Noah Syndergaard absolutely dominated one of the best hitting teams in the National League, leading the Mets to a 4-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
- Syndergaard established a team-high with 13 strikeouts. He gave up a run in the first inning and then cruised through the next six frames. In a bit of a surprise he was allowed to come out and pitch the eighth. It was a bit rocky, but he escaped without allowing a run. Syndergaard finished with 116 pitches.
- The Mets exploded for two homers in the first inning. Lucas Duda crushed one to straight away center field for a three-run shot. Michael Cuddyer followed with a homer to left field off a high changeup. It was the only runs the Mets would get all game.
- Wilmer Flores, who learned earlier in the day that he was losing a hit from the LA series, responded with a two-hit game. But perhaps his most important contribution was drawing a walk in the first inning, setting the stage for Duda’s blast.
- Jenrry Mejia warmed up but did not get into the game. Jeurys Familia allowed a run in the ninth but recovered to record his 25th save of the season.
Cubs and Nats both lost. 2 games back. Great night for Mets.
The Mets winning formula is strong starting pitching, two or three runs, then get the ball to Familia. If the Mets are a winning hand with 4 Aces then Familia is the King of Diamonds. Unfortunately one of the Aces went on the DL. Did Sandy really have to enhance the bench with Muno and his 764 Las Vegas OPS when a more deserving Alex Castellanos and his 1.005 OPS , left field/3B position fits the major league team with Cuddyer gimpy and Wright disabled? I m sure Muno would clear waivers but who cares if he didn’t. It is bad enough that there is no external help but there was a better internal option even if the option may only be a AAAA 28 year old player having a career year.
As Matt mentioned above, ground was gained last night but just as importantly the Met win starts to put distance from the teams behind them and maybe add more sellers to the trade market.
Oh, and Noah was completely dominant last night, all * 116* pitches of him. Poor TC is going to have to hear about it this morning from Sandy!