The Mets broke open a close game with a four-spot in the eighth inning en route to an 8-3 win over the Marlins Tuesday night in Miami.
It’s encouraging to see the offense do so well for the Mets. They produced 10 hits and six walks on the night, including four extra-base hits and three home runs. The lineup has five regulars with an OPS of .879 or greater and tonight’s had six with Tomas Nido behind the plate.
Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis and Amed Rosario all left the yard for the Mets. Nimmo had three hits and now has a .913 OPS. Davis had two walks to go along with his homer and now sits with an .879 OPS. Rosario had two hits and hopefully his offense will start to come around now.
Corey Oswalt was called up from the alternate site to replace David Peterson, who hit the IL with shoulder trouble. Oswalt did better than the other replacement starters here lately, as he went 4.1 IP and allowed just two runs. He also had four whiffs and didn’t allow a walk.
Once again, the bullpen did very strong work. Four relievers combined to go 4.2 IP and allow just one run. After warming up last night but not getting in the game, Seth Lugo did not pitch tonight, either. Right now, the Mets have TBA listed for Thursday. It’s Steven Matz’ turn in the rotation but the Mets seem near the end of their rope with Matz. Why Matz and not Robert Gsellman is an interesting question. But it’s possible Lugo will get a shot at starting later this week.
Nimmo getting stranded in the fifth after a lead off triple while the score was 3-2 was a concern, but the pitching clamped down. Then came Rosario’s homer in on the seventh and the scoring Of the eighth inning. Those runs in the eighth were mostly courtesy of BB’s and HBP, but as long as they hit the score board, it doesn’t matter.
At this point, it doesn’t look like Lugo will be a starter. We have to let it go.
With a playoff spot unlikely, why not trot out the rest of their highly touted pitching prospects to see what they can do?
A playoff spot is not unlikely at this point. The first two teams from each division make the playoffs. The Mets are currently 2 games behind the Marlins and 1.5 games behind the Phillies for that spot.
The Mets have some high-end pitching prospects but they are all far from ready to pitch in the majors.
Gut Reaction: The bullpen has solidified and Rojas has learned his lesson.
Oswalt pitched good but things were going bad in the middle innings just like in Matz’ , Lockett’s and Porcello’s previous starts. This time Rojas pulled the pitcher before the major damage was done.
Rosario maybe coming out of his slump.
Diaz recovered nicely in the ninth. In the past he would have melted down.
It would have made more sense pinch run Hamilton for Alsonso at second base than for Smith at first base in the eighth inning because at that point the run at second base was more important. Also Smith is a better defensive first baseman than Alsonso and the team was employing a defensive lineup to protect the lead.