The Mets clubbed three home runs en route to opening up a seven-run lead and coming away with a 7-4 win over the Red Sox Monday night in Boston.
Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith all went deep with the first two hitting two-run homers and Smith with a three-run blast. After watching the offense have so much trouble in the opening series, it was nice to see the bats come alive. Even if it was against a depleted Boston staff which opted for a bullpen game.
Michael Wacha pitched five strong innings, showing a fastball that regularly hit 95 and a changeup that kept hitters off balance. Chasen Shreve gave up a solo shot to Xander Bogaerts but otherwise looked very good and had the added benefit of working quickly. Jeurys Familia did not look good at all, necessitating a 4-out save by Seth Lugo.
Robinson Cano took the collar and is now 1-12 on the season. It’s nice that he’s not batting third and it’s good to see him being removed for defensive purposes. Now there’s only one move left to make. Hopefully J.D. Davis is still taking grounders at third base.
It was a good win. Like you said, Wacha, Shreve and Lugo looked good.
Alonso’s home run was a missile. 116 MPH exit velocity.
Boston’s staff is really bad.
Who is going to be our number five starter?
Brian, your last paragraph was aimed at the shell named Robinson Cano, and I can’t blame you. The preferential treatment given to Cano make him a lightning rod of criticism. However, most of the team isn’t hitting. Having Cano hit at the bottom of the lineup is what should have been from Day 1 until he gets up to speed for missing that summer camp time.
But I have a spur in my saddle for something a very smart guy said on Sunday night. No, not Chipper Jones who obviously did not need to do any homework on the Mets and spent the whole night telling us how he feels about them, but Rick Sutcliffe. Smart guy, good color guy, but saying that he likes how Cano plays the game at 75%. Huh? Who plays at 75% and is successful? Trout? Betts? Bonds? ARod? Jeter? Piazza? Ozzie Smith? Hernandez? Strawberry? Wright? Who has ever played at 75% and was successful? That’s the problem with Cano. He got away with not putting much effort his earlier years and that laziness (that was called out by some Yankees staff) continued in his later years and now he looks bad. That hustle on the ground out on his first at-bat was for a national TV audience; we know better. Many players are slumping right now, but seeing Cano kind of just look to make any contact rather than looking to make hard contact is what most of us see and it bothers us. He kind of just keep flicking his wrists until he runs into one. So, we wonder if moving the pieces around to get Smith in the lineup wouldn’t be a better thing in the long run.
It’s early, but Rojas is a Man of a Thousand lineups…and only 60 games to use them all!!!! That may be a good start to conditioniong players to be used as the team needs them, versus their own specific comforts and “interests”
Last night’s lineup looked to be aimed specifically at the Lefty/Reliever “Starter” for the Sox. Righties at the Front of the lineup, with the Lefties loaded in the back—to get to a second pitcher (Right Hander?) in the second or third inning? Of Course, the Lefties in the Lineup hit HR’s against LH Pitchers… maybe we should just recognize that Good Batters jumped on Lousy Pitchers?
As a rule, I’d rather see Rosario in that “2nd leadoff/9th spot” versus Nimmo—it allows Rosario to swing the bat, and it places him in position in front of the top of the lineup. In a DH Lineup, Nimmo is a great choice to hit 1— his approach and his combination of OBP and Power are ideal in that spot.
I still dont get that trade even if Diaz was lights out. To take on the chunk of salary why give up kelinic and dunn.
btw—did Jeter tell Klentak about his diseased players?…did Klentak Tell His Players?
Gut reaction: relieved that Waccha pitched a good game because the rotation was in flux.
Conforto is raking and he is hitting left-handed pitchers. That is a good sign. Cano is not hitting left-handed pitchers and he didn’t last year either. Maybe it’s time to sit him against left-handed pitchers. Familia , like Diaz the other day, is not ready to be the closer. Lugo once again was needed for the save. It would have been nice if he would have been available today because of the TBA starter
so…familia and diaz are not ready to be closers…. and your answer is to take the door slammer with the 4 out save out of the bullpen and into the starting rotation????
Guessing at solving a Problem by eliminating a strength is not good business.
My point was that if he had not pitched yesterday he would have been available for two or three innings today.
I have posted all along that Lugo should be the closer until some steps up into the closer’s role and then only if there is a need in the rotation .