You’d have liked to see a few more runs to speak of from the Mets’ offense on Sunday, but they really weren’t needed.
We also could have done without Trevor Story’s two-out base hit in the ninth off Edwin Diaz, but no harm, no foul (they call James McCann “McCannon” for a reason) as the Mets took the series finale in Denver, 2-1.
Oh, we love to see that. The Mets winning another one-run game (4-0 in such contests this season) ain’t too shabby, either.
Marcus Stroman put his team on his back, going eight incredibly impressive innings, allowing just three hits and one earned run with five strikeouts, a walk, and 10 ground ball outs accumulated.
Mets manager Luis Rojas called Stroman’s performance on Sunday the “best version” of the 29-year-old he’s seen. We’re not arguing that point. There would be no basis.
Entering the afternoon, Stroman’s 64.9% groundball rate was best in the majors among starting pitchers with over 10 innings pitched this season. He’s now got a 0.89 ERA on the young season to go with that sparkling mark.
Economical was the name of Stroman’s game on Sunday, pitching to contact and painting corners consistently throughout his outing, retiring 11 consecutive Rockies from the third inning into the seventh. Just completely locked in.
Colorado plated a run in the seventh (Charlie Blackmon double, Trevor Story RBI single), but Stroman was unphased, closing out the frame with two strikeouts (C.J. Cron swinging at a 94 MPH four-seamer upstairs and Garrett Hampson hacking at a split-change low in the zone).
Stroman entered the eighth at 77 pitches, made an outstanding behind-the-back play on Story’s dribbler past the mound, and closed out his afternoon flawlessly — and with just 90 pitches to his credit, to boot.
As he does so well, Stroman threw the kitchen sink at Colorado, doing so with pinpoint precision and a bit of panache.
He re-incorporated the split-fingered changeup into his arsenal (13 total; 31% called strike-and-whiff rate) after throwing just three in his last outing versus Philadelphia and utilized his four-seam to terrific results (three whiffs, one called strike on 12 offerings).
“My bread and butter is my sinker, my cutter, my slider, as well. I always pitch to my strengths,” Stroman said after the game. “As the year progresses, I’ll have opportunities to expose some hitters with the four-seam up and splitter down […] I do have those two weapons in my back pocket.”
Mets skipper Luis Rojas spoke glowingly of Stroman’s performance, as well as the starting rotation’s efforts as a whole so far and with just cause.
Heading into Sunday, the Mets rotation’s 2.43 ERA as a unit was second in MLB. That mark improved to 2.26 on Sunday with Stro’s eight innings of one-run ball.
“You guys saw the pitch count. [Stroman] had like 40-something pitches in the fifth,” Rojas said. “That’s what he’s gonna do when he establishes. Guys are gonna swing. Guys are gonna put balls in play. They’re gonna be on the ground, defense is gonna be on their toes, and we’re gonna be able to make plays.”
With regards to the rotation, there’s not much Rojas can be upset about.
“I’m pleased with the way they’ve thrown the ball. I’m pleased with the way they set the tone, attacking the zone, inducing contact, keeping the infield ready, getting deep,” he said. “It’s good to see. Guys are confident. They’re working hard.”
The Mets’ offense did just enough to get by, racking up seven hits and striking out just seven times. Every day this group begins to show more and more signs of life. A welcome development, no doubt.
With two hits and two runs batted in on Saturday (110.4 MPH and 112.4 MPH exit velocities on his two singles), Pete Alonso is 6-for-his-last-21.
A single and a double from Michael Conforto following his 2-for-3 day in Saturday’s Game 1 win has him back in the groove (4-for-his-last-10).
Both of these guys are vital to the Mets’ success this season. The quicker the turnaround the better on both fronts.
Brandon Nimmo stretched his on-base streak to 24 games (dating back to 2020) with his eighth-inning single, J.D. Davis added an RBI single, and Jeff McNeil doubled in the ninth (thrown out at third trying to stretch it into a triple) in an attempt to break out of his early funk.
All’s well that ends well. Much-needed series win. On to the Windy (and expectedly cold and snowy) City for a three-game set with the Cubbies on Tuesday.
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