Five of the Mets’ 12 hits went for extra-bases, including home runs by Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor, as the Mets slugged their way to a 7-4 win over the Reds Monday night in Cincinnati.
Nimmo got the Mets on board first with a 3-run homer in the second inning. Lindor hit a solo shot in the fifth and Dominic Smith added a two-run double to center field in the sixth as the Mets found Great American Ball Park to their liking once again.
Taijuan Walker upped his record to 7-2, as he fanned nine in six innings of work. In his last five games, Walker is 4-0 with a 2.25 ERA, with 36 Ks in 32 IP, a far cry from earlier in the year when he wasn’t striking out many batters at all.
Drew Smith surrendered a gopher ball but Colin Holderman and Seth Lugo shut the door with a scoreless inning apiece. Lugo pitched the ninth and earned his third save of the season. He also lowered his ERA to 1.37 when he comes on to pitch at the start of an inning, a span of 23 games.
Gut Reaction: A typical Met win in 2022. Good pitching, good hitting especially RISP (4-12) and also two out hitting. Life is good.
Showalter doesn’t abuse his bullpen. He turn to Lugo instead of Diaz in a save situation . Diaz (and Lugo) have only pitch back to back games 4X this season and the bullpen isn’t burned out because of this.
Every starter had at least one hit. Smith had a .857 OPS since he is back. Escobar has a 1.037 OPS in his last 7 games. One win more wins the series. LGM