It wasn't pretty, but the Mets gritted out a victory
New York grits out a walk-off win vs. the Pirates. Plus, a key play from a player bringing a different dynamic to this team.
What’s up with the Mets? ⚾
The Mets came through with a walk-off victory over the Pirates on Monday night, winning 4-3 (box)
1B Pete Alonso went 1-for-4 with two RBI on the night and delivered with the walk-off sac fly in the bottom of the 9th
LHP David Peterson had another strong performance, allowing two runs over six-plus innings with three walks and seven strikeouts
RHP Huascar Brazobán was charged with a blown save after an unearned run crossed the plate thanks to some poor defense in the 9th
DH Mark Vientos went 2-for-4 with a double in the victory
The Mets are now 16-4 at Citi Field over their first 20 home games this season, tying their best start at home since the 2015 season
Who’s Hot? 🔥
3B/DH Mark Vientos is hitting .407/.448/.556 with a home run, double, two RBI, four runs scored and a 1.004 OPS over his last eight games
Play of the Game 🌟
See below 😉
Down on the Farm 🌾
All Mets minor league affiliates were off on Monday.
Today’s Game 🗓️
Match-up: Mets (27-15) vs. Pirates (14-28)
Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Kodai Senga (4-2, 1.16 ERA) vs. RHP Mitch Keller (1-4, 4.40 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Speed kills… ✍️
If you noticed that we were missing a Play of the Game segment in this morning’s newsletter, I promise you that it was intentional. That’s because we felt that there was a play in last night’s game that was such a key that it deserved a little extra love.
We’re, of course, talking about the base running juice from Luisangel Acuña that was fully on display in last night’s game.
After the Mets rallied to tie the game – an overall sloppy affair with the Pittsburgh Pirates – in the bottom of the 7th, they had an opportunity to take the lead with the go-ahead run standing on second base with two outs and Pete Alonso standing at the dish. On a ground ball to the left side of the infield, Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes wasn’t able to handle the ball, causing it to trickle toward the end of the infield and into the cusp of the outfield grass.
Ninety-nine times out of one hundred a Mets base runner advances to third base, and that’s the end of the play. The S-tier speed shown off by Acuña in that situation was not only something special, but something that we have not seen around these parts in a long, long time…
Instead of the normal station-to-station play, where it often take the Mets 2-3 hits to generate a run, Acuña used that elite speed of his to motor around third and test this Pirates defense. Reaching The Flash-like levels of speed Acuña slid into home plate like a bullet, feet first, and just avoiding the tag of catcher Henry Davis. The play would go under further video review, but the damage was done and the Mets took a 3-2 lead.
While New York would ultimately cough up that lead before celebrating a walk-off victory thanks to a Pete Alonso sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th, the play from Acuña was still a massive one in a game as tight as this one was. At the time, Acuña coming across to score increased the Mets win probability by 20.9 percent – the highest jump for New York in the game, even higher than the sac fly that actually won it.
For the Mets to have a player that is able to use his speed to strike fear and doubt into his opponents and literally steal extra runs and, by proxy, games is absolutely game-changing and can play a major factor later this season when the team is involved in bigger games.
Acuña’s base running run value (2) is in the 98th percentile in the league and his sprint speed (29.4) is in the 96th percentile, according to Baseball Savant. He brings an element to their game that this franchise has not seen since No. 7 played his first stint with the club in the mid-to-late 2000s.
What Acuña brings to the table can literally break games – we’ve seen what that type of speed can do from the other side of the fence far too many times before. It can make a huge difference over the course of this season. It already did last night.
Around the League 🚩
The Cardinals extended their winning streak to nine thanks to a go-ahead home run by SS Masyn Winn against the Phillies
Despite blowing the lead in the top of the 9th, the Braves were able to rally for a win with a walk-off single from LF Alex Verdugo to beat the Nationals, 4-3
The Tigers scored nine runs in the third inning (while their fans booed Alex Bregman) as they crushed the Red Sox by a 14-2 score
The Yankees used a six-run frame from their offense to kick-off their series with the Mariners with a blowout win
Speed kills (defenses)...go go Acuna!
Great young player who's seized the 2nd base job. Sometimes looks overmatched at the plate but that should get better with more experience. An example, btw, of someone who did not excel in AAA but got it done when they got their chance in the majors. Mr. Macleod sure likes saying "literally", doesn't he? And the win probability stat doesn't float my boat. One more thing: it seems that the best pitch to hit is delivered to Soto on the first pitch and he almost always takes. Looked it up and it looks like I'm wrong: he's swung at first pitch 38 times in 188 plate appearances.