When you start the year losing your first five games, you can’t complain about winning the seventh game ugly. The Mets played just good enough to emerge with a 3-2 win over the Reds Friday night in Cincinnati.
The Mets came into the contest averaging just 2.17 runs per game, which was 28th in the majors. Despite only getting four hits, they managed to load the bases twice late in the game, scoring one run each time. Francisco Lindor drove in one with a sacrifice fly and the other run came on an error by the Reds’ shortstop.
The Mets extended to a 3-1 lead when Jeff McNeil turned on a pitch and homered to right field in the eighth inning.
Edwin Diaz came on to get his first save in over a year but it wasn’t easy. He committed an error to put the leadoff man on and then walked the next batter. Diaz got a ball hit to short but Lindor did not get to the second base bag on time, so instead of a double play and two out, the tying run was at second base with only one away.
A sacrifice fly cut the lead to one and then Diaz threw a wild pitch to put the tying run on third. But Diaz nailed down the win with a strikeout to end the game.
The Mets got a solid outing from Jose Quintana, who surrendered a homer to the second batter he faced but who then settled in to keep the Reds off the board for the rest of his appearance. The relievers allowed just Diaz’ unearned run in the ninth in 3.1 IP.
Brett Baty had two hits and made a couple of nice plays in the field. With most everyone in the lineup struggling, Baty is batting .273 with a .360 OBP
I don’t know how it works in MLB. By my count, the Mets made three errors in the ninth. It started by Diaz not moving an extra step to get in front of the grounder, so he had to backhand a little bleeder; and he couldn’t. Then, Lindor should have tossed to McNeil to save an extra second and a half instead of taking the successful double play for granted. Then, on the sacrifice fly, Bader moving sideways got in front of Marte who was coming into the ball, having a better angle and a better throwing setup. I know in football, they dissect everything. In basketball, they go over some stuff in practice. But in baseball, with games everyday, is there time to be this thorough?
A win is a win is a win. Take it and don’t ask questions. The offense is still sad. The pitching has been the strength of this team, but even that is spotty. Quintana gave up nine baserunners in five plus innings but only one run. Hey, it’s beautiful when the other team is helping us out!
Loved seeing McNeil yank the inside pitch over the fence. Not sure that’s a homerun in Queens, but it is in the Queen City!
According to Statcast, McNeil’s ball was a homer in all 30 parks.
https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/gamefeed?date=4/5/2024&gamePk=746733&chartType=pitch&legendType=pitchName&playerType=pitcher&inning=&count=&pitchHand=&batSide=&descFilter=&ptFilter=&resultFilter=&hf=exitVelocity&sportId=1#746733
That was a really cool site! Thanks Brian! Wow that was cool!
Want to know what was cooler? The only batted ball with a slower exit velo than the 51 mph bleeder back to Diaz that he booted (could he have an easier one?) was Baty’s 45 mph single.
Glad you clicked on the link, Gus! The information at Baseball Savant is terrific, if not organized in an intuitive way. My opinion is that they need to design it so the stuff you can’t get elsewhere is more front and center. You go to a player’s page and all of the traditional stuff is there. If I want that info, I’m going to B-R or FG. I wish I didn’t have to make a half a dozen clicks to get to the info I can’t get at the main sites.
Apple TV is the bane of my baseball existence.
I get it that the last thing you want is to subscribe to another streaming service. But that’s what pirate streams are for!
As for game coverage, I’d much rather watch an Apple TV game than one on Fox or ESPN. It seems to me that they do more (at least better) research into the teams they are covering. Fox and ESPN seem like they are in a race to say both the most cliches, along with the most wrong things possible. I don’t feel like throwing a brick at the TV with the Apple broadcasts.
Yeah, the percentages they show – Player X has a 14% chance of driving in a run here – are at best misleading. But at least that’s a graphic rather than a talking head spitting out useless stuff. My opinion is that the announcers for Apple are invested in the actual game they’re covering. While there are promos for upcoming games, that doesn’t seem to be the reason for showing the current game, like it is with Fox and ESPN.
Have to agree again Brian. I got my AppleTV subscription last week as they offered a six month trial with cancellation at any time through my TMobile service. But, after a week, I’d rather pay for Netflix is I had to choose one. Amazon is so much better, by the way.
My favorite stat was when they showed Stewart having a 11% chance of getting a hit when he was up on the count and walked on the next pitch. LOLLLL, 11% when up on the count! Wow, how did they figure that one out?
At this stage, I do not have access to Apple TV and have no plans to subscribe. It appears that 3 of the Mets’ first 12 Friday night games have been hijacked by Apple TV courtesy of Manfred and his band of wealthy owners. That is 25% of the games for a very mediocre team. This may be the wave of the future, but my preference would be for pay per view access on a single game basis for games distributed in a manner that is personally inaccessible. I’m not holding my breath. It’ll be old school radio or bust.
I get it.
Many years ago, I had cable TV and a subscription to the MLB TV package. I was blacked out of Braves games, which made sense because I could watch them on cable. But then they blocked me out of seeing Nationals games, too. And that made zero sense, because I couldn’t watch that game on cable.
That made me look for alternatives and I found out I could watch all of the Mets games for free. I was paying for the MLB TV package and was doing so gladly, because it was a good deal. But then they made it so it was no longer a good deal and lost me as a customer.
The pirate streams aren’t perfect. But they’re for the most part very good. If you want more info, you can send me an email at the Mets360@outlook . com email address.
Yes, a win is a win. Really had a bad feeling when they loaded the bases with some big hitters coming up but could not cash in further than a small ball sac fly. And I am a proponent of small ball even when the hitting isn’t in the toilet. They are pitching to a team 2.18 ERA that far overshadows their .167 batting average. A team that bats less then I weigh is in serious trouble and yes I am under the Mendoza line so their BA is abominable.
Nice effort by Quintana who almost gave us a “quality start” by those outdated standards. Hope this is a breakout moment for McNeil and Lindor and Nimmo need to get going or we may lead the league in ERA on the way to 90 losses. And to think we all believed that super glove Baty was the weak link on the team.
Glad they dumped Tonkin. He was scary. Hope to see Butto get a quick call back after his six inning six K effort. Severino has a lot to prove in start 2 and can’t wait to see Manaea on Sunday. Let’s make it three in a row!
Severino supposedly has fixed his sweeper. We’ll see today.
Is Baty taking bunting lessons and practice? They all should have learned to bunt in the minors! Hell, I was taught bunting in Little League!
Mets might be OK with continued good pitching and improved hitting by McNeil, Lindor, Nimmo—and Martinez!
Bader looks like Stearns’s big mistake!
Coming into the season, I was really against both the Bader and Severino signings. It’s too soon to declare one as the biggest mistake, although Severino can take the early lead with a stinker today.
Maybe so. I do hope that Bader hits more like he did in 2021 with St. Louis and steals at least a couple of dozen bases. But I’m not optimistic.
I have more hope that Severino’s stuff wins out and he has a good season, justifying his salary.