June 27, 2019: Phillies’ ninth inning comeback stuns Mets

When the New York Mets entered the National League in 1962 as an expansion franchise, a rivalry with the Philadelphia Phillies was born. Over the next six decades, the two clubs played many memorable games that grew and sustained their rivalry.1

The finale of a four-game series on June 27, 2019, was another remarkable installment. Both teams were chasing the Atlanta Braves for National League East Division supremacy, and Philadelphia had already won the first three games of the series. Two of the victories were secured by late-game comebacks off New York’s bullpen.

It was a reversal of fortune for the Phillies after entering the series on a seven-game losing streak. Perhaps a talisman had provided some luck. Two weeks earlier, Philadelphia had purchased veteran utility infielder Brad Miller from the New York Yankees. Before the series with the Mets, Miller had purchased a bamboo plant and placed it in the clubhouse for good luck.2 Three straight wins had followed.

Seeking the sweep, Philadelphia sent ace right-hander Aaron Nola to the mound for the Thursday afternoon finale. A first-round pick in the June 2014 amateur draft, the 26-year-old Nola was in his fifth season with the Phillies. An NL All-Star and a Cy Young Award contender in 2018, Nola was looking to recapture his previous year’s form after posting a 4.55 earned-run average so far in 2019.

In the top of the first, Nola struck out Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, and Michael Conforto on just 11 pitches. It seemed like a good omen for the rest of his outing. “I’m feeling good,” Nola said after the game. “Just got to keep it going.”3

Opposing Nola on the mound was 29-year-old right-hander Zach Wheeler. Acquired in a trade with the San Francisco Giants for future Hall of Famer Carlos Beltrán, Wheeler was pitching his second full season in New York since undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2015. Like Nola, he was seeking his seventh win of the season.

Wheeler surrendered a lead-off ground ball single to Phillies center fielder Scott Kingery in the first but retired the next three batters.

After both hurlers pitched clean second innings, New York mounted a small threat in the third. Leadoff hitter Amed Rosario bounced a sharp grounder to third base. Maikel Franco fielded the ball cleanly but threw errantly to first, allowing Rosario to reach second on the two-base error. Nola struck out the next two batters, then hit McNeil with a pitch, putting runners on first and second. He escaped further trouble when rookie first baseman Alonso—whose 27 home runs trailed Christian Yelich of the Milwaukee Brewers by two for the major-league lead— flied to right.

Wheeler also allowed two base runners in the third but kept the Phillies from scoring. Catcher Andrew Knapp fouled off numerous pitches and walked on a full count. Nola pushed a bunt to the right side and reached first when Alonso could not make the play. With first and second occupied after the error, Wheeler fanned Kingery, retired Jean Segura on a pop fly, and punched-out right fielder Bryce Harper on a swinging strike three.

Nola retired all six batters he faced in the fourth and fifth innings. In the sixth, Wheeler stroked an opposite-field single to left to break up Nola’s no-hit bid. McNeil struck out, and Alonso’s grounder forced Wheeler at second. Conforto walked, but Todd Frazier grounded to short to end the inning.

Wheeler walked leadoff hitter Rhys Hoskins in the fourth, then dispatched the next six batters in order. The only hit he surrendered through the first five innings was Kingery’s first-inning single.

In the sixth, the lefty-swinging Harper blasted a one-out opposite-field home run, his 14th of the season, providing Philadelphia a 1-0 lead. Wheeler then struck out Hoskins and Jay Bruce to end the inning, and his outing.

Nola returned for the seventh inning and, once again, retired the Mets in order. In the bottom half of the inning Philadelphia mounted a small threat off reliever Brooks Pounders but failed to tack on runs.4

César Hernández was hit by a pitch and Franco stroked a line-drive single to right-center. Knapp moved the runners to second and third with a well-placed sacrifice. With an opportunity to add on, manager Gabe Kapler recalled Nola and summoned Miller to pinch-hit.

Miller worked the count full, then grounded to second as the runners held. Kingery struck out swinging, and the score remained 1-0.

Neither team was able to score in the eighth as Phillies closer Hector Neris warmed up in the bullpen. Neris had earned his 16th save on Tuesday and pitched a scoreless ninth in Wednesday’s extra-inning victory over the Mets.

He took the mound in the ninth sporting a 2.41 ERA, with just one blown save. After Alonso grounded out, Conforto pulled a ground-ball single to right, New York’s second hit and fifth baserunner of the game. Frazier worked the count full and belted a long home run to left. His 10th homer of the season put the Mets on top 2-1.

Neris allowed back-to-back singles to Dominic Smith and Wilson Ramos, putting runners on the corners, and Kapler summoned rookie J.D. Hammer to replace him. Rosario hit a soft grounder up the first-base line, scoring Smith and advancing Ramos to second. Adeiny Hechavarria flied to center, but the Mets had rallied for a 3-1 lead.

New York manager Mickey Calloway sent in his hard-throwing closer, Edwin Díaz, to pitch the ninth.

Hernandez worked a seven-pitch walk, and Franco stroked a line-drive home run over the left-field wall, tying the score. “When I hit the ball, I didn’t even think the ball was going to be out,” Franco said.5 After an umpire review, the original home run call was confirmed.

One out later, pinch-hitter Sean Rodríguez walked, and Kingery legged out an infield single. Segura stepped in to face Díaz, his teammate with the Seattle Mariners in the two previous seasons.6 “I think when you face a guy like that you have to think fastball,” Segura said.7

Segura waited for a pitch he liked and belted a three-run homer over the left-field wall. “Baseball is crazy,” Segura said. “You never know when you’re going to step to the plate and get a big hit and a big run for us.”8

Segura’s blast won the game for the Phillies, 6-3. They remained undefeated with the bamboo plant in their clubhouse.

A despondent Calloway lamented, “This is a game that we all felt we needed to win. It’s tough to swallow. That’s about all I can say.”9

Kepler, on the other hand, was exultant. “The group is confident, they’re playing easy and there’s some swagger in that room right now,” he said, beaming.10

Although the bamboo plant remained a clubhouse fixture throughout the season, its charm eventually evaporated. After finishing with a disappointing .500 record, 16 games behind Atlanta, Philadelphia parted ways with both Miller and the plant.11

Acknowledgments 

This article was fact-checked by Bruce Slutsky and copy-edited by Keith Thursby.

Photo credit: Jean Segura, Trading Card Database.

Sources 

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for information including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/PHI/PHI201906270.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2019/B06270PHI2019.htm

Notes

1 Chuck Hixson, “June 21: History of the Amazins and the Fightins,” Philly Baseball News, June 21, 2026, https://phillybaseball.news/2026/06/21/june-21-history-of-the-amazins-and-the-fightins/. In head-to-head competition through the 2026 season, the Phillies had won 568 regular season games, the Mets had won 538, and the teams had played one tie game. In the postseason, the Mets had beaten the Phillies, three games to one, in the 2024 National League Division Series.

2 Sandy Hingston, “The Best Thing That Happened This Week: The Phillies’ Bamboo Voodoo,” Philly Magazine, June 29, 2019, https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/06/29/best-thing-phillies-lucky-bamboo/.

3 Scott Lauber, “Curveball’s Back, and So Is Nola,” Philadelphia Daily News, June 28, 2019: 57.

4 It was the next-to-last appearance of Pounders’ four-season major-league career.

5 Scott Lauber, “BAMBOO-M!” Philadelphia Daily News, June 28, 2019: 58.

6 Segura and Diaz were teammates with the Seattle Mariners in 2017 & 2018.

7 Bob Brookover, “In a Groove and Out of the Doghouse,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 28, 2019: D1.

8 Bob Brookover

9 Justin Toscano, “Frazier Puts Team Ahead, Only to See Phillies Rally 6-3,” Central New Jersey Home News, June 28, 2019: 1C.

10 Rob Maddii, “Segura’s Walk-Off Home Run Worth a Celebration,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Morning Call, June 28, 2019: C1

11 The Mets were third, 11 games behind Atlanta. The second-place Washington Nationals went on to win the World Series.