NEW YORK -- Marlon Byrd was having a difficult night at the plate, along with just about everyone else. Still, when he came up in the 11th inning against his former teammates, he had an idea what he wanted to do. When the Mets switched their approach, he adjusted and came through. Byrd reached low and away to slice an RBI double just inside the right field line in the 11th, leading the Philadelphia Phillies over New York 3-2 Friday night in a game of many squandered opportunities. "Hes got a great mentality for that. Hes always on the positive side and hes always up there," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. "Hell grind it out. Hell grind out a game and thats what he demonstrates." Chase Utley had three hits and scored all the Phillies runs, two on singles by Domonic Brown, to help Philadelphia end a four-game skid and beat the Mets for the first time in six meetings. Carlos Torres (2-2), the seventh Mets pitcher, gave up a one-out double to Utley and intentionally walked Ryan Howard. Byrd, who played for the Mets last season, was able to go with the pitch for the opposite-field hit. "Had some tough at-bats early," Byrd said after striking out three times and walking twice before getting his big hit. "The good thing is I know the guys over there, know what theyre trying to do. They changed it up on me a little bit with Carlos. It was just one of those things." The Phillies left the bases loaded in the inning, only fitting as the teams combined to strand 32 runners on a damp night in a game that took 4 hours, 39 minutes. Jonathan Papelbon earned his 10th save. Mario Hollands (1-1) got his first big league win. The Mets returned home after a 2-6 road trip that ended with a three-game sweep at the hands of the Marlins and a 23-inning scoreless streak. They quickly ended the drought on Curtis Grandersons RBI double in the first but then reverted to their struggling ways until the eighth, when David Wright doubled in the tying run off Antonio Bastardo. New York loaded the bases in each of the first two innings against Roberto Hernandez. The Mets also put two runners on in three other innings, including the fifth when they had second and third with no outs after shortstop Jimmy Rollins throwing error on a potential double-play ball. Still, they mostly came up empty. New York left 15 on base, a season high, and went 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position. "You need a groundball up the middle, you need a flyball, you need to put the ball in play someplace to add on runs, to score the big runs, and everybody works at it every day," Mets manager Terry Collins said. While the Mets wasted opportunity after opportunity, the Phillies were hardly better in their first game since Toronto swept four from them in a home-and-home interleague series. Philadelphia stranded 17 at Citi Field and couldnt capitalize on 11 walks -- three intentional. Brown and Utley teamed in the third and fifth against Jenrry Mejia to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. Utley led off the third with a double and advanced to third on Howards fly to left. After a walk to Byrd, Brown fisted a soft liner the opposite way to left to tie it 1-all. Brown drove in Utley in the fifth with another hit dunked into left field. Mejia gave up two runs and six hits in 4 2-3 innings. He walked three, hit a batter with a pitch and struck out four. Hernandez laboured through five innings, giving up a run while stranding 10. "Hernandez battled from a second and third no outs, which was big at the time," Sandberg said. Mets fans got excited in the third when Mejias weak fly to left looked as though it had a chance of dropping. Instead, a charging Brown made the catch to leave New York pitchers 0 for 59 this season. NOTES: Mets 1B Lucas Duda was out with a stomach flu. ... Called up before the game to provide a spark for one of baseballs worst offences, SS Wilmer Flores went 2 for 5 for the Mets. ... The Phillies selected the contract of infielder Reid Brignac from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He took INF Freddy Galvis spot. Galvis was sent to Lehigh after a 2-for-42 (.048) start. ... New York Jets QB Geno Smith spoke with 150 students as part of the Mets Citi Kids program, then threw out the ceremonial first pitch. ... LSU coach Les Miles talked football with Wright before the game. ... Up next: Phillies RHP Kyle Kendrick (0-3, 3.58 ERA) vs. Mets RHP Dillon Gee (3-1, 2.51) on Saturday night. USA Soccer Gear . This time, it was Eric Chavezs turn. 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The ninth-ranked Russian looked to be cruising before McHale broke late in the second set to tie the match and then took her commanding lead in the final set after breaking Sharapova. USA Soccer Store . A person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press the Steelers will part ways with the former Pro Bowler, a move that hardly serves as a surprise after fifth-year linebacker Jason Worilds agreed to accept a "transition player" tag last week.Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. This week, they discuss Richard Sherman, Kevin Durant, the NFL Draft and the MLBs review system. Dave Naylor, TSN 1050 My thumb is down to Seattle Seahawk Richard Sherman for his view that the NFL would not have banned LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling for life because the NFL is "more of a bottom line league." Richard, youre known as a smart guy, so surely you can understand that the NBAs decision to ban Sterling was as driven by its bottom line as it was by its moral convictions. Yes, Adam Silver did the right thing, but the NBA commissioner was also doing the one and only thing that would ensure Sterlings racist words wouldnt carve into the NBAs annual $5 billion revenue pie. Youre right about the NFL being a bottom-line league. But thats precisely the reason Roger Goodell would have done the exact same thing that Adam Silver did. Steve Simmons, Sun Media My thumb is up to Kevin Durant, here on Mothers Day, for making the greatest MVP speech maybe any athlete has ever made. In winning the MVP of the National Basketball Association, Durant made a modest, heartwarming, thoughtful, emotional speech, thanking his mom, bringing tears to his eyes - and with that to the eyes of many, including his mother. Durant thanked every teammate individually, saying something special and personal about each, along with mentioning his coach and his general manager and the support staff of the Oklahoma City Thunder. If you didnt like Durant before, you do now. If you havent heard thiis - and the way the NBA presents awards between playoff games you might have missed it - please go to your computer, take the time, go to Youtube and find it online.dddddddddddd Make that your gift to yourself today. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated My thumb is down to the NFL Draft, not because, like all drafts, it mocks free-market principles, but because it is so staggeringly long. Three days of non-stop, non-action - men in suits calling the names of younger men in more stylish suits. Instead of gazing at Mel Kiper Jrs remarkable hair, you could have driven from Halifax to Vancouver and back to Calgary, enjoying this land and making several doughnut stops. You could have been reading Catch 22 instead of been obsessing over who went 22. Yeah, I get it. The NFL rules the world. But its draft needs an editor worse than the Browns need a quarterback. Dave Hodge, TSN My thumb is down to one part of baseballs video review system, and one part only - like the NFL Draft - it takes too long. Otherwise, its fine, bad calls by umpires that would otherwise stand are corrected. The absence of childish rants by managers enhances the game. The opportunity for fans in the stands to study the play in question is a real breakthrough, but the length of time it takes for umpires and the MLB war room to make their decisions is a problem - one that is easily fixed, mind you. If theres not enough evidence to overturn a call in a strictly-enforced time limit, then the original call prevails. And thats the way its supposed to work, so replay doesnt take too long. ' ' 'knew he had it in him? (H/T Barstool Sports) ' ' 'CH: Beef meets Beemer ' ' '