Final Score: Rays 3, Mets 0—Snell out-pitches Matz in late afternoon matinee

Despite going an anemic 1-for-14 with runners-in-scoring-position, the Tampa Bay Rays used a combination of bloop hits and poor defensive plays by Amed Rosario to defeat the Mets 3-0. The Mets had runners on in every inning but the sixth, including three leadoff doubles.

Tampa scored single runs in the fifth, eighth, and ninth innings, but it can be argued that if Rosario had made two fairly routine defensive plays—one in the fifth, the other in the ninth—the result may have been different. Rays third basemen Matt Duffy scored from third on a routine ground ball to Rosario that was bobbled, and in the ninth, Rosario failed to keep Wilson Ramos’s grounder in the infield, allowing another run to score.

Rays starter Blake Snell and Mets starter Steven Matz both pitched brilliantly. Matz threw 110 pitches through 6 ¹⁄₃ innings and allowed only one run to score with three walks and five strikeouts. Snell went 7 ¹⁄₃ innings without allowing a run and struck out nine.

Robert Gsellman and Anthony Swarzak pitched in relief for the Mets, and each gave up a run. Diego Castillo, Jose Alvarado, and Sergio Romo finished off the game for the Rays.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

Nice job by MetsFan4Decades; her effort in the GameThread embiggens us all.

1. MetsFan4Decades: 119
2. Jets Mets Devils Nets 16: 79
3. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 65
4. LaRomaBella: 33
5. YuretRastin: 29
6. doctor prancer: 28
7. stickguy: 23
8. NateW: 19
9. Oak Beach Inn: 19
10. amazins8669: 16