Pete Alonso impacted the game with both his baserunning and his power. Meanwhile, five Mets pitchers combined on a shutout, as the Mets downed the Diamondbacks, 5-0. It was the third shutout of the season and the win gave the Mets the series, the third win in as many tries to begin the season.
The key inning in the game was the sixth, in both halves of the frame. In a scoreless tie, the Giants opened the inning with a leadoff double and after a groundout had a runner on third with one out. After a strikeout for the second out of the inning, the unsung key play of the game happened.
In a play that likely wouldn’t have been made if either Jeff McNeil or Robinson Cano was playing second base, Luis Guillorme covered a lot of ground, fielded the ball cleanly and made a solid throw to first base for the final out of the inning.
In the Mets’ half of the sixth inning, Francisco Lindor led off with a hit. Alonso then hit a high infield pop which the Arizona fielder let drop to the ground to get the speedy Lindor removed from the basepaths. Eduardo Escobar hit a ball to right field and Alonso hustled to third. When the ball came loose, Alonso sprinted home with the first run of the game.
Later, with runners on the corners and still only one out, Buck Showalter acted decisively, pinch-hitting for Travis Jankowski with J.D. Davis, who delivered an RBI single. Dominic Smith went first to third on Davis’ hit. James McCann followed with a sacrifice fly. On a ball that wasn’t hit very deep, Smith hustled and beat the throw to the plate. Then something even weirder happened.
The D’Backs were going to appeal the previous play, thinking that Smith left too early. But Davis went to steal second base during the appeal. The rule says that you can’t appeal after a play has been made. Davis – or whoever sent him – was willing to have him be the third out to maintain the third run on the scoreboard. The D’Backs eventually let Davis take the bag and threw to third base. But Smith was ruled not to have left early. The Mets were not able to score Davis after the stolen base but it remained a heady play.
One of the reasons to watch is to see something you haven’t seen before. And this play filled that bill.
Chasen Shreve was the pitcher who came on in the sixth inning and was the beneficiary of Guillorme’s big defensive play. This became yet another inning where Showalter could have removed his reliever but opted to let him remain in the game because he had the platoon advantage. The Perverse Platoon Ploy finally worked this time, as Shreve retired the D’Backs in order in the seventh.
Showalter had kind of painted himself into the corner needing this type of outing from Shreve. He pulled starting pitcher David Peterson in the fifth inning. It wasn’t a controversial move but it was one that he 100% did not need to make. He brought in his long man in Trevor Williams, only to turn around and remove Williams the next inning, leaving it a question how he was going to end the game.
After Shreve’s two innings pitched, Showalter used David Smith in the eighth and closed out with Edwin Diaz in the ninth in a non-save situation. It became that way when Alonso cracked a two-run homer to make it a five-run lead.
Kudos to Showalter for having all of his bullpen moves work out in the game. But let’s not forget Alonso, who hit his third homer in as many games while participating as a DH. The hustle of Alonso, Smith and Escobar shouldn’t be ignored, either. And save a celebratory nod for Guillorme, whose fine play kept the D’Backs from taking the lead.
Buck commented that Alonso is good base runner for someone without speed and compared him to Mattingly in that regard.
I hadn’t thought of Don M in that regard—maybe so—but the slowest, good base runner for a Met was Ed Kranepool imo. And that was because he could judge instantly whether a ball would be caught.
Slow base runners day @ Citi.
Cano is taking Guillorme’s at bats.
Gut Reaction: The bottom of the sixth was the most enjoyable and memorable inning time in a long time. The Mets put the ball in play, run the bases properly even when their runners were slow but hustling all the time and top in off with a smart “steal”. That kind of inning make a division champion.
The 7-2 Giants will a real test. I’m expecting a split for the four games.
Gonna come down to the relief pitching. The Met lineup is deeper but the relievers we have are all pretty tasty to hitters right now. I would take a split of these games but I feel like our team is the better offensive bunch and that the Mets should take 3 if I’m just looking at the numbers.
I remember having the thought, “this inning never happens with DiCarcina.”
Pete hustles at least.
Mets’ team speed a huge upgrade. Escobar runs hard. Gotta like Jank.
I believe Cano takes ABs away from JD, Dom, and Guillorme.
Time will tell if this is good… probably isn’t. Especially JD should be very productive if he gets the reps, even against RHers.
Hard to imagine the starters can stay at 1.20 ERA, but if they can, we could take 3 of 4 from the Giants, maybe extend their lead in the division. You gotta think that the Braves and Phillies are a little concerned about separation early in the season, and then having to hope for Mets pitching to fail… not such a given this year. Also, there’s the “Buck Effect,” the team playing over their heads for the new manager.
Braves and Phillies both have pitching issues. (But how the hell do the Braves lose MVP Freeman and somehow get better at first base?)
A sweep of the Giants and the Mets will become the darlings of the baseball media.
No question that the starters, and in particular, Peterson and Megill, have stood tall while their maestro sits out on the DL. I would not have predicted such a stellar outcome, even against pretty lousy teams. Atta boy!!!
Thinking out a bit more, however. The Mets have played 90 innings (270 outs) of baseball for a grand total of 6 % of the season, so lets keep the noise of small numbers in mind…
So fair enough, the starters are definitely looking good, but like many baseball numbers, the stats are not entirely free of subjectivity even though its all numbers. Simply put, the numbers are limited to when Buck pulls the plug. Looking a little more closely – and only at the Mets – of those 270 outs, Mets starters are responsible for 151 of them, a mere 56%, leaving 44% of the out for the pen. Yes its early on, and spring training was abbreviated, but that equals the average starter going 5 innings, or 15 outs.
In my eyes, that is a woeful number, as it will constantly place hard leveraging on the pen, which is the shakiest aspect of this team. And relief pitchers are, for lack of a better word, pitchers as well. So while we are protecting large-dollar-value arms to start the games, those less accomplished are proportionally carrying way more of the weight than they should. Until we see starters going 18-20 outs per game, if that ever occurs, I am not going to be bowled over by their collective ERA. My biggest fear is April comes to a close and the pen arms have accumulated so much use that the May “dead-arm syndrome” sets in. It wouldnt be the first time either.
As a real tough opponent swings into town, lets hope our front line can log 20+ outs per game. The best use of the pen is keeping starters on the hill longer.
I dare Buck to try to remove Max before his time… I’m hoping that attitude will wear off on younger pitchers…
These are grown men who play baseball. Pitchers want to pitch. Let them tire naturally. Builds strength, longevity.