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Phillies battered, swept by rival Mets

Sean O’Sullivan was easily a forgotten man among the 28 pitchers in Clearwater this spring.

New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (34) hits a solo home run against the Phillies during the fourth inning at Citi Field. (Brad Penner/USA Today)
New York Mets starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard (34) hits a solo home run against the Phillies during the fourth inning at Citi Field. (Brad Penner/USA Today)Read more

NEW YORK – Sean O'Sullivan was easily a forgotten man among the 28 pitchers in Clearwater, Fla., this spring.

He wasn't new to the organization, like Joely Rodriguez. He wasn't a homegrown former first-round pick, like Jesse Biddle.

He wasn't an international free agent with a $12 million price tag, like Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, or a pitcher coming off a flattering rookie season, like David Buchanan.

But thanks to the normal run of injuries and ineffectiveness, O'Sullivan, despite being jettisoned to minor league camp midway through March, emerged as the favorite to win the Phillies' fifth starter job.

The 27-year-old veteran won that assignment, and despite a brief stint on the disabled list with a knee injury last month, maintained it two months into the season. O'Sullivan had allowed two runs in 12 innings in his last two starts entering Wednesday.

But the 5.91 ERA on the back of O'Sullivan's baseball card, compiled from stops with the Angels, Royals, Padres and Phillies, wasn't a misprint, either. O'Sullivan is not a prospect, but instead, a placeholder.

Although the organization's starting pitching depth above Double A is Kate Moss-thin, O'Sullivan's grip on that place is slipping.

O'Sullivan served up four home runs Wednesday — including two solo shots to Lucas Duda and one to opposing pitcher Noah Syndergaard, who went 3-for-3 — as the Mets finished off a three-game sweep over the Phillies with a 7-0 victory in Flushing.

"Everything felt real flat from the get-go," said O'Sullivan, who knew he would have to go deep in an effort to save an overworked bullpen. "I tried to compete as long as I could, give as many innings as I could to save some arms down there. Just happened to be a day where my stuff wasn't very good."

The Phillies (19-30) have lost four straight and seven of their last nine games. After leaving Citizens Bank Park two Sundays ago riding high on a five-game winning streak, the Phillies went 3-7 during a 10-game trip through Denver, Washington and New York.

"It's kind of a blessing we have an off day [Thursday]," O'Sullivan said. "We can regroup and get back home and get back on track, for sure."

With the Phils' momentum stunted within the last week, it's fair to wonder whether the return to reality has taken a toll on the team.

"No, I don't think so," manager Ryne Sandberg said. "We'll get back home. We've played good baseball at home and have rebounded at home, and that needs to be the case again … We could do that with [Cole] Hamels and [Aaron] Harang starting it off and hopefully have a good homestand."

The road (7-20) has been unkind to the Phillies in general, but Citi Field in particular has been their own house of horrors. The Phillies have lost all six games they've played at Citi Field this season and 10 of their last 12 dating back to last year.

They've been outscored by the Mets, 62-36, in those games.

O'Sullivan put the Phillies in a 4-0 hole after three innings. The middle of the Mets' lineup connected for three consecutive one-out hits off O'Sullivan in the third, capped by Michael Cuddyer's two-run home run.

O'Sullivan was charged with seven runs on 11 hits in 5-2/3 innings. He has served up nine home runs in six starts over 33-2/3 innings this season.

O'Sullivan has a 2.41 home run rate (home runs per nine innings), which would lead all major league pitchers if he had enough innings to qualify. Matt Shoemaker, of the Los Angeles Angels, leads all qualifying pitchers (2.3) while San Diego's James Shields has surrendered a major league-high 15 home runs — but in nearly 30 more innings than O'Sullivan (62-1/3 innings).

"The sinker was flat, the slider was flat," O'Sullivan said of the four-home run game. "I went back and watched some video. There were definitely some mechanical breakdowns that can be fixed fairly easily. I just need to go out in my next 'pen, take tomorrow to forget about today, and get back to work."

But O'Sullivan was responsible for only half of the one-sided scoreboard. Syndergaard, the highly touted prospect New York received from Toronto in the 2012 R.A. Dickey trade, followed Jacob deGrom's performance on Tuesday night in making the Phillies' bats look feeble.

Armed with a 98-mph fastball, Syndergaard blitzed through the visiting team's lineup into the eighth inning. He held the Phils to four singles through the first six innings and finished with 7-1/3 shutout innings.

Syndergaard struck out six and didn't walk a batter, lowering his ERA to 2.55 after four major league starts. Syndergaard is one of three pitchers in the Mets' rotation who is a product of the 2010 draft, along with deGrom and Matt Harvey.

"They throw arms at you from the starting rotation side, no doubt about it," Sandberg said.
"It's a challenge every day," catcher Cameron Rupp said. "You have to come out and be ready for it."

The 22-year-old Syndergaard, nicknamed "Thor" for his beach-blond locks and 6-6 frame, paved the way for the fifth shutout against the Phillies this season. The Phillies have failed to score more than two runs in 19 of their 49 games.