The vast majority of LHP have great success versus LHB. But this game had two such instances where managers went for the platoon advantage and it didn’t work out in either case. Brandon Nimmo atoned for an earlier baserunning gaffe by ripping a double off a lefty to bring home the winning run in the 10th inning, as the Mets emerged with a 4-3 win and a split of the two-game series with the Yankees.
Coming into the game, Nimmo had an .850 OPS versus LHP and a .785 mark versus righties. But with the zombie runner at second base in extra innings, the Yankees brought in a lefty to face Nimmo. He responded by hitting a ball deep into right field. With the outfielder playing shallow, it fell for a hit, allowing Eduardo Escobar to race home with the winning run.
This game started off as a pitching duel, with Gerrit Cole being unhittable and Justin Verlander matching him in zeroes, even with needing much greater effort to do so. The Mets broke thru against Cole in the fifth inning with doubles by Francisco Lindor and Tommy Pham.
But the Yankees tied the game in the sixth inning, with help from the home plate umpire. If we’re being kind, we’d say that it was an erratic strike zone all game. But the questionable calls were all ones outside the strike zone being called strikes. In the sixth, Verlander threw a 1-2 breaking ball that was clearly a strike that was called a ball. With his at-bat unjustly extended, the batter ended up with a double and he later came round to score the tying run.
The visitors used heads-up baserunning, bad defense and questionable management to take a 3-1 lead in the seventh inning. Buck Showalter opted to start the inning with Jeff Brigham, rather than Brooks Raley, because a righty was due up first. Brigham put the first two runners on base. After a strikeout, Brigham got a ground ball that the Mets tried to turn a double play. Jeff McNeil, who earlier made a great DP pivot, threw poorly to first. Mark Vientos, who had previously made two nice defensive plays at first, did not come off the bag and the ball got by him, allowing the go-ahead run to score.
With a lefty up, Showalter went to Raley. Coming into the game, Raley had a .527 OPS versus righties and an .847 OPS versus lefties. Yet he’s being used like a LOOGY. With Raley in the game, the runner stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by Francisco Alvarez. Raley pitched from the windup with the runner on third and he got a tremendous jump and stole home. Raley’s pitch to the plate was nowhere near the plate. If it had, the runner would have been out if the batter didn’t make contact. It just goes to show how tough it is to steal home.
Meanwhile, the lefty that Raley was brought into the game to face delivered a hit. And then he retired the righty to end the inning.
But the Mets fought back and tied the game. But not without controversy. A Vientos walk loaded the bases with two outs. Nimmo was hit by a pitch to make it a 3-2 game. Then Starling Marte singled to left to tie the game. The fielder picked up the ball in shallow left and Joey Cora put up the stop sign. But Nimmo charged on towards third like he expected the runner to be sent home. He scrambled back to second base, put a swim move on in an attempt to avoid the tag but was called out. The ESPN announcers thought he got back safely but there was not enough evidence to overturn the call.
The Yankees got a leadoff double in the eighth inning and had two runners in scoring position in the ninth but were unable to score either time. The Mets went down in order in the final two frames to force extra innings.
Dominic Leone pitched the 10th inning for the Mets, did not allow any runs and became the winning pitcher when Nimmo beat the lefty for the game-winner.
The Mets did not play particularly well but came away with a win, which has to be looked at as a positive. Just as important was getting a strong effort from Verlander. If before the game, someone had offered you the chance to sign up for 6 IP and 1 R from Verlander, you would have taken it in a heartbeat. He didn’t overpower people like Cole did but he gave the Yankees fits with his breaking balls. Hopefully it’s an outing to build on for Verlander.
Nice walk off win after missing some opportunities. Nimmo redeemed his bonehead running and Verlander gutted out 6 good innings. Can’t say enough about Vientos’ defensive play at 1B tonight and the error was on McNeil who never should have thrown the ball. Probably another 3 weeks before we get Pete back. Bring on the Cards.
Gut Reaction: ” The Mets did not particularly play well but came away with a win.”
That double play off the bat of Stanton was 118 miles an hour and Escobar caught it then threw it to McNeil who had to quickly pivot with the runner bearing on him and threw it to Vientos had a unbelievable scoop to complete the double play. It was three amazing plays in one. The second one was not so good.
As for Brooks Raley, he had traditional splits in his career. This reversal is new for this year. There was no Inkling of the reversal in the past 2 years. The Mets should research it as to why Lefty batters are hitting his pitches when they didn’t do it in the past.
It was a refreshing win and hopeful win.
Baserunning.
1. Couldn’t believe Escobar was held up—did he stumble? What was Nimmo looking at?
2. Escobar made it closer than it should have in the 10th also—OK advancing after a would-be catch was important too.
3. But Nimmo should be on second, not watching the play at the plate from somewhere on the infield.
I dunno.
My initial reaction was that it was an odd time for Cora to be conservative and hold the runner at third base, creating the problem with Nimmo trying to grab third. But then they showed the replay with a wide shot and you could see how shallow the left fielder was when he fielded the ball. If the ball was hit deep, he was where the cutoff man would typically be. If Cora had sent him, he would have been out the great majority of the time.
Now, it turned out to be a bad throw and there’s a chance that Vientos would have scored. But you can’t fault Cora for the stop sign, especially with Vientos not being a very fast runner.
Not only was the LF playing shallow as expected but there is a matter of a general rule to inly send the runner if the OF has not fielded the ball yet. In this case the OF fielded the ball when EE was still 2 steps before 3B. Even with the off line throw, EE would have been out by 20 feet or more. I think an elite runner would have been out at home as well.
Nimmo was indefensible in his run to 3B. The play was happening right in front of his eyes. He knew the ball was fielded while EE had not yet reached 3B. Instead of good situational awareness, he ran heads down full speed, more than half way to 3B, completely ignorant of the play right in his eyes. In chatter, I likened it to a batter trying to hit a 6-run HR with only a runner on second base. He wanted to score soooooooo bad that he lost baseball IQ.
As for the 10th. I saw the replay. I still am surprised the ball was not caught as it landed next to the OF not past him. Lousy line to the ball. They were playing for the shallow hit, but EE had to hold up in case it was caught. We can complain plenty about EE, but for an old guy, he sure has wheels.