Jesse Winker hit a grand slam, the bullpen was terrific and the Mets added on a bunch of runs late thanks to some lousy Red Sox pitching. It all added up to an 8-3 win Wednesday night at Citi Field. The Mets swept the series and have now won seven in a row, tying their longest winning streak of the year.
The Mets loaded the bases in the first inning thanks to two hits and a walk. One out later, Winker delivered his third homer as a Met to make it 4-0. It was Winker’s sixth XBH in his last 13 games and 38 PA. He’s really delivering the power.
Tylor Megill started and gave back three of the runs and was removed after giving up a leadoff single in the fifth inning. Paul Blackburn had a strong rehab start for Syracuse and the hope is that this is the last time we see Megill pitch this season.
But as bad as Megill was, the bullpen made up for it. The Red Sox were able to put guys on base, but three straight innings the pen escaped thanks to double play balls.
Danny Young came on mid-inning in the seventh and got a double play to end the threat. Carlos Mendoza sent him out to pitch the eighth because the first two hitters were lefties. Young retired them and Mendoza pulled him for Phil Maton. But in 79 PA this year against RHB, Young has limited them to a .175 AVG. With no on and two outs, it was probably a good time to let Young face the righty.
Maton allowed hits to the first two righties he faced but got out of the inning when he retired a lefty batter.
Leading by a run heading to the bottom of the eighth inning, the Mets plated four runs on five walks, a single and a sac fly. After watching Mets pitchers give up too many walks, it was nice to see how the other half lives.
Despite the five-run lead, Mendoza had Edwin Diaz pitch the ninth. After a leadoff walk, Diaz retired the next three hitters, with two of them strikeouts.
The Mets get a day off on Thursday before welcoming in the 67-73 Reds for a three-game set this weekend. Sean Manaea will get the start on Friday. The Mets are 7-1 in Manaea’s last eight starts.
3 more in a row pls!
Also- Winker hit that slam after taking a ball that easily could have been called strike 3 at the top of the zone. When things are going well you get those calls.
Braves will lose tomorrow and the Mets will be tied going into the reds series
Mets go double play crazy and capitalize on walks galore to beat the Sox ace and complete the sweep. Despite that they made up virtually no ground in the standings. On the plus side, they didn’t lose any further ground. Diaz in the ninth with an off day following didn’t bother me, I think he needs to pitch more to be more effective.
Gut Reaction: Winker delivered again. The bullpen was again sensational. You have to give Mendoza credit for that even though in the chatter we rarely agree with him. At a key point of the game, Bader cut a ball off in the gap to secure the potential go ahead run to go to second. Three double plays also were turned over flawlessly. Defense is so important.
On vaca out of the country and can’t watch our team. Grateful for the gut reaction and all the comments. Get the box score from ESPN.com but it’s not the same. Thanks guys!