No need to pinch yourselves, Mets fans. the team won a game today! After what has felt like an eternity, the Mets scratched out a victory against the Marlins at Citi Field, taking their season record to three wins and five losses.
Logan Verrett continued his spot-start excellence he began last year in Colorado. He threw six shutout innings with six strikeouts, two walks, and three hits allowed. Verrett’s secondary pitches were in fine form, and his slider was especially effective. While the Marlins sprinkled a few hits against him, including a double by Ichiro Suzuki, Verrett looked quite good today and probably earned another start if Jacob deGrom hits the disabled list.
He was relieved by Jim Henderson, who threw a career-high 35 pitches last night. He looked gassed and unsurprisingly gave up a hit and two walks before Terry Collins finally took him out of the game. Hansel Robles replaced Henderson and struck out both batters that he faced. He gave way to Jerry Blevins, who got out of the mess by inducing with a fly ball to left field off the bat of Dee Gordon.
Adam Conley looked equally, if not more, impressive during his start. He struck out nine over six innings of shutout baseball.
The Mets got the break they needed once Conley was out of the game. Dustin McGowan gave up two hits and a wild pitch to start to seventh before giving up a two-run single to Kevin Plawecki, though Plawecki got thrown out at second base on the play.
The Mets’ offensive prowess wasn’t there for the fifth straight game, with seemingly every opportunity dashed by a good defensive play, a string of bad luck, or a high fastball. Yoenis Cespedes struck out three times today, and also scared fans twice in the eighth inning. While in the field, he made a Superman dive into the stands for a fly ball that he wasn't able to catch, and then he got hit by a pitch in the bottom of the frame.
After finishing the seventh, Blevins came in to start the eighth and promptly gave up a single to Christian Yelich, who scored after Jeruys Familia came in to attempt to notch a five-out save. Familia, despite looking a little shaky in the eighth, was his usual dominant self in the ninth inning. Terry Collins’s management of the bullpen today was dangerous and frustrating, and thank goodness the Mets' arms have a day to rest tomorrow.
SB Nation GameThreads
* Amazin' Avenue GameThread
* Fish Stripes GameThread
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big winner: Logan Verrett, +32.9% WPA
Big loser: Jim Henderson, -26.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Kevin Plawecki singles in two runs in the seventh, +15.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jim Henderson walks J.T. Realmuto to load the bases in the seventh, -11.6% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +54.6% WPA
Total batter WPA: -3.6% WPA
GWRBI!: Kevin Plawecki