The Mets forged another late-inning comeback, scoring all of their runs in the seventh inning en route to a 3-1 win over the Pirates Tuesday night at Citi Field. The win pushes the Mets over .500 for the first time this season, as they’re now 9-8 on the year, thanks to winning nine of their last 12 games.
Francisco Lindor started the winning rally with a one-out walk and he went to third base on a hard-hit single by Pete Alonso. Then Joey Wendle, who replaced an injured Brett Baty, hit an RBI double to left which tied the game and put two runners in scoring position.
The Pirates made a pitching change and the reliever balked in the go-ahead run. Jeff McNeil followed with an RBI double to left for the game’s final run.
Reed Garrett pitched two innings, posted six strikeouts and earned the win. Garrett now has 17 Ks in 8.2 IP this season for the Mets. Jorge Lopez and Drew Smith closed out the game, with the Mets’ “A” relievers having all pitched in back-to-back games and getting the night off.
Jose Quintana started for the Mets and had trouble throwing strikes but kept the team in the game, allowing just one run in five innings.
Pirates starter Jared Jones was electric, as he allowed just one hit and no walks with seven strikeouts in five innings. But he was lifted after just 59 pitches in an effort to limit his innings. We all want to keep pitchers healthy. But it was a head scratcher to remove him when he was absolutely dominating. Hopefully Jones has a long, productive career in the majors and the Pirates can win this particular war despite losing this battle.
But this Mets fan was grateful to get him out of the game.
The Pittsburgh press jumped on Derek Shelton postgame about the pitching move and he was adamant that it was pre-scripted that he was only pitching five innings because “he’s very important to us”. So… thanks Derek.
On a night where Scott, Tidwell, and Kranick were impressive in the minors, Garrett outshone them all with a performance that should make it awfully hard to send him down, ever!
Also, Stearns said that JDM should be joining the team either in California or right after. Baty may need an IL stint to find space.
Is my mind playing tricks on me, or do the Mets look like a version of the Brewers? Do what it takes to win, good bullpen to always give yourself a chance, and try not to beat yourself.
This morning’s updates from Mendoza: JDM will not be traveling with the team and there is no chance of him joining the team on this trip.
Preliminary report on Baty is that he will avoid an IL stint.
Seems to me that Jones is so important to the Pirates because he can help them win games. Can’t do that from the bench. The Mets let out a collective sigh of relief and knew they’d get to the Bucs bullpen. I’ll take it.
I like that the line between the A and B bullpen guys is getting blurrier and blurrier. Best overall and bullpen ERA in the NL.. would be nice to finish this stretch off with a sweep.
LGM
With all the analytics and research departments, i’d like to know what exactly teams are looking at that makes anyone think limiting innings is effective for long term health.
Can anyone even cite 1 success story where an innings limit worked?
And why the heck in 2024 are we still looking at innings versus actual pitches? 95 pitches over 5 is treated the same as 59 over 5?
It’s sad that i’ve been saying this for almost 10 years now and teams are still doing the same dumb thing year after year.
Grateful for the Pirates looking after Jones’ development and health and pulling him after five amazing innings where the Mets got just one hit. Clutch hitting by Wendle in for Baty and he also flawlessly handled a few chances at 3B. McNeil comes through to the opposite field, and the pen shut them down again led by another two strong innings from career minor leaguer Garrett, who is surely making the most of his chance in 2024. Another series win, a game above .500 after that horrendous start. Dare we think sweep?
It may be the cutting edge up and down metric that is trumping them all! We’ll gladly take the W, thank you. Mr. Garrett is showing himself quite well in the early going.
Gut Reaction: Garrett has been sensational this year. Smith and Lopez have improved also. Wendle , Bader and Stewart have had clutch hits in victorious games this week. As a result, the Mets are 9-8. This is just the way they planned it in the offseason. Regardless, I’ll take it.