Brandon Nimmo singled and scored the tying run in the ninth inning and he delivered a three-run homer to ice the game in the 10th, leading the Mets to an 8-3 win over the Reds and another series win.
Nimmo lined a single to left field with one out in the ninth inning. Then the Mets might have gotten a break. Starling Marte grounded a ball over the third-base bag which may or may not have been fair. The ump called it fair and Nimmo raced around to score from first with the tying run.
In the 10th inning, Dominic Smith hit his second double of the game to drive home the zombie runner from second to give the Mets the lead. Then the most unlikely of all heroes arrived in James McCann, who delivered an RBI hit after the Reds walked the slumping Luis Guillorme to pitch to McCann. With a base open, the Reds opted to pitch to Nimmo and he homered to right field for the final runs.
The Mets jumped out to the early lead, as Jeff McNeil singled home Nimmo.
But it was a short-lived lead, as David Peterson gave up a two-run homer in the second. Peterson struggled with his command and did not make it out of the fourth inning.
Much like yesterday, it looked like the story was going to be the Mets’ inability to come up with a big hit, as they had runners on in every inning except the eighth. They scored in the fourth inning, as Tomas Nido hit a bloop to score Smith, who reached base with his first double of the game.
But the late-inning heroics delivered the win.
Those heroics were made possible by another outstanding night from the bullpen. Adonis Medina threw three scoreless innings, Colin Holderman got four outs and Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz closed the door in the last two frames.
Mets relievers combined to go 11.2 IP with 2 ER in the series
M i g h t have gotten a break? That umpire was in no position to make that call. That was terrible! But, hey, good teams get those breaks and unfortunately, bad teams don’t. Sucks for the Reds, but how do we know Marte doesn’t get a hit later? I thought it was foul, but…
So, as I’m finishing up my night at work I open the Mets app and see 3-2 Reds in the ninth inning; 11 hits for the Mets and 5 for the Reds. My first thought was that this would be a bad loss if they don’t come back and a small army left on the bases again. As I see the update that the Mets tied the game, I breathed a sign of relief: I knew that now they win.
Smith not really punishing the baseball, but it’s finding holes; Davis must be jealous! Nice to get out of Cincy with two of three because the Reds were very game this week. They’ve been just shy of a .500 team after their 2-23 start. The RBI two-out hits by Nido and McCann were a nice sign of a hopeful awakening. Speaking of awakening, Brandon Nimmo got healthy.
Marlins coming to NYC this weekend, winning at least 3 of 4 is required for the Mets. Meanwhile, the Braves try to sweep the choking Cardinals on Thursday and then welcome the doormats of the NL East on Friday. But, starting Monday in Atlanta, the beast of the east comes to town with Scherzer leading off. Let’s warmup on some fish this weekend!
So, Smith’s double yesterday with 100.8 exit velocity that went 371 feet wasn’t punishing the ball? How about the one on 7/4 that had an EV of 102.9? Or the one on 7/2 that was 107.9 and went 407 feet?
He’s doing just fine. Since he returned from the minors he has an .889 OPS with six of his nine hits going for extra-bases. If the Mets traded for this guy and he put up these numbers – people would be saying they “solved” the DH issue.
The biggest mistake the Mets made about Dom Smith — which we can see now, by virtue of hindsight — was over-estimating his ability.
They should have looked at the situation, realized that Alonso was flat-out better, and traded him away when he still had value and was not yet grossly overpaid.
Moving him to the outfield was pure Sandy Alderson — who moved Duda to the outfield — who never understood the value of defense. Dom Smith can’t play the outfield. True fact.
I’m glad to see him doing well and believe that, obviously, he can (and has) hit well for stretches before. He’s not crushing the ball by any means and still has not hit a HR in a year. I’d ride this horse for a bit. I’d also bring up Vientos *now* & ditch JD.
Perhaps the Mets overestimated Smith’s abilities – that’s certainly among the possibilities at this point and it might even be the most-likely among multiple potential scenarios.
But just like 2021 wasn’t the definitive answer on Michael Conforto’s ability or Francisco Lindor’s ability or Jeff McNeil’s ability — I’m not ready to say that it’s the definitive answer on Smith’s, either.
Earlier this year, I looked for all of the Mets who had delivered a .600 SLG in a span of at least 50 games in the previous two years. There were two – Alonso and Smith. That speaks to his ability. It’s not definitive in any way, shape or form. But guys who can slug .600 over that size sample don’t grow on trees.
At the very minimum, he should get the same opportunity at regular playing time that Davis got. The Mets should give that to him and re-evaluate things at the 8/2 trading deadline.
Gut Reaction: frustration turned to jubilation.
Marte delivered a clutch hit to tie. Smith delivered the go ahead clutch hit. Nimmo coached Smith to slide inside to score the run on McCann’s hit. Showalter was credited by Smith and Nimmo for the run in the post game. Details, details, details makes good baseball and winning baseball. The bullpen was awesome.
Another Series win. Taking a step by step approach, series by series breeds success . The series against the Marlins, at home, should be taken too. LGM