The Mets exploded for six runs in the seventh inning of the first game of the Fourth of July doubleheader to earn the come-from-behind victory and ultimately a split in their doubleheader with the Yankees Sunday in the Bronx.
It looked like a marquee pitching matchup in the opener, with Marcus Stroman squaring off against Gerritt Cole. But neither pitcher had their best stuff and it was a game where offense took center square. Dominic Smith started the fireworks early, with a Yankee Stadium moon shot homer that barely cleared the short wall for a first inning homer.
But the Yankees took the lead in the second inning and added to it in the third to hold a 4-1 lead.
The Mets knocked Cole out in the fourth inning and tied the game thanks to RBI singles by Tomas Nido, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor. But Stroman gave back the lead in the fifth on a wild pitch.
Aroldis Chapman came on to pitch the seventh inning for the Yankees but their closer did not resemble his former dominating stuff. Instead of being consistently in the low 100s, Chapman was sitting at 97. That was still enough for him to get to two strikes against leadoff hitter Pete Alonso. But then Chapman threw a curveball and Alonso smacked that for a homer to tie the game. After two more batters reached base, Chapman was removed from the game but the fun was just starting.
Jose Peraza was at the plate with the bases loaded and hit a missile to left field that the outfielder had no clue on. He ran up to the wall in no position to make the catch. A fan wearing a Michael Conforto jersey reached over the wall and caught the ball in his glove. If the fan wasn’t there, the ball would have bounced far away from the left fielder. Depending on where the center fielder was while this was going on, this could have been an inside-the-park homer for Peraza. Instead, he was credited with a double and two RBIs.
Nimmo and Lindor came thru again, with Nimmo delivering a two-run single and taking second on an error. Lindor drove home Nimmo with a single of his own. The Mets’ top two hitters combined for four hits, a walk and five RBIs in the opener.
The nightcap was a 4-2 loss for the Mets, who managed just three hits in the game. One of those was a two-run homer by Alonso in the fourth inning for the Mets’ only runs.
The Mets have to thank Aaron Boone for game one. He could have left a dominant Chad Green in to finish the game, instead stubbornly went with his struggling closer (sound familiar?) who promptly coughed up the win.
Peraza continues to show amazingly good barrel t the ball skills… the best .200 hitter in baseball. Pillar also consistently hits the ball smack on the nose, often in poor luck.
That fa n interference cost Peraza at least one more RBI. Mets offense starting to show signs of normalcy. Lindor’s defense far from stellar. Good defender, but not great… botched DP cost the Mets perhaps a sweep of dreaded Yankees in their house… would have been glorious. Boone’s seat certainly would have gotten hotter.
The umpiring was once again terrible both at home plate and at first base. Rojas should have challenged the play at first in game two, but was probably reluctant to lose it again like he did with Nimmo in game one, even though Mcneil was clearly safe, like Nimmo was in Game 1. And the move to bring in Castro in Game 2 should be questioned. Could have gone to May there and maybe kept it a one run game. But overall, have to be pleased with the series win. Tough sledding vs Milwaukee coming up – nice test before the break, and then we should be able to go in to the break hot and come out of the break hot with the pirates on the schedule.
Gut Reaction: Bullpen management is tough for a manager.
Chapman instead of Greene (thanks Aaron), Castro instead of May and Lugo instead of Smith or Castro or Y. Diaz with a 5 run lead were the choice of the managers in this doubleheader. They were 0-3.
Nice series win and maybe Alonso and Dom found their power stroke.
Right. Forgot abt Lugo in game 1. Likely used him because he was already warmed up before the bats exploded. But would have been nice to have him in that spot in game 2.
It was nice to take 2 of 3 from the struggling Yankees. Pitching still holding up and nice to see the offense come alive. Let’s hope that continues. Let’s hope the Brew Crew is ready to cool off.