Marcus Stroman turned in another strong start and Francisco Lindor did it at the plate and in the field, leading the Mets to a 4-1 win over the Padres Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. The win put the Mets eight games over .500, a season high for the club.
In the bottom of the first inning, Jonathan Villar got hit by a pitch and then Francisco Lindor jumped on the first pitch thrown to him and hit a home run, giving Stroman all the offense he’d need. Stroman cruised through the first five innings, worked out of a jam in the sixth and gave up a solo homer to Fernando Tatis Jr. in the seventh. His final line was 6.1 IP, 1 ER, 1 BB and 8 Ks. In his last three starts, Stroman has 21 Ks in 19 IP and is 2-0. We know he’s going to get grounders and when he adds strikeouts, too, it’s a tough thing for hitters.
Once again, the Mets got excellent relief work. Aaron Loup came back from getting hit in the chest to retire both batters he faced finishing up for Stroman in the seventh inning. Seth Lugo came in for a second straight game and struck out the side in the eighth and Edwin Diaz survived a rocket hit to straight away center field to pitch a scoreless ninth and pick up his 12th save of the year.
The Mets got some good defensive play in this game. In addition to turning two double plays, Luis Guillorme made a couple of nice stops, Mason Williams tracked down that ball in the ninth inning and Lindor made a nice change of direction play after Diaz deflected the ball for the final out of the game.
This was the Mets’ fifth win in their last six games and their fourth-straight victory over the Padres. They are now 25-5 when scoring at least four runs in a game and 23-13 overall since May 1.
Stroman a very strong effort. Pinpoint control… got strike one consistently, and that sets him up to throw his pitches. Great infield defense, once again.
Dom may need a day off, hopefully McKinney back tomorrow. A sweep would be remarkable against a pretty good team.
Gut Reaction: Stroman led the way and they won the season series against the Padres. Very impressive.
Guillorme played an excellent defensive game at second.
Villar is a more complete player than JD.
Diaz has shut down the Padres two days in a row.
If Lucchesi can build from his recent success on Sunday then there is a possibility of a sweep.
First Place and 4.5 games ahead.
It may be Cohen’s money but we have it to spend and it’s time to give Alderson his due. No Joe Panik or others of his marginal talent were sitting in our bench or stock piled in Syracuse when most of our team seemed to go down. 8 games over .500 and not a Nimmo, Conforto, Davis, or McNeil have suited up in several weeks. Williams, Villar, Pillar, McKinney, Drury, it goes on and on. Bravo Sandy.
Metsense and I were talking about this a little bit in the Game Chatter yesterday. It would be interesting to know how much of this is Alderson and how much is Scott. I’m betting some of these were acquisitions before Scott came aboard but his fingers are probably on a couple of them.
What kind of contract does stroman get at this level of production and will we pay it? 5 yrs 100 million? More?
Not enough has been said about Lindor and Pete coming among very nicely. We see it every day. Stro was awesome, but Lindor was critical in the 2 run homer and made a magical defensive gem to end the game. Pete’s confidence is back. McCann too.
Coming around to the IL returns. I can’t see any reason to move Villar off 3B. He’s playing plus defense, has a great arm, and I’ll take that 117 OPS+. He’s clearly a catalyst. I can see moving Peraza off 2B for McNeil, and letting Dom fill in for the OF. I also think McKinney is a starter. My preferred every day alignment will be;
2. McCann, Nido
3. Alonso, Smith, McCann
4. McNeil, Davis, Guillorme
5. Villar, Davis
6. Lindor, Guillorme
7. McKinney, Davis
8. Nimmo/Pillar
9. Conforto, McKinney
Chris, you make a very good point about Dom Smith. His .344 slugging is hysterical from a left fielder/first baseman. I said in the spring that I hoped he didn’t catch Pete Alonso disease by having a good year go to his head and not being good from the get-go. How long do you stay with a guy that has been about a .900 OPS for about 200 plate appearances the previous two years? I don’t know that I’m there yet, but I’m really close…