Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo continue to prove why they should have made the All-Star game, as each homered to power the Mets to a 7-5 win over the Nationals Tuesday night. The Mets are now 6-2 against their NL East rival this season.
It was a rematch of last week’s pitcher’s duel between Jose Quintana and Jake Irvin. Quintana held up his end of the bargain, as he threw seven shutout innings while allowing just one hit. But the Mets put the hammer down versus Irvin this time.
Lindor had an RBI single in the second inning and Nimmo followed with a 3-run homer, a ball that didn’t seem like a HR off the bat, but one that just kept carrying to the opposite field. Lindor added a two-run homer in the sixth to make it 6-0.
Quintana was brilliant and he ended up throwing 103 pitches. It was nice to see him come back for the seventh inning. In one of the most remarkable instances of a catcher making a difference, Quintana has the following numbers with Francisco Alvarez behind the plate: 46 IP, 9 ER, 1.76 ERA.
A 6-0 lead after seven innings should have made for a stress-free finish. But the Mets don’t believe in that type of game. Adam Ottavino couldn’t get out of the eighth inning and needed Dedniel Nunez to bail him out. Reed Garrett couldn’t get out of the ninth and needed Edwin Diaz to bail him out.
Garrett threw 26 pitches on Saturday and 23 pitches on Sunday – did he really need to pitch Tuesday? My initial thought was that it was too soon to get Eric Orze back on the mound but given that he’s likely to go once newly acquired Phil Maton gets here, they might as well have gotten some use out of him.
Jose Butto would have been a better choice than Garrett, too.
It’s easier to take these questionable bullpen moves in a game where the SP goes seven and the club wins. And it’s nice to see the offense produce 11 H and 7 R. Harrison Bader joined Lindor with three hits, while Jeff McNeil had a double and a walk.
Nice win tonight. Big bats, great start by Quintana, and another hold your breath ending. So thrilled to see Mendoza let Q come out for the 7th and he looked strong at the end at 103 pitches. Could he have started the 8th? I think so, but they figured we just need six outs. Alonso, Stewart and Vientos with the only 0-fers, Bader scores two runs from the nine hole and Lindor and Nimmo with three RBI each from the first two spots in the order. They can score. Severino and Peterson up for the next two. Hurray Maton!
Nice win tonight. Big bats, great start by Quintana, and another hold your breath ending. So thrilled to see Mendoza let Q come out for the 7th and he looked strong at the end at 103 pitches. Could he have started the 8th? I think so, but they figured we just need six outs. Alonso, Stewart and Vientos with the only 0-fers, Bader scores two runs from the nine hole and Lindor and Nimmo with three RBI each from the first two spots in the order.
Didn’t get to see much of this game, but whatever portion I did see, I loved Daniel Murphy. A low-key soft-spoken approach that feels like a hitter’s version of Ron Darling, he fit like a glove in that broadcast team.
Wins are good. Needing to use 4 relievers, including the closer, to get 6 outs with a 6 run lead is not good. Is this pen going to make it to the break without anyone’s arm falling off?
Gut Reaction: Quintana pitched another gem. A month ago he was Kryptonite but Alvarez came back. Nimmo and Lindor are the real the real all stars of the team this year and Alvarez and Vientos are waiting to take up the future mantle. TJ ^ is right. The bullpen appears to be mismanaged and stressed to the point of breaking. Or is it broken already? Ottavino had 10 of 11 prior appearances without gaving up an earned run but wasn’t used in 5 days until this game.
One more win takes this series and gets them closer to the playoffs. Isn’t that their goal this year?
Does anyone think there was any consideration for leaving Q in for the 8th? Or have we arrived at a place where a guy throwing a one-hit shutout must come out because he’s passed the hallowed 100 pitch mark?
My baseball worldview and mental health may depend on your answers.
Sadly, I think you are right on that 100 pitches is pretty much the automatic call to the pen these days. I’d be surprised if there was consideration to leaving Quintana in. I wish they did. I’ll be curious to see if anything changes with that 100 pitch count if and when they go to a 6 man rotation as expected.
I’m certain there was zero consideration for Q in the 8th. The 100 pitches is an exception. 95 seems to be the normal ceiling for this team.