New York Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes was bruised on two fingers of his left hand after he was hit by a pitch Wednesday night in a testy, 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies.
X-rays were negative on Cespedes, struck on the ring and middle fingers. He exited in the third inning after being hit, but returned to the dugout in the sixth when the benches started to empty following a high-and-tight pitch.
Daniel Murphy and Michael Conforto homered for the NL East champion Mets, who began the day with a one-game lead over the Dodgers for home-field advantage in the Division Series.
Freddy Galvis drove in two runs for the Phillies and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on a wild pitch.
Ken Roberts (1-1) retired one batter. Seven Phillies relievers combined to pitch 8 1-3 scoreless innings, capped by Ken Giles working the ninth for his 15th save in 19 chances.
Bobby Parnell (2-4) faced three batters and retired none of them.
The teams combined to use 17 pitchers in the 3-hour, 59-minute game.
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Three batters had already been hit, prompting a warning to both teams, when Hansel Robles' head-high pitch sent Philadelphia's Cameron Rupp to the ground in the sixth. Robles and Mets manager Terry Collins were ejected.
Cespedes was hit by Justin De Fratus and came out of the game.
Acquired at the July 31 trade deadline from Detroit, Cespedes is batting .287 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs in 54 games with the Mets. Overall, he has set career highs this season with 35 home runs and 105 RBIs.
Cespedes' replacement, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, later was hit. After that, Odubel Herrera of the Phillies was plunked in the back.
Darin Ruf had a two-run double for the Phillies, who need to win two of their last four games to avoid losing 100 games for the first time since 1961.
The Phillies went ahead with three runs on one hit in the sixth, with Galvis scoring on Carlos Torres' wild pitch.
Logan Verrett made a spot start for the Mets in place of Steven Matz and surrendered three runs on four hits in 4 1-3 innings. Matz originally was slated to pitch, but the rookie's outing was pushed back a day after he woke up Tuesday with a sore back.
Collins said prior to Wednesday's game that the back issue was lingering and Matz would not appear on Thursday, either.
Conforto's two-run homer with two outs in the first made it 5-0 and finished Alec Asher.
TRAINER'S ROOM
Mets: SS Wilmer Flores left the game in the fourth inning with lower back stiffness.
Phillies: Manager Pete Mackanin said prior to Wednesday's game that 1B Ryan Howard, out since Sept. 14 after getting hit on the left knee by a ball at first base, may not play the rest of the season. ... 3B Maikel Franco plans to rejoin the team for their season-ending weekend series against the Marlins, which begins Friday. Franco, who has been on the DL since Aug. 12, is scheduled to arrive in Philadelphia late Thursday morning.
UP NEXT
RHP Jerad Eickhoff (2-3, 3.07) takes the mound for the Phillies in the conclusion of the three-game series at 12:05 p.m. on Thursday. The start time was changed from 7:05 p.m. due to the impending storms in the Northeast expected from Hurricane Joaquin. The Mets haven't announced their starter.
