Mets slug their way to third win in a row
After a horrific month of June, the Mets made an immediate bounceback to start July, winning two games against the Giants to win their first series since the end of May. But they were facing a middling Giants team, and now had to travel to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks, who were currently leading their division. The Mets had their work cut out for them, but were starting off on the right foot, putting Max Scherzer out to pitch against Zach Davies.
The first third of the game was relatively quiet. Save for a couple of singles courtesy of Starling Marte and Brett Baty, the Mets were held in check. And the only run scored for the Diamondbacks came from current Rookie of the Year frontrunner Corbin Carroll. Otherwise, Scherzer was looking pretty good, with five strikeouts through three innings.
The fourth inning was where things started getting interesting. A Francisco Lindor walk turned into a Lindor stolen base, and Jeff McNeil hit a single to put runners on the corners with two outs. Marte came through in a big way, muscling a home run to put three runs on the board for the Mets. In the bottom of the inning, Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went back-to-back to tie the game at three runs apiece.
In the fifth, Brandon Nimmo put the Mets back on top with a home run of his own, giving the Mets a razor-thin one run lead. And in the bottom of the inning, Scherzer started to falter. After two quick outs, he gave up a single to Alek Thomas, who stole second base, and a Gerardo Perdomo walk and Jake McCarthy single to load the bases. Carroll walked to drive in his second run of the game and tie the game at four runs each. Scherzer got out of it after that.
The sixth inning was quiet for both teams, but in the seventh, the Mets struck back. The Diamondbacks brought in former Met Miguel Castro, Daniel Vogelbach walked, and Francisco Alvarez hit a long home run to put the Mets ahead by two. Brooks Raley dealt with some traffic in the bottom half of the inning, but he held on to hold the Mets lead. In the eighth inning, the Mets loaded the bases with one out, and a sacrifice fly from the recent roster addition D.J. Stewart tacked on another run to expand the Mets lead by three runs.
The Mets didn’t rest on their laurels in the ninth inning. Brett Baty led off with a single, and with a wild pitch and a ground ball out he advanced to third with two outs, and Francisco Lindor hit a double to drive him in and add another run to the Mets lead. Drew Smith came in and got two outs but also let two runners get on base, creating a save situation for David Robertson. Robertson immediately allowed Carroll to reach base on a single and walked Christian Walker to drive in another run and shave part of the lead away. But Robertson squeezed his way out, getting a force out to end the game.
Despite some shaky moments for the Mets pitching staff, the Mets were able to slug their way to a third win in a row. This is the first three game winning streak for the Mets since they swept the Phillies at the end of May. While they have a long way to go before they’re back in any sort of serious playoff contention, and they have some serious issues to address (mainly their bullpen), they’re on a good track right now. And after the month they just had, every win is a feel-good win.
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Win Probability Added
What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Starling Marte, +29.8% WPA
Big Mets loser: Max Scherzer, -16.1% WPA
Mets pitchers: -0.6% WPA
Mets hitters: +50.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Starling Marte’s three-run home run in the fourth, +32.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Corbin Carroll’s RBI walk in the fifth, -14.3% WPA
Source: Amazin' Avenue
