PHILADELPHIA — Maybe it’s a sign of the apocalypse.
No, not the smoke-filled swath covering much of the country Thursday; that was expected.
Instead, it was the Mets opening the second half of their season with a 4-1 win over the Phillies.
Powered by solo homers from Francisco Alvarez — who had two — and Brett Baty, as well as a strong start by Christian Scott, the reeling Mets avoided falling 18 games under .500 for the first time this year.
After the start of the game was moved up by an hour due to air quality concerns caused by Canadian wildfires — which caused both teams to shorten their pregame routines after their truncated All-Star break — the Mets played an unusually solid game.
And they got some help from the bottom of the lineup.
There’s little chance the Mets can make anything of the rest of their season — especially as they’re expected to sell at the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
They also have the toughest schedule the rest of the season and start the second half visiting second-place division rival Philadelphia and NL Central leader Milwaukee before hosting the NL West-leading Dodgers and NL East-topping Braves.
As the Philadelphia skyline slowly disappeared in the distance due to the worsening conditions, the Mets took the lead in the top of the third on Alvarez’s first homer of the night: a one-out shot to dead center.
The 416-foot home run was Alvarez’s 10th of the season.
Baty added his fifth of the year, leading off against Aaron Nola in the seventh.
Alvarez followed with his second of the game to end Nola’s night.
On the other side, Scott retired 10 of the first 11 batters he faced before Bryce Harper doubled down the right field line with one out in the bottom of the fourth.
The right-hander responded by getting Brandon Marsh to fly to left and then Alec Bohm to pop out.
The Phillies nearly tied the game in the sixth, as Kyle Schwarber came within inches of hitting his league-leading 33rd homer, but the two-out blast hit just short of the top of the right field wall and bounced back on the field for a double.
Brooks Raley replaced Scott after just 79 pitches to face Harper.
With Harper at the plate, the Mets caught Schwarber off second base, as Alvarez threw down to Francisco Lindor.
But as Schwarber headed to third, Lindor bounced a throw to Bo Bichette, so Schwarber was safe on Lindor’s error.
Harper reached on a four-pitch walk, but Raley got Marsh swinging to end the threat.
The Phillies got to Luke Weaver with two outs in the eighth, as Trea Turner took him deep to make it 3-1.
MEts merch shop
New York Post receives revenue from affiliate and advertising partnerships for sharing this content and when you make a purchase.
It snapped Weaver’s 27-inning streak without allowing a home run.
The Mets got the run back when A.J. Ewing doubled in Jared Young during the ninth.
