The Mets hit two homers in the first inning, jumped out to a 7-1 lead en route to an 11-6 win over the Padres Sunday afternoon. The victory gave the Mets a sweep of the series and they’re now riding a five-game winning streak and have won nine of their last 11 games.
Trailing 1-0, Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the first and homered to tie things up. Brandon Nimmo singled, followed by a J.D. Martinez walk and a Pete Alonso homer to make it 4-1 before they made an out
The Mets tacked on three more runs in the fourth inning, with the big hits being RBI doubles by Harrison Bader and Martinez and it looked like the rout was on.
But the Padres came back with a run in the fifth inning and four more in the eighth and it was a one-run game.
New York responded with a four-run inning of its own in the bottom of the eighth. Luis Torrens hit a solo homer, Nimmo had an RBI single and Alonso had a two-run hit to give him five RBIs for the day.
The Mets finished with 14 hits, as every starter had at least one hit except for Starling Marte. Nimmo had three hits, while Martinez. Alonso, Torrens and Bader each had two. Martinez also had two walks and now has an .881 OPS for the season.
Tylor Megill allowed 2 ER in 5 IP and picked up his second win of the year.
Gut Reaction: you know it was a good day for the Mets when JD Martinez went 2-3 , with a double and RBI and wasn’t the hitting star.
Houser pitched 2 innings with 34 pitches was taken out with the Mets leading 7-2 and all hell broke loose. Why didn’t Houser finished the inning or the game?qp
Torrens was a good addition. SRF is having a good year,
Good writeup, Brian.
Bader was probably an overpay (including me, being down about him too soon), but remember when so many fans were advocating for the Mets to sign Michael Taylor? His latest stats with 162 PA: .201/.253/.264/49 OPS+/1.0 dWAR. Bader’s with 213 PA: .272/.319/.385/106 OPS+/0.4 dWAR.
I was one of those who wanted Taylor.
But while it hasn’t been a great season so far at the plate for Taylor, he’s been better than Bader in both defense and baserunning. And he signed for 1/$4 while Bader is 1/$10.5.
The other thing is that injuries have forced the Pirates to give too many ABs to Taylor vs RHP. Would a Taylor/DJ Stewart platoon have been better than Bader playing 80% – or however much he’s played this year? I’m probably too biased to answer that question at this point. But I think it’s a fair one to ask.
Bader has been much better than I expected. First, it was due to a high BABIP. But while that’s regressed somewhat here lately, he’s compensating with power. He’s been a pleasant surprise.
What is really surprising with Bader that he has a .731 OPS vs RHP and only a .653 OPS vs LHP. In his career he has a robust .803 OPS vs LHP and struggles to hit vs RHP for a tune of .672. Go figure.