Starling Marte had a chance when he came up as a pinch-hitter in the eighth inning with a runner on third base but he grounded out. He had another chance in the 10th inning and delivered the game-winning hit, sending the Mets to a 2-1 victory over the Nationals. With the Braves’ loss – losing to the Dodgers 9-0 in the eighth inning as this is being written – the Mets move into sole possession of the third Wild Card spot.
It was another pitcher’s duel, with Sean Manaea pitching brilliantly, allowing just one run in seven innings. But he left on the short side, as the offense continued to struggle. Jose Butto struck out the side in the eighth. And the Mets scratched a run across to tie the game in the bottom of the frame.
Tyrone Taylor led off with a double and went to third on an infield out. Jose Iglesias hit a comebacker that the pitcher knocked down but was unable to field cleanly. Iglesias reached base and Taylor scored the tying run.
Edwin Diaz put a runner on base but got a strikeout to strand the runner at third.
The Mets were unable to score in their half of the ninth, sending the game to extra innings.
Reed Garrett came on to pitch the 10th. The Nats sacrificed the zombie runner to third but Garrett got two infield grounders to strand the runner at third.
The Nats walked Taylor to start the bottom of the 10th. Francisco Alvarez hit a fly to right that advanced pinch-runner Harrison Bader to third, setting the stage for Marte’s heroics.
The starting pitching is doing great, the offense is MIA. The wild card is the relief pitching. Tonight, they delivered three scoreless innings, which led to a win. May the offense wake up sooner rather than later.
JD Martinez offered some of the most non-competitive at bats I’ve ever seen from a professional baseball player, and against Derek Law of all people. It’s hard to fathom what’s going on with him.
Nimmo continues to be just a split second too early – that was his 3rd or 4th near miss down the right field line. You just know he’s gonna straighten one of those out in a key moment over the next few games and I’m betting it happens against Philly.
Alonso – I just don’t know. 5 years / 125 million maybe? Just to become the club’s all time home run leader? Wouldn’t these Mets be better with Christian Walker at first base for 2 or 3 years?
Props to Acuna for handling himself at SS coming into the game cold in the middle of a pennant race, in a tight do or die game.
12 to go. This is getting interesting.
This was a win they needed to have because there are no easy games after this series. Kudos to the Dodgers for finally hitting against the Braves and hoping they can do it one more time today. Irvin, and his 4.07 ERA pitched like an ace against them as did the Nats pen. Manaea lowered his ERA to 3.26 and the Mets pen held strong. Kudos to Marte for doing what we hoped he would do all season. With a dozen games to go, can’t have 0-fors from Winker, JD, Vientos and Alvarez. That’s a recipe for an early off season. Hoping for the good Megill to take the mound tonight.
Steve makes a good point on how many Mets are still not hitting. Alonso would never hurt his big free agent contract by admitting that he has had a bad year. It’s actually the smart thing to do, so forget it. Technically, Walker being four years older than Alonso and still a good player works in Alonso’s favor. Still, Walker was usually a high BA guy that moved the line and Alonso is an all or nothing sinkhole.
When a team is not hitting, the manager needs to manufacture a few runs and I’m not seeing it. I’d put all my rabbits in there tonight and see if we can small ball a victory because the big boy ball is failing nightly.
How’s this for a lineup? Inglesias, Taylor, Nimmo, Alonso, Vientos, Marte, Torrens, Bader, Acuna.
I’ll take that lineup Gus. Lots
of speed and small ball possibilities. Agree they need to manufacture runs. Time for the offense to put on their big
boy pants and play well against these playoff caliber teams. Maybe a surprise out of Taylor, Torrens and Marte. Can’t be wasting this great pitching. I know we all believe that making the playoffs this year was certainly a longshot, but they are right there, and if they can’t beat the Phillies, Braves and Brewers enough to snag a wildcard spot then they don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.
They have literally been beating playoff teams for weeks. The Phillies series was the first series they lost to an NL team since May.
Gut Reaction: Again, reliable Manaea,in his last seven starts has pitched at least 6.2 innings and the team hasn’t lost any one of them. The bullpen also bounce back. Taylor again had a clutch hit in the 8th inning. I hope he starts at center field tonight. Inglesias seems to get in the middle of everything, offense. defense, hustle and team morale. Alvarez productive out, with a fly ball to right, was nice to see. Strikeouts don’t advance runners. Marte is still an above average hitter and I’m glad he delivered in the 10th. Let’s win the series tonight and keep the pressure on the Braves.