The Mets hit five home runs and their starting pitcher gave seven innings. Easy win, right? Well, actually, no. The Rockies had the tying and go-ahead runs on in the ninth inning. But all’s well that ends well and the Mets hung on for a 7-6 win Friday night at Citi Field. The Mets are now three games over .500 and are 8-4 in the month of July.
Trailing 2-0 in the second inning, Mark Vientos homered. And then Jose Iglesias homered to tie things up. And then Harrison Bader homered to put the Mets on top. And that trio struck again later in the game. Vientos hit an RBI double in the third. Bader hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Iglesias hit another solo shot in the fifth to give the Mets a 7-2 lead.
Sean Manaea started for the Mets and outside of the one pitch that went for a homer, he pitched a strong game. At the end of six innings, he was at 91 pitches. And, somewhat remarkably, Carlos Mendoza sent him to the mound for the seventh. He gave up a solo homer to finish with 7 IP, 3 R, 1 BB and 9 Ks.
With the struggles of the Mets’ pen, it seemed like a good tradeoff to allow an extra run for an extra inning.
And while a four-run lead should be safe, that didn’t turn out to be the case. Jake Diekman came on, faced three batters and two of them scored. That prompted Name to call him Dfaman. Phil Maton was called on to clean up the mess and he gave up a run, too.
Edwin Diaz came on for the save in the ninth inning and got two quick outs. Yet Diaz walked the next two batters to make things dicey. But he struck out the next hitter to earn the save, his 10th of the season.
During the game, Gary Cohen referenced the 2007 Mets, saying this year’s team now needs to outscore the bullpen to win games, just like the ’07 squad had to do when Billy Wagner got hurt.
Good thing the offense has scored 151 runs in their last 24 games, a 6.29 rpg average.
I cannot recall a span when a Met team showed more power. I can recall spans in the late 70s when it seemed like they only hit a home run a week. And this is with the Polar Bear in HR hibernation. Maybe Mr. OMG belongs in the HR derby lol.
Gut Reaction: Manaea pitched a good game and gave the Mets length. He handed over a four run lead to the Tier II bullpen and they almost blew it. They can sure use one or two reliable relievers in the second half of the season.
Iglesias, Bader and Vientos were the hitting stars and they have been supplementing the offense and seizing their opportunities. All three have earned their playing time.
Scott followed by Butto this afternoon could secure the series.
Why was Diekman in the game at 7-3? Do they “need to get him going”?
The reason: Match-ups! Two of the first three batters were lefties. Too bad the first lefty homered