Kodai Senga stellar, Francisco Alvarez's power and defense helps Mets comeback to defeat D-Backs 2-1
The Mets put up the tying and go-ahead runs in the ninth, and now have now won four games in a row for the first time since mid-May
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets edged the Diamondbacks 2-1 in Phoenix on Tuesday (box)
Kodai Senga started for the Mets and gave the Mets his best effort to-date - he allowed a run on four hits with 12 strikeouts over eight innings, allowing only a solo home run to Christian Walker in the seventh inning
Down 1-0 in the ninth, Francisco Álvarez tied the game for the Mets with a solo home run, and then Mark Canha tripled in Brett Baty to give the Mets the lead for good
The Mets improved to 25-4 when the starting pitcher goes at least six innings, 10-1 when the starter goes at least seven innings, 3-41 when trailing after eight innings, 8-26 when scoring three or fewer runs, 12-9 against the NL West, and 16-35 when the opponent scores first
Who’s Hot 🔥
Francisco Álvarez has now homered in three of his last four games, scored four runs and driven in four runs during that span
Mark Canha - in a part-time role - has posted a .284/.400/.463 in 37 games since May 12
Kodai Senga has a 2.73 ERA over his last nine starts, allowing just 35 hits, 24 walks with 70 strikeouts in 52.2 IP during that span
News and Notes 🗞️
MLB released the 2023 Home Run Derby bracket - Pete Alonso is the second seed and will face Mariners OF Julio Rodriguez in the first round
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (40-46) vs. Dbacks (50-37)
Where: Chase Field – Phoenix, AZ
Starters: RHP Carlos Carrasco (2-3, 5.94 ERA) vs. RHP Ryne Nelson (5-4, 4.67 ERA)
When: 9:40 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY, MLB Network
Francisco Álvarez saved the Mets on Tuesday, but had a brilliant night on both sides of the ball ✍️
The Mets have won another series. And, they won another series against a +.500 team.
How about that?
The Mets won a nail biting pitchers duel last night and, as always these comes down to which pitcher makes the last mistake on the mound.
On this night, it was Andrew Chafin, a typical off-season target for the Mets and a guy they could’ve unquestionably used over the course of this season.
But on this night, it was the guy they needed to sign who opened the door for the Mets to steal one against the Diamondbacks, a team the Mets should probably consider modeling themselves after in terms of their youth, speed and overall athleticism, three things they generally lack on their roster right now.
Of course, it was their youth that gave the Mets a chance to begin with on Tuesday.
Francisco Álvarez once again came up money for the Mets with another big time home run to tie the game in the ninth for the club. The Mets were down to their final out and final strike on the night with the team trailing 1-0, and he slugged one over the fence the other way, sparking the Mets unlikely rally in the ninth.
Then, Mark Canha - who has become a less is more guy for them in a part-time role - tripled in Brett Baty after Baty kept the train going with a single following Alvarez’s big home run.
All with two outs, nobody on and the team down to their final strike, their three-game winning streak on the line. But instead of folding tent and just getting out of there, hope sprung from the desert sand and gave the Mets one of their most inspiring wins of the season.
For Álvarez, his stellar night spanned beyond his headline grabbing home run. He was super behind the plate as well for Kodai Senga. Between his pitch calling and pitch framing, ability to corral Senga’s deadly fork ball, and an athletic play on a dropped third strike in the fourth when he had to dash to the back stop, slide and throw out Evan Longoria from his knees on a throw in foul territory, Álvarez showed the Mets exactly why he was the game’s top catching prospect coming into the season in one game alone.
Álvarez had a brilliant night on both sides of the ball, and his well-rounded effort shouldn’t be masked simply because of his big-time home run to save the Mets late.
Of course, it all started on the mound for the Mets and Kodai Senga easily put together his best start to-date for the Mets. For the most part, the Arizona lineup - which had three batters with an OPS above .850 in it and one off the bench in Ketel Marte - had no clue against Senga’s forkball. He induced 10 swings-and-misses among the 15 attempts they made against that pitch, and between that and his cutter, Senga put together an absolute masterpiece over eight innings, and it was all there from the jump as well - it was clear he was going to be outstanding from the first pitch he threw.
Senga made one mistake of course, and that came in the seventh inning against Christian Walker who hit what looked like would be a game winning home run, considering the Mets were down 1-0 with two outs and nobody on in the ninth. But it was not to be for Arizona who couldn’t get the 27th out of the night against the Mets before they were able to sneak ahead with heroics from Álvarez and Canha.
So, the Mets have won four in a row. It’s been a while - nearly two months since the Mets enjoyed a winning streak of this length. I said it the other day - for the Mets to be in any sort of buying mode or playoff conversation after the All-Star Game, they really can’t lose more than a game on this road trip. If they go 3-1 through Sunday, that would get them to 43-47, which still stinks but it’s better than the ten games under .500 they were last Saturday morning and at least should leave them a little closer to the boundary of the wild card.
But who knows if that’s enough to really be serious, either. It’s not so much the record to me as to how well they’re playing. They played an outstanding game last night, but the three prior were - while they were all wins - ugly to say the least. The third wild card changes the calculus of all of this of course but the quality of play will undoubtedly matter in the decisions which are quickly coming for this roster.
For now, let’s enjoy this fun ride the Mets are on. Wins are wins no matter how pretty or ugly they are. And on Tuesday, they had a great, feel good win, they played well, battled through a tough pitchers duel, and found a way to win with a pretty bad hand in the end too. Those are the kind of days that can inspire a struggling club to turn it around and believe in what they’re doing here.
Here’s to hoping we can circle July 5 on the Mets calendar, and look back on that day as the one that turned it all around for them.
Around the League 🚩
The Braves whipped the Guardians 8-1 as Sean Murphy became the sixth Atlanta hitter to reach the 15 home run mark
The Phillies got homers from Trea Turner and Nick Castellanos as they won another game from the Rays 8-4 in St. Petersburg
The Marlins kept their good times rolling with a 10-9 rollercoaster win over the Cardinals. They scored two runs in the ninth to tie and walk-off St. Louis to improve to 51-37 on the year
The Padres earned their first three-game sweep of the year as they defeated the Angels 5-3 in San Diego - Fernando Tatís, Jr. had three hits, Seth Lugo allowed a run in six innings and Josh Hader nailed down his 20th save of the year
Highlight of season is Alvarez settling in and Baty holding his own.