The Mets blew a 4-1 lead in the top of the seventh inning but Pete Alonso hit a moon-shot home run in the bottom of the inning to give the Mets the win and a sweep of the doubleheader against the Nationals Thursday afternoon at Citi Field.
After using Edwin Diaz to close out the first game of the twinbill, Luis Rojas turned to Trevor May to get the save in the second game. After 28 pitches, a run in and the bases loaded, Rojas called for Jeurys Familia, hoping for a DP grounder. Instead, Familia served up a wild pitch that James McCann probably should have blocked, which scored a run, and a groundball that Jeff McNeil probably should have knocked down that should have scored one but ended up plating two to tie the game.
Michael Conforto looks much better in the batter’s box here lately and he scored two runs in the nightcap, first on an RBI double from J.D. Davis and later on a homer by Jonathan Villar. The blast by Villar made it 4-1 and seemed like it would make things easier for May. Instead, they needed to be bailed out by Alonso in the last inning.
Seth Lugo got the win. It was nice to see him go more than one inning. He got five outs after relieving Trevor Williams, who certainly looked good in his Mets debut. With good hitting clubs like the Dodgers and Giants on the horizon, you could make a case for keeping Williams and going with 14 pitchers. The Mets are more likely to need the extra arm rather than, say, Albert Almora.
The opening game was the Brandon Nimmo show, as he drove in all four runs for the Mets. He got the club on the board with a 3-run homer versus a lefty. Remember last season when Rojas – or was it Brodie Van Wagenen? – wanted to make Nimmo a platoon player? At least we don’t have that nonsense this year. Nimmo also drove in a run with a single.
Marcus Stroman looked like he might pitch a complete game. But he didn’t get two calls to the leadoff batter in the sixth inning and instead of an out there was a leadoff walk. The Nats followed with back-to-back weak hits and after an out but with lefty Juan Soto up, Rojas came with the hook opting for Aaron Loup. Soto drew a walk after a lengthy AB but Josh Bell hit into a double play to end the threat.
This was the 12th doubleheader the Mets have played this year They probably didn’t play this many doubleheaders from 2000-2019. Regardless, it was their third sweep of a twinbill, with the other nine doubleheaders ending in a split.
Nice that the Mets got a chance to get better against the decimated Its team. But the news isn’t that good… they barely scraped by. Now they play the Dodgers and Giants and .500 would be a huge win for this team… but don’t bet on it. We’re probably looking at winning one game every series, if that.
If the Braves stay hot and the Phillies play to their potential, the Mets might be 5-6 games out by late August. Still not impossible, but entirely dependent on a September of deGrom, Carrasco, Walker, Stroman, and Syndergaard…. finally.
welp – needed a sweep and got one. Gonna be a dog fight the next 6 weeks. Let’s hope the Nats can sneak attack the Braves a couple of times and the Reds find their mojo against Philly. 2 of 3 from LA would be a nice way to start this next 13 game stretch.
Looks like you forgot to edit your original piece after the Mets blew the lead and Familia got the vulture win instead of Lugo.
Thanks for the correction.
It certainly wasn’t pretty, and at times downright ugly. It was also lined with gifts from what is now a lowly divisional opponent. But, as said above, they got the Ws and that’s all that matters. Alonso saved them from what might have been a loss mentally too tough to overcome.
This next 4 series and 13 games vs the two best teams in the NL while the Braves and Phillies have a soft schedule sans the Reds/Phillies games basically are it. The Mets take their rag tag group of starters and very iffy offense, missing two stars, up against talented and sound baseball teams. It is both a daunting task and a great opportunity to show what they are made of. No excuses, these are teams they’d need to beat if they do make the playoffs.