Joey Lucchesi pitched into the eighth inning and backed by a 3-RBI night from Pete Alonso, he led the Mets to a 7-1 win over the Diamondback Wednesday night at Citi Field. The Mets go for the series victory in a late afternoon game on Thursday.
A lot of us wanted Lucchesi to be given a shot earlier and tonight he showed everyone why. He threw seven scoreless innings and was so good that even Buck Showalter gave him a shot to take the mound for the eighth. He allowed the leadoff man to get on and then got what should have been a double play ball. But a bad hop – ruled live as an error – left two runners on and no outs. Showalter brought in Trevor Gott, who should have gotten out of the inning but a bad throw by Jeff McNeil on the back end of a double play attempt went awry and the D’Backs cracked the scoreboard with an unearned run.
Until someone complains about the error and gets the run charged to an earned one, Lucchesi sits with a 2.83 ERA on the year in seven starts. It’s too bad that the majority of Carlos Carrasco’s 20 starts didn’t go to Lucchesi, instead.
Meanwhile, Alonso gave the Mets the early lead with a first inning, RBI single. It was one of those low pitches that he chases and usually misses. This time he served the ball into the outfield, bringing home Francisco Lindor, who had doubled. In the fifth, Alonso delivered a two-run single to make it 4-0.
The following frame, Mark Vientos hit a two-run homer and the rout was on. Alonso came to bat in the sixth with the bases loaded but hit a comebacker that looked like it was going to be a 1-2-3 double play. But the pitcher muffed the ball and the Mets had their seventh run. Gary Cohen tried to give Alonso an RBI on the play but cooler heads prevailed.
The Mets went 3-10 with runners in scoring position but the D’Backs went 1-11.
A Met starter carrying a shut out into the eighth inning. Give that guy a $40 million/year contract. Too much? How about a bobble head night instead? Stearns says no? Ok, how about a major league contract for 2024…I hear we do need some pitching.
Hey, works for me T.J. I also don’t think that 2024 is going to be a ‘lost’ season. With Stearns on board now, maybe there is hope for the FO to at least not be stupid with Cohen’s $$$, and do a better job with player evaluation. I’m also thinking that perhaps Baty will be packaged/traded with others to get/start making a better bullpen.
Anyway, let’s see how the next two weeks goes.
Gut Reaction: Lucchesi continued the resurgence of the starting pitching. With 17 games in the season the Mets should continue a six-man rotation. Maybe one will emerge as a fifth starter for 2024. Or one could be appealing for a trade package for another better starting pitcher. Anyway, it is a good thing that all four are finally reaching their potential.
Baty and Vientos finally had a good game. Right now, they are the future platoon third basemen for 2024. Both have similar stats for the year. The Mets should look into free agent Jaimer Candelario. He is 30 years old, a switch hitter, has a
121 OPS+ and 21 HRS. He is a third baseman, first baseman and DH. He made $5m this year.
The Mets are guaranteed a split but it would be nice to snake bite the Diamondsbacks this afternoon.