Final Score: Mets 2, Giants 1—The redemption game

Another day, another pitcher’s duel for the Mets. This time it took eleven innings for the Mets to scratch out a narrow victory. It was a game of redemption—for Steven Matz, for Todd Frazier, for Robert Gsellman, and for the Mets.

Steven Matz and Derek Holland matched zeros through the first three innings, with Matz striking out the side in the second. The Giants struck first with a solo home run off the bat of Evan Longoria to lead off the fourth inning. After the home run, Matz struck out three straight batters to end the inning.

The Mets were able to even the score in the fifth. Nimmo drew a one-out walk and Tomas Nido followed that with a double to drive him in. It was a ball that potentially could have been caught in right-center, but Austin Slater took a bad route to the ball and it went over his head to tie the game.

The Mets had an opportunity to take the lead in the sixth, but a base running blunder by Todd Frazier ended the threat. Meanwhile, Steven Matz retired seven batters in a row after the home run and outlasted Holland, limiting the Giants to just three hits through seven innings with a career-high eleven strikeouts.

The Mets’ and Giants’ bullpens traded zeros, with Seth Lugo tossing two perfect innings and Sam Dyson, Mark Melancon, and Will Smith combining for the Giants to send the game to extra innings. Reyes Moronto pitched a scoreless top of the tenth for the Giants and Jerry Blevins worked around a walk and a stolen base by Hunter Pence to give the Mets a scoreless bottom of the tenth.

The Mets manufactured a run to snap the tie in the eleventh off Hunter Strickland. Wilmer Flores led off with a double, Jay Bruce advanced him to third on a groundout, and Todd Frazier redeemed himself with a sacrifice fly to put the Mets ahead.

Robert Gsellman took the hill for the bottom of the eleventh and earned redemption after yesterday’s outing, as well as the save, tossing a 1-2-3 inning, capped off by a fantastic diving grab by Brandon Nimmo. Mets pitchers struck out sixteen Giants in all in the bounce back victory.

Full recap to follow.

GameThread Roll Call

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

1. MetsFan4Decades: 124
2. Allison McCague: 62
3. Badcardio Elf on Sue: 61
4. JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 45
5. deegie: 42
6. BK_Machetero3191: 31
7. Knurk: 30
8. AnneInFlushing: 26
9. NateW: 23
10. birtelcom: 20