Bryce Harper, Cal Stevenson lift NL East-leading Phillies to 6-4 comeback win over Mets

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper homered twice, Cal Stevenson hit a two-run, go-ahead double in the seventh and made a run-saving, highlight-reel catch in the eighth and the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies rallied to cool off the New York Mets with a 6-4 victory on Saturday.

J.T. Realmuto added an RBI double for the Phillies, who have won 10 of 13 and lead the Mets by eight games in the division. The teams will wrap up the three-game series on Sunday afternoon before the Mets host the Phillies for four games Sept. 19-22.

“Really good team win today,” Harper said. “It's a big win. That's a good team over there, and they're playing well.”

Starling Marte singled, tripled and drove in three runs and Luisangel Acuña had a pair of singles in his major-league debut for the Mets, who lost for just the third time in the last 15 games. New York began play Saturday holding the final wild card spot in the National League, one game ahead of the Braves.

With his team down 4-0, Harper launched the first of his two drives off starter Luis Severino with one out in the fourth, a 397-foot opposite-field drive off an 85-mph changeup. He pulled Philadelphia within 4-3 in the sixth with a two-run shot off an 87-mph slider that came on a 3-2 count. The two-time NL MVP, who hadn't homered since Aug. 9, has 28 home runs on the year.

“It felt like a playoff atmosphere, felt like a big situation,” Harper said. “I love that.”

Philadelphia went ahead in the seventh. Danny Young (4-1) surrendered a pair of singles to Bryson Stott and Realmuto to start the frame, with both advancing on Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice bunt. Young slammed his glove and hat into the bench in New York’s dugout in frustration after being lifted by manager Carlos Mendoza for Reed Garrett.

Garrett struck out pinch-hitter Weston Wilson before Stevenson clubbed a 3-2, 92-mph cutter to the wall in right to score Stott and Realmuto.

“Just a huge at-bat by him,” Harper said.

Jeff Hoffman pitched a scoreless eighth, and Carlos Estévez finished it in the ninth for his 26th save in 31 chances and sixth in eight tries since joining the Phillies prior to the trade deadline.

Hoffman got some help from Stevenson in center field when he robbed J.D. Martinez of a home run with a leaping catch at the wall for the first out of the eighth.

Orion Kerkering (5-2) worked a 1-2-3 seventh after Taijuan Walker tossed three scoreless innings in relief of starter Kolby Allard.

New York gave Severino a four-run cushion. Marte worked a bases-loaded walk in the first before hitting a two-run triple off Allard in the Mets’ three-run third inning to continue his success against Philadelphia. Marte is batting .375 in his career against the Phillies.

Allard, the fourth different No. 5 starter used in as many trips through the rotation, lasted just three innings, surrendering three earned runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Walker, whom the Phillies signed to a four-year, $72 million free-agent deal prior to the 2023 season, excelled in his new role after getting demoted to the bullpen due to ineffectiveness as a starter.

“He's a great teammate,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Walker. “He's handled this like a pro.”

Walker was happy to contribute in a positive way.

“It feels good,” he said. “I feel like I haven't done a good job of helping the team this year. Today was the best I felt all year."

Acuña recorded his first hit with a single to center field off Walker leading off the fourth and started the ninth with a single to center off Estévez. Acuña, a younger brother of Atlanta Braves star Ronald Acuña Jr., is one of the organization’s top prospects. He hit .258 with 40 steals while splitting time among second base, shortstop and center field with Triple-A Syracuse.

“Good to see him fight and get us going in the ninth,” Mendoza said. “I thought he was good.”

Acuña, 22, started at shortstop and batted ninth. He came over when the Mets traded Max Scherzer to Texas in July 2023. Acuña was promoted one day after All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor left Friday night’s 11-3 victory against the Phillies in the seventh inning because of lower back soreness. Mendoza said the move was precautionary following the game and made the decision to give Lindor another day of rest and recovery.

Severino gave up three runs on six hits with five strikeouts and a walk in six innings. The 30-year-old right-hander made two All-Star teams with the Yankees before signing a one-year, $13 million deal in the offseason with the Mets after struggling to an injury-plagued season and 6.65 ERA in 2023.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Phillies: 3B Alec Bohm (left hand strain) and INF Edmundo Sosa (back spasms) played for Triple-A Lehigh Valley in rehab assignments on Saturday. ... Harper winced while batting in the eighth, flexing his right arm. He recently told MLB.com that he was playing with a sore wrist and sore right elbow.

Mets: Marte was drilled on the left forearm by a 95-mph sinker from Hoffman in the eighth but stayed in the game.

UP NEXT

Mets LHP David Peterson (9-2, 2.98) opposes Philadelphia LHP Cristopher Sánchez (10-9, 3.33) in the finale of the three-game series on Sunday afternoon.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

New York Mets' Mark Vientos, left, scores past Philadelphia Phillies' J.T. Realmuto, right, during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

New York Mets' Jose Iglesias, left, scores after Philadelphia Phillies' Kolby Allard, right, walked Mets' Starling Marte with the bases loaded during the first inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

New York Mets' Brandon Nimmo, right, high-fives Francisco Alvarez (4) after scoring during the third inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

Philadelphia Phillies' Cal Stevenson reacts after hitting a two-run double off New York Mets' Reed Garrett during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

Philadelphia Phillies' Cal Stevenson, right, watches his two-run double off New York Mets' Reed Garrett during the seventh inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper, right, watches his two-run home run off New York Mets' Luis Severino during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper reacts after hitting a two-run home run off New York Mets' Luis Severino during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwanese company Gold Apollo said Wednesday that it authorized its brand on the pagers that exploded in Lebanon and Syria but that another company based in Budapest manufactured them.

Pagers used by hundreds of members of the militant group Hezbollah exploded near-simultaneously Tuesday in Lebanon and Syria, killing at least nine people, including an 8-year-old girl, and wounding more than 2,000. Hezbollah and the Lebanese government blamed Israel for what appeared to be a sophisticated remote attack.

The AR-924 pagers used by the militants were manufactured by BAC Consulting KFT, based in Hungary’s capital, according to a statement released Wednesday by Gold Apollo.

“According to the cooperation agreement, we authorize BAC to use our brand trademark for product sales in designated regions, but the design and manufacturing of the products are solely the responsibility of BAC,” the statement read.

Gold Apollo chair Hsu Ching-kuang told journalists Wednesday that his company has had a licensing agreement with BAC for the past three years, but did not provide evidence of the contract.

At about 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, as people shopped for groceries, sat in cafes or drove cars and motorcycles in the afternoon traffic, the pagers in their hands or pockets started heating up and then exploding — leaving blood-splattered scenes and panicking bystanders.

It appeared that many of those hit were members of Hezbollah, but it was not immediately clear if non-Hezbollah members also carried any of the exploding pagers.

The blasts were mainly in areas where the group has a strong presence, particularly a southern Beirut suburb and in the Beqaa region of eastern Lebanon, as well as in Damascus, according to Lebanese security officials and a Hezbollah official. The Hezbollah official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

Experts believe explosive material was put into the pagers prior to their delivery and use in a sophisticated supply chain infiltration.

The AR-924 pager, advertised as being “rugged,” contains a rechargeable lithium battery, according to specifications once advertised on Gold Apollo’s website before it was apparently taken down Tuesday after the sabotage attack. It could receive text messages of up to 100 characters.

It also claimed to have up to 85 days of battery life. That’s something that would be crucial in Lebanon, where electricity outages have been common as the tiny nation on the Mediterranean Sea has faced years of economic collapse. Pagers also run on a different wireless network than mobile phones, making them more resilient in emergencies — one of the reasons why many hospitals worldwide still rely on them.

For Hezbollah, the militants also looked at the pagers as a means to counteract what’s believed to be intensive Israeli electronic surveillance on mobile phone networks throughout the country.

“The phone that we have in our hands — I do not have a phone in my hand — is a listening device,” warned Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah in a February speech.

He later added: “I tell you that the phone in your hands, in your wife’s hands, and in your children’s hands is the agent. It is a deadly agent, not a simple one. It is a deadly agent that provides specific and accurate information. Therefore, this requires great seriousness when confronting it.”

Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, contributed.

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

Hsu Ching-kuang, chairman of Apollo Gold, talks about the Taiwan company's communication products at the headquarters in New Taipei City, Taiwan Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Johnson Lai)

A police officer inspects a car in which a hand-held pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

People gather outside the American University hospital after the arrival of several men who were wounded by exploded handheld pagers, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Bassam Masri)

Lebanese soldiers stand guard at a street that leads to the American University hospital where they bring wounded people whose handheld pager exploded, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)