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Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have been no sweat for the Mets this  season, but when the Phillies start somebody named Bailey Falter, look out.

A rookie, Falter accomplished something Saturday in Game 2 of a doubleheader that neither Wheeler nor Nola have been able to do against the Mets this year: He beat them.

The Mets managed just two hits over six innings against the left-hander and three total in a 4-1 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.

Earlier in the day, the Mets jumped on Wheeler and rolled to an 8-2 victory in the first game.

The Mets are 13-5 against the Phillies in 2022 and will finish the season series on Sunday. Most notably, the Mets are 9-0 in games the Phillies’ top guns, Wheeler and Nola, have started against them.

But the Mets managed just two singles against Falter, in his ninth major league start.

“His ball was getting on us,” Francisco Lindor said. “It seemed like his fastball had a little bit more on it than we expected. It had more ride on it. We didn’t make the adjustment quick enough.”

Pete Alonso has been at his best when it matters the most, raising his play when the moment calls for it.

After the Mets dropped three of four to the Braves this week, the division matchup against the rising Phillies that began Friday night certainly mattered, and so the first baseman responded.

Alonso passed the 100 RBI mark and crushed his 30th home run of the season to jump-start the Mets in a 7-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park.

The Mets bounced back nicely after those four games in Atlanta, in which they lost a series to an NL East opponent for the first time this year. With a 77-43 record, they remained 3 games up on the Braves, who beat the Astros on Friday.

“He wants to be everything for us every night,” manager Buck Showalter said of Alonso, who went 2-for-5 and finished the night tied with Aaron Judge for the major league lead with 102 RBIs. “He takes pride in his defense, in his driving in runs.”  

The goose egg reared its ugly head once again on Friday night in The Bronx.

On another lifeless night for their offense, the Yankees were blanked by the Blue Jays in a 4-0 loss at the Stadium.

The Yankees (73-47) lost for the 14th time in their last 18 games and fell to 12-24 since July 8. Their lead atop the AL East that day was a season-high 15 ½ games, but after Friday night, the Blue Jays (64-54) have cut it to eight games — the smallest it has been since June 13.

Over their last 10 games, the Yankees have scored just 19 runs — eight of which came in their wild comeback win Wednesday. That game seems little more than a blip on the radar for a team that has otherwise struggled mightily at the plate.

Not even Aaron Judge could put the Yankees on his back. The AL MVP favorite went 0-for-2 with a walk and is now 2-for-23 over his last seven games in a rare off week, though he is far from the only Yankee in that group.

LeMahieu is on a 4-for-28 skid. Anthony Rizzo is 6-for-38. Josh Donaldson is 6-for-37. Andrew Benintendi is 7-for-35. Gleyber Torres is 6-for-40. Isiah Kiner-Falefa is 5-for-33.

When Bruce Springsteen heads out on tour in 2023, he’ll be performing five shows in the New York area.

The first local date is April 1st at Madison Square Garden, followed by a show at Barclays Center on April 3rd. Springsteen will play a pair of shows at the UBS Arena on Long Island on April 9th and 11th. He’ll conclude the U.S. leg of the tour on April 14th at the Prudential Center in Newark.

People will need to register with Ticketmaster’s Verified Fan system for the opportunity to buy tickets.

When a string of injuries to various body parts began during the middle of last season, Jacob deGrom was put on the shelf as the best pitcher in baseball. Now that he has returned, deGrom is making it clear that title still belongs to him.

DeGrom threw six scoreless innings, in which he faced 20 hitters and retired 18, 10 by strikeout, in the Mets’ 1-0 win over the Phillies in front of a sellout crowd of 43,857, the biggest of the season and the ninth largest regular-season crowd in Citi Field history.

Phillies batters swung at 44 of deGrom’s 76 pitches. They connected for two singles — one in the first inning by Rhys Hoskins and one in the sixth by Bryson Stott — and missed 19 times.

The Mets scored in the first inning thanks to Starling Marte’s legs. Marte singled, stole second and took third base when the throw escaped into center field. Pete Alonso came through again with a single off Aaron Nola for his league-leading 97th RBI.

“The value of one run in the big leagues is tremendous — especially  when Jake’s on the mound,” said Alonso, whose average is up to .281. “You know you have a pretty good shot to win the ballgame.”

DeGrom had his run, and he and the Mets’ bullpen made it stand up.

After a miserable few days in St. Louis, the Yankees got back to winning, snapping their season-high five-game losing streak with a 9-4 win over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park. 

But it came with a cost, as Matt Carpenter suffered a fractured left foot in the first inning and could be lost for the season. 

Against Seattle, they had enough to overcome Carpenter’s absence, as Josh Donaldson had four hits — including a two-run single in the first and a solo homer in the third — and Aaron Judge crushed his 44th homer of the season. 

Jameson Taillon continued his pattern of being good every other start, as he gave up three runs in seven innings. 

It came after the team was swept by the Cardinals, with their new top-of-the-rotation pitcher, Frankie Montas, getting hit hard on Sunday and their lead in the AL East had dropped into single digits for the first time since June 15. 

Strong starting pitching from David Peterson and Max Scherzer, plus standout offensive performances by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, fueled the Mets to a doubleheader sweep of the Braves on a steamy Saturday at Citi Field, clinching the pivotal series victory.

After Lindor and Peterson led the way to an 8-5 win in Game 1, Scherzer dominated in the nightcap, with Alonso driving the offense in a 6-2 victory.

With the sweep, the Mets (69-39) took three of the first four games of the series and pushed their lead atop the NL East to 5 ½ games over the Braves (64-45). That marks their largest lead since June 21, and they have a chance to put an exclamation point on the series on Sunday.

“This is what you play the game for,” said Scherzer, who struck out 11 over seven shutout innings on a season-high 108 pitches. “You play to face the best. Especially deep in the season, you grind it out here in the NL East. You face so many tough opponents that you want to go out there and match it and beat them. So it’s rewarding when that happens.”

Beloved Major League Baseball broadcaster Vin Scully, known best for his record-setting 67 seasons with the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers, has died at the age of 94, the Dodgers announced.

“We have lost an icon,” said Dodgers President and CEO Stan Kasten. “The Dodgers’ Vin Scully was one of the greatest voices in all of sports. He was a giant of a man, not only as a broadcaster, but as a humanitarian. He loved people. He loved life. He loved baseball and the Dodgers.

“And he loved his family. His voice will always be heard and etched in all of our minds forever. I know he was looking forward to joining the love of his life, Sandi. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family during this very difficult time. Vin will be truly missed.”

Scully was hired by the then-Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950 and continued to work for the team until 2016, which set the record for the longest broadcasting tenure with a single team in professional sports history and was second only to longtime Dodgers manager and executive Tommy Lasorda‘s 69 seasons for the most with the Dodgers organization in any capacity.

The Bronx native was also the voice of 25 World Series, 20 no-hitters and 12 All-Star Games during his legendary career, having also contributed to CBS Sports (1975-82) and NBC Sports‘ (1983-1989) for MLB, NFL football and PGA Tour golf coverage.

Scully provided the voice to many of baseball’s most memorable moments including Hank Aaron’s record-breaking 715th career home run, Kirk Gibson’s game-winning home run in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series and the New York Mets’ comeback against the Boston Red Sox in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.

Aaron Donald was linked to retirement rumors and speculation mounted that Sean McVay would jump to TV, but the Super Bowl-winning duo is returning to the Rams for another year. And one would not be there without the other.

“Not at all,” the Rams defensive tackle recently told NFL Network. “Not at all. If Sean ain’t here — I told Sean when he first got here. We came up with some things early and I first told him as long as he’s the head coach here, I want to continue to build my legacy with him. 

“As long as he’s here and I got the ability to still play at a high level, I’m going to be here. When he’s gone and it’s all said and done, that probably will be when I’m hanging it up, too.”

Donald, who had 12.5 sacks last season, is certainly nowhere near falling off, and he’s expected to have another big year with the defending champion Rams.

“It’s always going to be motivation to do everything you can to get back,” the 31-year-old Donald said. “That’s the ultimate goal. That’s what you work for. When you’re grinding and out here working right now, that’s in the back of your mind. To try to do everything you can to have a great season and try to be the last team standing.”