performance on the Phillies' side that made you believe a better tomorrow is possible, and sooner rather than later. On a day when he was not at his best and not nearly as good as deGrom, Phillies rookie Zach Eflin was still the best player on his own team.

His third-inning single represented the Phillies' only hit, but far more importantly he delivered another quality start by allowing just three runs in six innings.

"You look at the performance - six innings and he gave up three runs - and really I wasn't comfortable with him," manager Pete Mackanin said.

That was not meant in a negative way. It was more an indication that the manager is already expecting a lot from a 22-year-old righthander who has made seven career starts in the big leagues. Since he was lit up for nine runs in his big-league debut against Toronto, Eflin has a 2.56 ERA in six starts.

"He needs some work on his slider," Mackanin said. "He's got to tighten up his slider. But for a 22-year-old kid, you've got to like him. He can throw a four-seamer and a two-seamer and he's got a good change-up. He locates real well and for 22 years old you don't see that a lot."

Mackanin mentioned Eflin's age a few times and it's worth noting that when deGrom was 22, he posted a 5.19 ERA in six rookie ball starts for the Mets' affiliate in the Appalachian League.

At 28, deGrom is a finished product while Eflin is a work in progress.

Too bad we cannot fast forward to 2022 and get a glimpse of what Eflin might look like then. Mackanin admitted he thinks about it.

"Without question," he said. "I really like him. He's got a bright future. But it's like [Jerad] Eickhoff [on Saturday] night. I wasn't crazy about how he pitched because I've seen him so much better. But he pitched a heck of a good game. The same with Eflin today. He made a few more mistakes than he probably should have, but it was a quality start. These guys are young and it bodes well for the future for us."

Lessons do have to be learned, however. All three of the Mets' runs off Eflin came with two outs. He thought he had Juan Lagares struck out on a 2-2 pitch in the second inning, but then surrendered an RBI triple to the Mets centerfielder on a 3-2 pitch.

"I thought it was a good pitch," Eflin said. "It was a pitcher's pitch, but you can't really assume anything. Every umpire's different, but he could have made the right call."

Far more disturbing were the Mets' next two runs. After being ahead 0-2 on Curtis Granderson in the third, Eflin allowed the rightfielder to work the count full before leaving a 93-m.p.h. fastball up and over the plate. Granderson deposited it into the New York bullpen.

Two innings later, the rookie righthander retired the first two batters he faced before surrendering a single to deGrom. Jose Reyes followed with an RBI double, and when Eflin walked the next two hitters it appeared as if he might not get through the fifth inning.

"He got two quick outs and you give up a hit to the pitcher and the next guy scores him, that's tough," catcher Cameron Rupp said. "Of course it bothered him. But for him to keep that game to 3-0, that was good. That's a guy who kept his composure out there when it could have turned really bad really quick."

Eflin retired Neil Walker to end the fifth and pitched a perfect sixth before exiting with his fifth straight quality start.

"I thought I did a good job limiting the damage when I needed to, but obviously I left some balls up that shouldn't have been," Eflin said. "I didn't have my best stuff today, but I was able to battle and limit the damage."

That was not nearly enough to stop the "Let's go Mets" chants or to beat Jacob deGrom, but other than the Phanatic beach towel it was the only good thing Phillies fans could take home with them.

bbrookover@phillynews.com

@brookob