Clutch hitting and athleticism define Mets comeback win over the Pirates
The Mets rallied from three runs down and scored six unanswered runs to pull to .500 for the first time since June 4, 2023
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets rallied from behind to beat the Pirates 6-3 at Citi Field on Monday (box)
RHP Adrian Houser started for the Mets and was erratic, issuing five walks over 5.1 IP, but allowed only two runs in his outing
Houser and Drew Smith allowed three runs in the sixth, but the Mets roared back for three runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a bases loaded walk to Francisco Álvarez, a throwing error by OF Connor Joe on a potential sac fly to right, and a clutch pinch-hit, RBI double from DJ Stewart
In the eighth, the Mets went ahead for good with the Pirates asleep at the wheel, swiping three bases and scoring three runs, highlighted by a go-ahead two-run double from Harrison Bader
The Mets have won eight of their last 11 after starting the year 0-5, and are at the .500 mark for the first time since June 4, 2023
The Mets got their 3rd win in their last at-bat, they're 5-6 when the opposition scores first, got their fourth comeback win, are 7-0 when leading after eight innings, 3-4 vs the NL Central, and are 6-1 when allowing three or fewer runs
Who’s Hot 🔥
Harrison Bader has a five-game hitting streak with multiple hits in four of them. He’s hitting .450/.476/.500 during that span with a double and three RBI
DJ Stewart has a four-game hitting streak, slashing a .364/.417/.818 line with two doubles and five RBI during that span
Starling Marte has at least one hit in eight of his last nine games, hitting .350/.309/.450 with 14 hits, four walks, eight runs scored, a homer and three RBI during that span
After starting the year with three hits total in his first ten games, Francisco Lindor has seven hits in his last six games
Pete Alonso: NL Player of the Week 🥂
Alonso hit .429 (9-for-21) with four home runs, seven RBI, a double, six walks, eight runs scored and a 1.048 slugging percentage in six games last week
He led the NL in slugging, OPS (1.604) and total bases (22); ranked second in the NL in on-base percentage (.556) and runs; tied for second in walks and extra-base hits (5); tied for third in RBI; and ranked fourth in batting average
He went 9-for-15 (.600) with multiple hits in four straight games from Tuesday through Saturday, marking the second time in his career that he recorded at least two hits in four straight games, also accomplishing the feat in May of 2022
It’s the fourth time Alonso has won the POTW award, the last coming on July 30, 2023
He is the first Met to win four awards since his former teammate Noah Syndergaard won once in 2015 and 2016 and twice in 2019
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (8-8) vs. Pirates (11-6)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP José Quintana (1-1, 3.45 ERA) vs. RHP Jared Jones (1-2, 4.00 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
The Mets created their opportunities using the skills they’ve built, and won! ✍️
Monday’s win against the Pirates can only be summed up as one of those great, character-building wins for the Mets, a game that perhaps in that third of the schedule which might help define the season.
You’ve heard it a million times - the baseball schedule is defined by the rule of thirds. Clubs will win a third, they’ll lose a third, but its that middle third that tells the story for a team over the course of a 162-game schedule.
That third though is usually defined by two things working well together: talent and cohesiveness, ie that subjective chemistry part which no metric can define.
The Mets by no means are the most talented team in the league so they’re going to have to lean on the skills they do have along with that subjective, theoretical piece where everyone has to function well together in order to be successful this year. And perhaps it is that part which has helped will them to their last two wins against two teams which perhaps have more skill than they do top to bottom.
Of course, it starts with the club’s pitching which has been extremely good during this 8-3 run to get them to .500 for the season. They’re seventh in all of baseball in starters ERA at 3.63, ninth in bullpen ERA at 3.29 and their total staff ERA is 3.48, good for sixth in the game through the first tenth of the regular season.
What I loved about last night’s game in particular wasn’t the pitching, and it wasn’t so much the late game heroics at the plate, either. Yeah, Harrison Bader and DJ Stewart had those big, clutch hits to get the Mets tied up and get them a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. That’s fun, and sure, the Mets didn’t do a lot of that last year and it’s these kinds of wins that make a difference for a team when the race is over. That’s what will serve as the easy lay up for stories this morning.
It was the three stolen bases in the eighth inning, two of which were of third base. That helped create momentum, that helped generate energy, that helped create the opportunity for the Mets to take the lead and run away with the game, if you will.
See, the Mets have advertised themselves as improved baserunners, a more athletic team, a more agile team, and a better defensive team. They want to be better at the old run manufacturing game and creating opportunities to score rather than being a station-to-station club waiting for that big power which often never comes. On Monday, they forced the issue against Aroldis Chapman and a Pirates team that seemingly assumed the Mets wouldn’t use the modern game to try and win.
They were literally standing there not once, but twice as the Mets stole three bases on them in the eighth without even a suggestion of a throw to third.
These are the things the Mets are going to have to do to create their opportunities, and something we’ve been waiting for them to do to-date. Again, they’re not the most talented team in their league or division for that matter, lacking that explosiveness the Braves and Phillies have in the middle of their lineups to say the least. They’re going to be playing close games, they’re going to be playing low-scoring games and often times the Mets will have to do everything right in order to win those games.
And in doing so, they’re going to have to run the bases well, play the run prevention game and create their opportunities to squeak out wins. This is how the game is played and won by the league’s best these days thanks to the new rules, and the Mets seem to be starting to respect that and used their best skills to create a win on Monday night.
Such has been the case the last two days.
Around the League 🚩
Legendary Yankee broadcaster John Sterling retired on Monday after 36 years in the broadcast booth (release)
Mike Trout hit a go-ahead two-run homer as the Angels scooted past the Rays 7-3 in St. Petersburg
Michael Busch homered for the fifth time in as many games as the Cubs edged the Diamondbacks 3-2 in Phoenix
The Blue Jays silenced the Yankees 3-1 at Rogers Centre thanks to 6.1 strong innings from former Met Chris Bassitt
Michael Lorenzen made his Rangers debut with a shutdown performance as Texas blanked Detroit 1-0
Mets are exciting and fun to watch again!