NEW YORK -- The Phillies on Thursday night did something that is not easy to do. They beat Noah Syndergaard.
The Phils scored three times in the second inning and twice more in the third against the flame-throwing right-hander on their way to a 6-4 win over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
The Phils ended up taking two of three to win just their third series against the Mets in the last 18 tries.
Syndergaard entered the game with the fourth-best ERA in the majors (2.78) since the start of the 2015 season and he had allowed just two earned runs in 19 innings over his first three starts this season.
Tommy Joseph, Andrew Knapp and Maikel Franco all had RBI doubles against Syndergaard, whose fastball reached triple digits a number of times.
Franco's double in the third broke an 0-for-22 slump. He also smacked a solo homer off reliever Fernando Salas in the eighth.
MLB
Aaron Nola got the win despite allowing the Mets to chip away at his early 5-1 lead.
The Phils are 6-9. The Mets are 8-8.
Starting pitching report
Though he left the game with a one-run lead, Nola did not pitch well. He ran a high pitch count (96) and lasted just five innings. He gave up seven hits and four runs. He walked four and struck out two. Nola had trouble putting hitters away. He gave up four hits with two strikes on a batter, including a three-run homer to Neil Walker on an 0-2 breaking ball in the third inning.
Syndergaard was not supported by good defense. Two of the five runs he gave up were unearned. He went seven innings and did not walk a batter. He struck out 10. He has not walked a batter in 26 innings this season. He has 30 strikeouts.
Bullpen report
Lefty Joely Rodriguez came up huge for the Phils. He got six outs in protecting a one-run lead. He threw 17 pitches, 14 strikes.
Manager Pete Mackanin switched up his end game and used Joaquin Benoit for a scoreless eighth and Hector Neris for the save. Benoit was installed as closer just last week after Jeanmar Gomez lost the job.
At the plate
The Phillies had 10 hits. Franco and Joseph, who both entered the game hitting under .160, accounted for five of them. In addition to his two extra-base hits, Franco walked once. Aaron Altherr had two hits.
Walker's homer was the big hit for the Mets.
In the field
The Mets made three errors.
Lineup stuff
Michael Saunders was scratched from the starting lineup because of illness. He did pinch-hit in the sixth inning and lined a shot to the gap in left-center. Saunders was denied extra bases when Mets left-fielder Michael Conforto made a terrific grab running into the wall.
Up next
The Phils return home Friday night to begin a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves. Here are the pitching matchups:
Friday night -- RHP Jeremy Hellickson (2-0, 0.82) vs. RHP Bartolo Colon (1-1, 4.24)
Saturday night -- RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-1, 2.75) vs. LHP Jaime Garcia (0-1, 4.67)
Sunday afternoon -- RHP Zach Eflin (0-0, 3.60) vs. RHP Mike Foltynewicz (0-2, 4.26)