Tommy Pham has been hitting the ball hard all year with very little to show for it. Today he dribbled a ball up the third-base line, one that Statcast had at 55.6 mph, the lowest exit velocity in the game. But what it lacked in sock was made up for in importance, as it drove in the go-ahead run in a 3-2 Mets victory Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field. It gave the Mets back-to-back wins for the first time since San Francisco and a series win for the first time since they beat the Dodgers the series before that, on April 17-19.
For the second straight day, the Mets got a very strong pitching performance, this time from Tylor Megill. Not only was it strong but it was efficient, too. Even after running into some trouble in the sixth inning, Megill threw just 79 pitches. It looked like he could have gone another inning but Buck Showalter turned it over to his relievers.
Brooks Raley had a strong seventh inning, which prompted Showalter to go for the PPP. But the Rays foiled that by bringing in a pinch hitter, who promptly got a base hit. The Mets went to the pen and Jeff Brigham, who got an infield popup and a double play to end the inning. It was a nice rebound effort from Brigham, who allowed a homer and a walk in the previous day’s game.
David Robertson allowed a one-out double in the ninth inning but pitched around it for his eighth save of the year.
Pete Alonso homered in the fourth inning, his third straight game with a HR. Brett Baty drove in the Mets’ first run with an infield ground out in the first inning, one where the first baseman elected to get the sure out at first, rather than trying for an inning-ending double play. It was just the 10th run the Mets have scored in the first inning in 45 games this year.
I loved the baserunning, McNeil and Pham both taking an extra base
I realized today how much mets baseball has an impact on my mood. It’s been a dark month or so yet the last 15 hrs have given me a glimmer of light. I really need the Mets to keep playing good baseball from this pt forward. They don’t always have to win…but they need to play well.
I concur! The Mets have the same impact on me.
Sick or not, the Mets need Pete Alonso to power the lineup!!
And replacing Escobar with Baty at 3B, O’Neill with Mauricio at 2B, Canha with O’Neill in LF, Vogelbach/Pham with Vientos at DH, and Narvaez/Nido with Alvarez at C makes the lineup much more powerful this year and next.
And the rotation will come around, hopefully, with Megill looking good and Senga very good.
I’m a bit worried about the bullpen though. Brigham has been surprisingly good, but the middle relievers could be better.
Oops, I meant Jeff McNeil. I need more coffee!
Gut Reaction: a series when against the best team in baseball. Megill got the win but more importantly he pitched six innings of good baseball. Pham had a good game with a hustle double and the go ahead nubber.( instead of striking out). Perez had an important pickoff. These little things make it enjoyable to watch the game. The big things, like Alonso’s home run, are enjoyable too!
Nice win over the team with the best record in baseball. Megill stepped up as his place
in the rotation is tenuous and gave us a
quality 6 inning start. We actually won a series which we seemed to do every time last season at this point. If Carasco can
come back strong tomorrow then we might be ready to make a run. The Guardians will be a good test for us. Scherzer and Verlander for games 2 and 3. This is the rotation we expected when the season started. Another crappy game from Vogelbach and Baty could be taking his left swings pretty soon at DH when he is not at 3B. LGM