Cloyd Throws Eight Strong Innings; Phillies Rout Mets, 16-1.

Final: Phillies 16, Mets 1.

WP: Tyler Cloyd (2-1, 3.86 ERA) LP: Jeremy Hefner (2-7, 5.79 ERA)

Hearing the news that the St. Louis Cardinals had already won earlier today, the Phillies absolutely needed to win tonight's game and sweep the New York Mets.

Well, they started things off essentially perfect, picking up six straight hits to start off the game, and scoring four runs. Opposing Mets starter Jeremy Hefner failed to retire a single batter against the Phils, as he was replaced by RHP Collin McHugh.

McHugh did not fair much better. He came in to face Erik Kratz and hit him, charging another run to Hefner's line. After Tyler Cloyd hit into a double-play, Jimmy Rollins came up and hit his second hit of the inning, bringing home two additional runs to give the Phillies the early 7-0 lead. Chase Utley singled in another run later in the inning, giving the Phillies an eight run advantage.

In total, the Phillies scored eight runs on nine hits in just the first inning of tonight's ballgame. The top of the first did not end until 7:44 pm EST, as Jeremy Hefner is the first Mets pitcher ever to give up six or more hits without retiring a batter to start out a game.

(via @MarcFarzetta/MyPHL17)

The next time the Phillies got a hit wouldn't be until the top of the fifth inning, as Domonic Brown singled with one out recorded.

Juan Pierre and Chase Utley each picked up their fourth hits of the night in the top of the eighth inning. That was Pierre's first four-hit game since July of 2011, and 2008 for Utley. Utley's hit brought home the ninth run of the night for the Phillies.

In the top of the ninth, Juan Pierre got a hit for the fifth time of the evening, raising his average for the season to (.318). The last time Pierre had five hits in a game, his career high was back in 2005 with the Florida Marlins.

The Phillies scored a total of seven runs in the top of the ninth inning. Four of them came from a grand slam from Ryan Howard, his second home run of the series. Ryan now has 53 RBIs in 64 games this season, and has 298 home runs in his career.

Think about how wild this game was: the Phillies scored eight runs in the first inning, and seven runs in the ninth inning. Hard to think this ever happened before in baseball's history. 44 at-bats, 16 runs, and 21 hits. What's even wilder? The Mets scored just one run on three hits.

Tyler Cloyd pitched very well for the Phillies tonight over eight innings pitched. He allowed just one run over three hits and two walks allowed. 64 of his 88 total pitches were thrown for strikes. B.J. Rosenberg recorded the final three outs in the ninth inning.

Kyle Kendrick (9-11) will start Friday evening back at home for the final homestand of the 2012 regular season. He will oppose Tommy Hanson (12-8) and the division-rival Atlanta Braves, who currently lead the first Wild Card spot in the National League. The game, starting at 7:05 pm EST, will be seen on CSN and heard on 1210 WPHT AM & 94 WIP FM.

Attendance: 20,010.

Starting Pitching Summary:

Tyler Cloyd: 8.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 3.86 ERA
Jeremy Hefner: 0.0 IP, 6 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 5.79 ERA

In the 'Pen:

Philadelphia

B.J. Rosenberg (9th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA

New York

Collin McHugh (1st, 2nd, 3rd): 3.0 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
Justin Hampson (4th): 1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 3.86 ERA
Jenrry Mejia (5th): 1.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 9.00 ERA
Robert Carson (6th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.85 ERA
Manny Acosta (7th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 7.13 ERA
Elvin Ramirez (8th): 1.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 6.48 ERA
Jeurys Familia (9th): 0.2 IP, 3 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 11.12 ERA
Josh Edgin (9th): 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 1 HR, 4.56 ERA
Ramon Ramirez (9th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 4.27 ERA

Scoring Summary:

Top of the 1st (Phillies 1, Mets 0): Chase Utley singles on a soft fly ball to center fielder Mike Baxter. Jimmy Rollins scores.
Top of the 1st (Phillies 2, Mets 0): Ryan Howard singles on a line drive to right fielder Fred Lewis. Juan Pierre scores.
Top of the 1st (Phillies 3, Mets 0): Domonic Brown singles on a line drive to center fielder Mike Baxter. Chase Utley scores.
Top of the 1st (Phillies 4, Mets 0): Kevin Frandsen walks. Ryan Howard scores.
Top of the 1st (Phillies 5, Mets 0): Erik Kratz hit by pitch. John Mayberry scores.
Top of the 1st (Phillies 7, Mets 0): Jimmy Rollins singles on a ground ball to center fielder Mike Baxter. Kevin Frandsen, Erik Kratz score.
Top of the 1st (Phillies 8, Mets 0): Chase Utley singles on a soft line drive to left fielder Lucas Duda. Jimmy Rollins scores.
Bottom of the 5th (Phillies 8, Mets 1): Mike Baxter homers (3) on a fly ball to right field.
Top of the 8th (Phillies 9, Mets 1): Chase Utley singles on a sharp ground ball to center fielder Andres Torres. Tyler Cloyd scores.
Top of the 9th (Phillies 10, Mets 1): Jimmy Rollins walks. Kevin Frandsen scores.
Top of the 9th (Phillies 11, Mets 1): Juan Pierre singles on a soft ground ball to pitcher Jeurys Familia. Erik Kratz scores.
Top of the 9th (Phillies 12, Mets 1): Chase Utley hit by pitch. Nate Schierholtz scores.
Top of the 9th (Phillies 16, Mets 1): Ryan Howard hits a grand slam (12) to left field. Jimmy Rollins, Juan Pierre, Michael Martinez score.