Syndergaard solid, Mets provie plenty of support in win over Giants

If things had gone well for the Mets all season, a game like Wednesday night’s might have been pretty damn exciting. Noah Syndergaard was good, three different Mets hit home runs, and the red-hot Jeff McNeil had two more hits, one of which was a triple, as the Mets beat the Giants.

Syndergaard wasn’t exactly terrible in his past few starts coming into last night, but he certainly wasn’t his best self. He went six innings and gave up two runs on five hits, striking out six Giants hitters in the process. He only walked one, and it would have been ideal to get through six innings on fewer than 101 pitches, but it was a start that would fit in just fine if he were humming along.

Both of the runs Syndergaard allowed scored in the top of the third, just after the Mets had gotten off to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Dominic Smith, who actually got to start at his natural position of first base, started things off with a no-doubt home run. Jeff McNeil singled in a run, and Todd Frazier’s ground rule double scored the third. If not for that ball bouncing just over orange line on the left field fence, the Mets would have had a fourth run easily.

As for the aforementioned Giants runs against Syndergaard, both were earned, but one could have kept off the board. With runners on second and third and one out, Steven Duggar hit a grounder to third. Had Todd Frazier fielded it cleanly, he could have thrown out Austin Slater at home plate pretty easily. But he didn’t and had to settle for getting the out at first base. It wasn’t the worst defensive gaffe, but it did make Syndergaard’s line look a little bit worse.

Jose Bautista got in on the home run fun with a solo shot in the fourth to double the Mets’ lead from one to two. That run was answered by the Giants when Drew Smith, the first man out of the bullpen, surrendered a solo home run to Austin Slater in the top of the seventh, but the rest of the Mets’ bullpen—Jerry Blevins, Robert Gsellman, Daniel Zamora, and Paul Sewald, who got his first big league save after getting the last two outs in the ninth—kept the Giants from scoring again.

And while the bullpen was doing its thing, Frazier tacked on one more run via the solo home run in the bottom of the seventh. That didn’t take Syndergaard’s run back, but it gave everyone just a little bit of breathing room as the Mets closed out the game.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Todd Frazier, +20.3% WPA, Noah Syndergaard, +14.4% WPA, Jeff McNeil, +14.0% WPA
Big losers: none
Teh aw3s0mest play: Jose Bautista hits a solo home run in the fourth, +11.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Austin Slater hits a solo home run in the seventh, -12.4% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +25.2% WPA
Total batter WPA: +24.8% WPA
GWRBI!: Jose Bautista