Gut Reaction: Mets 7, Rockies 6 (8/26/22)

It was a game of contradictions. On one hand, the Mets should have won the game easily. On the other hand, they were lucky to come thru with a victory. The end result was a walkoff win, their sixth of the season, thanks to a Pete Alonso RBI single that gave the Mets a 7-6 victory Friday night in Citi Field.

Chris Bassitt pitched great, with the exception of one inning. After needing just 60 pitches to complete five shutout innings, Bassitt ran into trouble in the sixth, where he allowed three runs. But he rebounded with a 6-pitch inning in the seventh, which made it a no-brainer for him to come back in the eighth.

With just one pitch, Bassitt got the first out of the eighth inning. Two pitches later, he gave up an infield single. And then Buck Showalter went to the bullpen. Eight days ago, the Gut Reaction asked: How do you want to win the game? The manager decided that the guy who had gotten the last four outs on seven pitches had lost it when he gave up an infield single. He decided to try to win the game with the bullpen.

Mychal Givens came into the game and didn’t get the job done.

Fans will be down on Givens – and not without justification – but he didn’t pitch that badly. The first batter he faced got a lucky broken-bat single. Then he hit a batter to load the bases. After an out, he gave up the only hard-hit ball of the inning. But it was a bases-clearing double to give the Rockies a 6-4 lead.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mets had their 3-4-5 batters. But Francisco Lindor and Alonso both struck out. It seemed like the Mets were on their way to a loss.

Darin Ruf hit a ball hard that the third basemen couldn’t handle, reaching on an error. Jeff McNeil followed with a hard-hit single to bring up Mark Canha, who earlier doubled off the wall to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.

Canha ripped a ball down the left field line for a two-run double, with McNeil scoring standing up. Earlier in the season, it seemed like every hit Canha got came thanks to soft contact and lucky placement. But he is just smoking the ball right now. Ron Darling mentioned that if the pitch is middle in, Canha can handle premium velocity.

In his last 11 games, Canha is 14-34 (.412) with 10 (that’s not a typo) of his hits going for extra-bases.

Edwin Diaz came on in a tie game and held the fort in the top of the ninth inning. The winning rally started with one out, when Brandon Nimmo drew a four-pitch walk. Starling Marte, who earlier had a two-run triple, was hit by a pitch to put the winning run in scoring position. Lindor then hit a ball to the opposite field that looked like it would be the game-winner. But the left fielder made a nice diving catch for the second out.

Alonso, who was down 0-2, powered a ball past the shortstop for the winning hit, earning his 105th RBI of the season.

Brett Baty gave the Mets the early lead with a solo homer in the third inning.