Yoenis Cespedes hits 3 homers in 5 innings as New York Mets beat Philadelphia Phillies

PHILADELPHIA -- Matt Harvey has never pitched against Yoenis Cespedes, but the New York Mets right-hander surmised after Tuesday's game, having witnessed all of his teammate's power, that he may have to walk him if he ever does.

Cespedes belted three home runs and a double in a five-RBI night to help power the Mets to a 14-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies.

"I don't know if you guys watched batting practice today, but it looked like a driving range out there the way he was hitting balls," Mets manager Terry Collins said of Cespedes. "He had a big night. He's a special player."

Cespedes said through an interpreter, "I was feeling really good (in batting practice). I was seeing the ball well, and I was hitting it."

With blue and orange apparel scattered throughout the crowd and cheers ringing throughout the night at Citizens Bank Park, the Mets haven't felt far away from home lately.

The Mets kept giving them reasons to cheer Tuesday. New York hit seven home runs, two of them by Lucas Duda, and outhit Philadelphia 20-8. Every Mets starting position player registered a hit.

"Another embarrassing game against the Mets," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We just made too many bad pitches and they didn't miss them. That's all there is to it."

Cespedes hit his first blast in the first inning, a three-run homer to dead center field off Phillies starter Clay Buchholz, who ended up lasting just seven outs.

The Mets forced the right-hander to throw 67 pitches before he exited with an injury to his right arm. Buchholz (0-1) allowed six earned runs and eight hits. He left with the Phillies trailing 5-1, and the Mets didn't slow down.

Duda's solo shot in the sixth traveled 448 feet and disappeared over the batter's eye in center. It gave the Mets a 10-2 lead, which was plenty of runs for Harvey.

Harvey (2-0) lasted 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs and five hits with six strikeouts and one walk on 92 pitches. He was removed due to a tight left hamstring.

"Covering first (base), I ran over and kind of took my last step and it kind of cramped up on me a little bit," Harvey said. "It's nothing serious. I don't know it was sitting out a lot. Obviously, we were putting up a lot of runs, so sitting in the dugout and then going back out there."

With the Mets up 9-2, the Phillies threatened to cut into the deficit when they loaded the bases in the fifth with two outs, but Harvey struck out Odubel Herrera to end the threat.

The Mets kept piling on. Travis d'Arnaud's two-run shot in the eighth gave them a 13-2 lead and Duda's second homer of the night made it 14-4 in the top of the ninth.

Maikel Franco got the Phillies on the board when he led off the second with a solo home run, his first home run of the season, to make it 5-1.

The Mets didn't take long to get that run back and more.

After a one-out double by Jose Reyes, Buchholz worked a full count to d'Arnaud. But the 70 mph changeup for ball three left the pitcher uneasy. Phillies coaches and training staff went to the mound, and Buchholz was removed.

"They said something about a strained flexor tendon," Mackanin said. "They're going to MRI him tomorrow."

Left-hander Adam Morgan came on in relief and was greeted by an RBI single on his first pitch to put the Mets ahead 6-1.

An inning later, the Mets lengthened their lead when Cabrera and Cespedes hit back-to-back shots to make it 8-1.

Cespedes homered again in the fifth.

All four runs charged to Morgan, who was optioned to Triple-A after the game, came on solo homers.

NOTES: Mets LF Yoenis Cespedes became the 13th player in club history to hit three home runs in a game. ... The Mets have now won 15 of their past 17 series vs. Philadelphia and are 28-12 against their NL East rival since the start of 2015. ... The Phillies announced Tuesday that executive vice president Michael Stiles, 71, would retire from his full-time role on June 30. ... New York has now hit 46 home runs in its past 21 games at Citizens Bank Park. ... The Mets send RHP Zack Wheeler (0-1, 11.25 ERA) to the mound for the series finale Wednesday to try to complete the sweep. He will oppose RHP Vince Velasquez (0-1, 9.00).