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PHILADELPHIA -- Amed Rosario's first major league home run was a game-winner. Rosario's solo homer in the ninth inning gave the New York Mets a 7-6 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. The homer capped a three-hit night for Rosario, who scored three times.
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Yoenis Cespedes knocked in four runs and hit a three-run homer in the win, the Mets' second in as many nights over the Phillies.
Rosario lined a 2-1 fastball from Phillies closer Hector Neris (4-5) into the right field seats to break a tie. It capped a breakout game for the 21-year-old shortstop, who entered with a .161 average through his first nine games and was in a 1-for-16 slump.
Cesar Hernandez had tied it in the eighth inning, hitting a solo home run off Mets reliever Jerry Blevins. It was Hernandez's career-best seventh homer of the season.
Mets reliever Hansel Robles got out of a jam with two on and one out after Hernandez's homer in the eighth. A.J. Ramos picked up his second save as a Met, pitching a perfect ninth inning.
Cespedes provided most of the Mets' offense before the late-inning drama. The slugging outfielder gave the Mets a 4-3 lead in the third inning when turned a 96 mph Nick Pivetta fastball into a 429-foot, three-run homer. It was the 150th homer of Cespedes' career.
Michael Conforto got the Mets' scoring started in the second inning, crushing a solo homer to center field. It was Conforto's team-leading 25th home run of the season and fourth in six games.
The Mets chased Pivetta in the fifth inning as both Cespedes and Neil Walker had RBI singles.
It was the third time in 68 games this season that Cespedes had at least four RBIs. The only time he had more came exactly four months earlier in the same ballpark as Cespedes had a five-RBI night with three homers against the Phillies on April 11.
Pivetta, a rookie right-hander, was charged with six runs (five earned) in 4 2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits, walked two batters and struck out four as his ERA climbed to 6.09.
The Phillies gave Pivetta immediate support, jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first. Nick Williams and Tommy Joseph both had RBI singles in the inning. Joseph added another RBI with a double in the third inning.
Philadelphia ended up scoring five runs off Mets starter Seth Lugo, who allowed eight hits and walked four in 5 1/3 innings. Lugo needed 81 pitches to get through the first three innings, but settled down a bit to get into the sixth. He had a career-best eight strikeouts.
NOTES: Mets 1B Dominic Smith made his major league debut. He went 1-for-3 and singled in the fourth inning for his first major league hit. He was pulled out of the game in the sixth inning as part of a double switch. ... The Mets have hit 17 homers in five games at Citizens Bank Park in 2017.
