The Mets got three solo homers in a four-batter stretch in the third inning to back a strong start by Justin Verlander as the Mets gave a double-fisted, one-finger salute to June with a 4-1 win to open July Saturday afternoon against the Giants.
Francisco Alvarez got the homer party started and one batter later, Brandon Nimmo continues his power surge. Francisco Lindor capped things off with his 17th homer. An inning later, Tommy Pham hit an RBI double to cap the Mets’ scoring.
Meanwhile, Verlander turned in the type of outing that the Mets envisioned when the Mets signed him to a high-dollar deal. He cruised thru the first five innings, needing just 57 pitches. Things were a tiny bit tougher for him after that but it would have been a scoreless game except for a throwing error by Pete Alonso, which led to an unearned run.
Verlander had a very good slider and he rode that to an outing of 7 IP with 1 BB and 6 Ks. Drew Smith and Adam Ottavino closed things out, with Ottavino picking up his sixth save of the season.
The Mets look to win their first series since May when they play the Giants Sunday night.
Mets put up a massive 4 hit performance to start off the month of July. The Giants retired the last 14 Met betters. A bunch of o-fees once again. But, when the starter is really good, it just takes a little flash of power and minimal competence by the bullpen to grab a W. The top teams have a nice bunch of wins that look just like this.
Loved the power display, and that Verlander made it deep into the game. I thought after the number of pitches he had thrown after six innings that he might’ve made it all the way to the eighth inning but it took quite the effort to finish the 7th. Nimmo continues to improve his power hitting and that’s quite a bonus out of the leadiff spot. Amazing how Flores loves to hit against us. Any of the former Mets could have served as our DH this year but that’s water under the bridge and I don’t regret that they are gone. The big question is which David Peterson are we going to get today with the potential that we could actually when a series?