The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA—David Wright’s return sparked a home run derby last night.
Wright hit a long homer on his first major-league swing in 133 days, and Wilmer Flores went deep twice, as the N.Y. Mets set a franchise record with eight long balls in a 16-7 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
Yoenis Cespedes, Juan Lagares, Travis d’Arnaud, Daniel Murphy, and Michael Cuddyer also connected for the NL East leaders, who extended their cushion to a season-best 5.5 games over second-place Washington.
“An unbelievable team win,” Wright said.
“When you’re thinking about coming back, and I had a lot of time to think about it, you think of different scenarios, and you think of your first at-bat and what it’s going to feel like, and try to keep your emotions in check,” he added.
“It couldn’t have been any better for me, personally, my first at-bat.”
New York also set a franchise record with 15 extra-base hits—seven doubles and eight homers.
The teams tied an NL record with 11 combined homers.
“I have not experienced something like that,” said Mets’ manager Terry Collins.
Fresh off scoring 33 runs in a three-game sweep at Colorado, the Mets slugged their way back from a 7-2 deficit after Jacob deGrom’s shortest career outing.
The 2014 NL Rookie of the Year lasted just 2 2/3 innings and allowed a career-high seven runs on eight hits.
His ERA rose from 1.98 to 2.29.
Sean Gilmartin (3-1) had four strikeouts in 3 1/3 scoreless innings to earn the win as the Mets (68-56) moved 12 games over .500 for the first time since finishing 89-73 in 2008.
“You’ve been watching on TV, and you could just see the look in these guys’ faces, that they never believe they’re going to lose,” Wright noted.
“I got a chance to experience that first-hand tonight, and it was a lot of fun.”
Ryan Howard and Domonic Brown each hit a three-run homer while Cameron Rupp also took deGrom deep.
But the Mets chased starter Adam Morgan and rallied against Hector Neris (2-1).
Elsewhere in the NL, Atlanta beat Colorado 5-3, Pittsburgh downed Miami 5-2, and St. Louis upended Arizona 5-3.
The Chicago Cubs edged Cleveland 2-1 and Cincinnati dumped Detroit 12-5 in interleague play.
