On a day that could have been emotionally fraught, the Mets made their seventh straight win look surprisingly easy. For the first time in three years, it was Matt Harvey day at Citi Field, and while his first inning harkened back to the glory days of 2012 – 2015, the others recalled 2016 – 2018, his fitful ending in Queens.
Harvey cruised through the bottom of the first, retiring Jonathan Villar, Francisco Lindor and Michael Conforto on a fly and two grounders. In the second, though, the Mets got hits from their first four batters to put three runs on the board. Pete Alonso led off with a solid double to right and Dominic Smith followed that with a base hit to center. Kevin Pillar then scorched hard liner on the first he saw, denting the top of the wall. Alonso and Smith both scored and Pillar had himself a triple. Jose Peraza hit the next pitch on the ground into left field, scoring Pillar.
On the Mets’ side, Taijuan Walker seemed to be fighting his command in the early going, surrendering a double to Trey Mancini in the first. He walked two in the second, but was bailed out by his defense. After that, it was a quick turnaround to dominance through seven. By the time that seventh arrived, he was enjoying a six-run lead. In the third, Lindor singled leading off. After a flyout by Conforto, he stole second while Alonso also flew out. Smith lashed a base hit to left and Lindor scampered home with the Mets’ fourth run. They put it away for good in the fifth, on a Villar hit-and-steal, a Conforto single after a productive flyout by Lindor, an Alonso walk, a double by Smith and another single by Peraza. That made it a 7-0 game, all hung on Harvey’s ledger.
Walker tired in the seventh, giving up a scratch RBI to catcher Chance Sisco. Robert Gsellman came in for the eighth and had a bit of a rocky time of it, but kept the score at 7-1. Recently arrived Drew Smith closed it out with a flourish, striking out pinch-hitter Pat Valaika to end it.
Off-day tomorrow before they head to St. Pete to take on the Tampa Bay Rays.
I was so pleased that Drew Smith pitched well. He was hitting his spots and his FB had good velocity! This pen should keep getting better, with Smith here and Lugo coming up soon!
Gut reaction: Baseball is a funny game. Your team has offensive problems and your 2 best hitters get injured. So what do you do? You win 7 games in a row!
The pitching is exceptional. Lindor,Smith and McNeil show signs that the are hitting better. I like steals in the game and led to runs and Villar’s speed with the winning run in the previous game. First place and heading on the road. 5-4 would be nice.
I was thinking yesterday of how well the Mets are playing now, and how great it will be when they get back Syndergaard and Carrasco for the rotation; Nimmo, McNeil and Davis for the starting lineup; Almora and Guillorme for the bench; and Lugo for the bullpen! Not to mention getting deGrom back! Whoa!
It was great to see the Mets put 7 runs on the board, even if I’m a touch sorry that it came at the expense of Harvey. But this is what happens when you go 7-10 with RISP.
Walker pitched well, the defense made some nice plays and the Mets are in first place with an 18-13 record. With all of the things that have gone wrong, this isn’t a bad spot to be.
Was so glad the fans cheered for Harvey. He deserved that. I almost felt bad rooting against him.
Walker is much better than I expected, I just cross my fingers that he can stay healthy. His track record for durability is not great.
Bullpen has been a wonderful surprise, as has Conforto’s defense.
That ball Pillar hit off the very top of the wall is becoming a familiar site this season. Is this the intended impact of the changed ball – a lot of just-missed HRs?
*sight
It’s going to be a great summer.90 wins and the playoffs! Maybe a Mets-Yanks WS?
The Mets are a team that has talent but needs to learn how to win. On this 5 game homestand, they did just that. It was against inferior competition, and it wasn’t always pretty, but in the end they got the wins and multiple guys got it done when they needed to. Not only does this accomplish the obvious of improving the record, which has ascended them into first place, it allows for both the removal of some stress/pressing, as well as the development of confidence individually and collectively. As Metsense points out, they just need to avoid a dip in play and going backwards on this trip, which will position them well going forward.
Tampa Bay will be a nice test at this juncture.