Mr. September Delivers Late, Papelbon Shuts Door in 3-2 Victory.

Final: Phillies 3, Mets 2.

WP: Jeremy Horst (2-0, 1.11 ERA) LP: Josh Edgin (1-2, 3.86 ERA) SV: Jonathan Papelbon (36)

Things were looking good from the get-go tonight up in New York in the second game of the series. Jimmy Rollins started the game in the top of the first with yet another leadoff home run, his 22nd overall in the 2012 regular season.

Then, things turned ugly- real ugly- for the Phils' offense. They would not pick up another hit until the top of the 8th inning with one out, as John Mayberry singled on a pop up to second baseman Daniel Murphy.

The third hit would be the most important of the night, however, as with two outs in the top of the ninth inning and down to the final batter, Ryan Howard hit a clutch two-run home run to get the Phillies the lead. The Big Piece, Mr. September, whatever you call him- finally has a moment for himself in the 2012 season, one that he desperately needed to boost not only his confidence, but the team's as well.

Jonathan Papelbon came in the bottom of the ninth and retired the Mets' batters without allowing a runner in scoring position to secure his 36th save of the 2012 season and the 255th overall in his career. Much credit goes to Domonic Brown who made an amazing diving catch with a runner on first and one out. Had he not caught the ball, the tying run likely would have came around to score.

The pitching duel tonight featured Phils' lefty ace Cole Hamels and the Mets' right-handed rookie, Matt Harvey. Cole lasted just six innings tonight on 110 pitches (70 strieks). He allowed two runs over six hits and one walk, and was able to strike out 10 opposing batters. New York's Harvey threw even better, despite the good-looking numbers from Cole. He lasted seven innings tonight on 112 pitches (69 for strikes), allowing just one hit and one earned run.

Rookie Tyler Cloyd (1-1) starts in the series finale tomorrow evening, in the make-up game from Tuesday night's rain-out. He will start against Mets' right-hander rookie, Jeremy Hefner (2-6). The game, starting at 7:10 pm EST, will be seen on MyPHL17 and heard on 1210 WPHT AM & 94 WIP FM.

Attendance: 21,741.

Starting Pitching Summary:

Cole Hamels: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO, 1 HR, 3.05 ERA
Matt Harvey: 7.0 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR, 2.73 ERA

In the 'Pen:

Philadelphia

Antonio Bastardo (7th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 4.56 ERA
Justin De Fratus (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
Phillippe Aumont (8th): 0.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.82 ERA
Jeremy Horst (8th): 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, o SO, 0 HR, 1.11 ERA
Jonathan Papelbon (9th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.37 ERA

New York

Bobby Parnell (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 2.87 ERA
Josh Edgin (9th): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 2 SO, 1 HR, 3.86 ERA
Jon Rauch (9th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 2.91 ERA

Scoring Summary:

Top of the 1st (Phillies 1, Mets 0): Jimmy Rollins homers (22) on a fly ball to right field.
Bottom of the 3rd (Phillies 1, Mets 1): Daniel Murphy singles on a line drive to left fielder Juan Pierre. Ruben Tejada scores.
Bottom of the 6th (Phillies 1, Mets 2): David Wright homers (18) on a fly ball to right center field.
Top of 9th (Phillies 3, Mets 2): Ryan Howard homers (11) on a fly ball to right field. Chase Utley scores.

What's Next: