After failing to score a run in four straight innings with at least two runners on base, the Mets scored twice in the eighth inning and held on for a 2-1 win over the Royals Sunday afternoon at Citi Field. It was the third straight series win for the Mets after starting out the year 0-5.
The Mets retired Dwight Gooden’s jersey before the contest and continued to honor him with great pitching in the game. Jose Butto, pitching for the first time in 10 days, was outstanding, as he threw six shutout innings with nine strikeouts. Butto allowed just two hits and a walk in the game, as he battled Royals ace Cole Ragans to a draw.
The winning rally wasn’t much to look at but it looked pretty after the Mets’ failures to capitalize in earlier innings. And it wasn’t great offense. They scored thanks to four walks and an infield single by Harrison Bader. The inning also contained some questionable umpire calls, with the majority of them going in favor of the home team.
Edwin Diaz pitched for the first time in a week and picked up the save, although he surrendered a gopher ball in the inning. Brooks Raley received the win and both he and Adam Ottavino were impressive after Butto left the game.
The Mets are now 7-3 in their last 10 games, with all 10 played against teams with a winning record.
From 0-5 to one game under .500 at 7-8 is a nice run of games. Win each series and make the playoffs That was the 2022 formula. Loved 6 innings from Butto and they have to figure out how to keep him in the big team. Two hits from Lindor was very encouraging and even Bader is hitting over .300 now. They won ugly but they won. Bring on the Bucs!
You’ve been calling for Butto to get a legitimate shot for a while now. They absolutely need to keep running him out there – he looks really confident with his arsenal and feels like a more sure bet to go at least 6 every time. Have to be pleased with winning 3 straight series / 2 on the road, against good young, athletic teams. The offense clearly has potential and the pitching, in particular the bullpen, has been stout. Fun team to watch and to root for.
Thanks – it’s always nice when someone remembers a forecast/statement that turns out good.
Gut Reaction: Jose Butto pitched a gem.
The 26 year old Jose Butto pitched to a 3.64 ERA, FIP 4.02 with 7 starts and 3 of them were 6 inning starts. This year he had 2 starts with two 6 inning games. With his 9 starts it is obvious that he could pitch in the Mets rotation even at the expense of a more veteran pitcher. The Mets control him until 2030. They should bend over backwards for him. He earned it.
“Edwin Diaz pitched for the first time in a week”
I seem to remember some disagreement about not using Diaz in (what some considered) an obvious save situation because of the danger of overuse.
I suppose it really doesn’t matter much beyond that one game last week which had a high probability of being lost because Diaz wasn’t used
Tell me how many games are lost in the ninth inning when a team has a two-run lead. It absolutely happens. But it’s a gross exaggeration to say it “had a high probability of being lost,” when in fact it had a high probability of being won.
I found a win expectancy calculator that has all games from 1903 to 2023. There were 16,333 games where the visitors had a two-run lead in the 9th inning. The visitors won 15,016 of those games, or 91.94% of the games.
https://gregstoll.com/~gregstoll/baseball/stats.html#H.-2.9.0.1.0.0