Mets Come Alive, Beat Phils in Twinbill Opener
Pete Alonso's big knock in the eighth ties it up, Villar wins it
In a return to the field that New York Mets manager Luis Rojas called “a blessing” ahead of the game, the Mets made it count, taking the first game of a true twin-bill in Flushing, 4-3, in eight innings over the Phillies.
It wasn’t pretty, but, as Michael Conforto says, a win’s a win. Hey, just getting back on the diamond was a step in the right direction for this ball club.
Taijuan Walker was terrific again, subjecting the Phillies to his full arsenal and doing so quite impressively.
The 28-year-old right-hander struck out eight and walked two, allowing one earned run on three hits (2.61 ERA over two starts).
Walker picked up 12 swings-and-misses and 13 called strikes (31% CSW rate) over 80 pitches (43 strikes), sitting 94-95 MPH with both of his fastballs and averaging an astounding 3,019 RPM on his split-changeup.
The Mets scored their first first-inning runs of the season, kicking things off in sparkling fashion.
Brandon Nimmo led off the frame with his seventh walk of the season and Dominic Smith put the Mets on the board, 2-0, in the first with a 109.3 MPH, 24-degree laser beam out to right.
The Phillies plated one in the second, advancing Alec Bohm around after his leadoff double into the left-centerfield gap. Very impressive young player, Bohm. He’ll be a thorn in the Mets’ side for a while.
Luis Guillorme, getting the start at third in the first game, slashed a lazy fly ball into shallow right in the second but was left stranded, as was Francisco Lindor following a leadoff walk in the third.
Guillorme’s single would be the Mets’ only base hit until Pete Alonso’s game-tying single in the bottom of the eighth.
Like clockwork, give Guillorme playing time and he’ll make the most of the opportunity, as evidenced by his 4-for-7 start at the plate this year (hit, two walks on Tuesday; .324/.421/.451, 143 wRC+ over his last 123 PA going back to 2019) and his acrobatics at third later in the game.
The Phillies threatened in the fourth with a couple of men on (Bohm walk, Didi Gregorius single) but Walker induced a slow-hit, beautifully turned 4-6-3 inning-ending double play via Jean Segura.
Two more Philadelphia baserunners in the fifth ended Walker’s day after 4.1 innings, bringing Castro into quite the jam. No worries there.
A strikeout of Andrew McCutchen and an outstanding play from Guillorme at third to save James McCann’s high throw on a double-steal attempt, knocking Roman Quinn off the bag upon his landing and applying the tag, ended the frame without damage.
Castro wouldn’t be so lucky in the sixth, allowing two no-out baserunners (Rhys Hoskins walk, Bryce Harper single) to evolve into a two-out, game-tying, infield single for Segura. Guillorme made a play on the slow roller but Segura beat it out handily.
There was some drama in the bottom of the sixth; a decades-long natural feature of this apparently renewed NL East rivalry.
As detailed below via Jomboy Media, Phillies left-hander Jose Alvarado came up and in Conforto — like, “here, smell this pitch” close — then drilled him in the arm with a 100 MPH heater. Needless to say, tempers flared.
Edwin Diaz needed just 10 pitches to get through a scoreless seventh and both Guillorme and Kevin Pillar reached base to start the seventh, but two on and none out apparently wasn’t the ideal situation for the Mets 1-through-3 hitters. Oof.
Trevor May nearly survived the [lame-ass] extra-inning ghost-runner in the eighth, inducing a weak two-out groundball that Lindor, who was shifted toward the bag at second, was left stuck eating upon its arrival and watching the go-ahead run score.
With the same idiotic advantage offered to them, Lindor began the bottom half on second base. And finally, the Mets came alive.
Pete Alonso brought Lindor around with a hard-hit single into left field to tie the game at three (his first hit in his previous 13 plate appearances), Conforto walked, McCann singled to load the bases, and Jonathan Villar (pinch-ran for Guillorme in the seventh) drove home the game-winner.
Much-needed victory. Catch you in a few hours.
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