Verlander provides glimmer of hope as Mets edge out Reds 2-1

The Mets win just their fourth game in their last 16 tries. Plus, how Justin Verlander offered a glimmer of hope.

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets snapped their losing skid thanks to a 2-1 win over the Reds on Wednesday night (box)

• RHP Justin Verlander recorded his first win in a Mets uniform, allowing one run over seven innings with seven strikeouts

• With the win, Verlander becomes just the 21st pitcher in major league history to record wins against all 30 clubs

• 1B Pete Alonso smacked his 13th home run of the season, a solo shot

• CF Brandon Nimmo went 3-for-5 with the game-winning RBI single in the victory

• RHP David Robertson recorded his 7th save of the season, pitching a perfect 9th inning with two strikeouts

• The Mets have now won 122 consecutive games when leading after eight innings

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Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (18-19) vs Reds (15-21)

Where: Great American Ballpark - Cincinnati, OH

Starters: RHP Kodai Senga (4-1, 3.38 ERA) vs RHP Derek Law (2-4, 3.00 ERA)

When: 12:35 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

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Verlander’s first win provides glimmer of hope… ✍🏼

Well, it’s about damn time.

Making just his second start as a New York Met after missing the first month of the season due to injury, Justin Verlander provided a glimmer of hope for the team with one of their best pitching performances to date.

Despite being a week into May, Verlander became just the second Mets starter to pitch seven innings this season — the other being Joey Lucchesi — and allowed just a single run in the club’s victory over the Reds. It was a vintage performance for the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, and was one that was desperately needed for the Mets after losing 12 of their previous 15 games.

This performance does offer a glimmer of hope for the Mets, who have really seen almost nothing go right for them early on in this disappointing 2023 season. To be frank, it’s been a bit of a clusterf*ck for them thus far.

But Verlander turning back the clock and putting out a performance does make you wonder if things could turn around for this team at some point. With the injuries, suspension and overall struggles from Max Scherzer dating back to the end of last season, this is really the first time all year that the Mets looked to have an ace on their pitching staff, and boy do they need that more than ever.

Through two starts with the club, Verlander has posted a 2.25 ERA while striking out nine hitters per nine innings.

Of course, it will still take a lot more for this team to get on the right track. Right now when the team does pitch, they don’t hit — their last two victories have been by 1-0 and 2-1 scores. Plus, Scherzer really does need to get his act together for this one-two in their rotation to really have an impact, and other veterans on the offensive side of the ball like Starling Marte and Mark Canha are going to have to contribute at some point.

Still, it’s nice to finally see an ace-like performance from someone in the orange and blue this season. Those performances have been way too few and far between for this team to be successful in the early goings, and they’re going to need a lot more to jump start their season. Let’s hope this is the start of that.

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Around the League 🚩

• Yankees SS Anthony Volpe hit the first grand slam of his career in the club’s 11-3 win over the Athletics

• Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen recorded the 400th save of his career in the team’s one-run victory in Atlanta

• Following their 5-4 win over the Dbacks, the Marlins are now 12-0 in one-run games this season — the longest streak in MLB history

• The Orioles edged out the league-best Rays with a 2-1 victory in Baltimore