Bullpen spoils Nimmo’s heroics in loss to Red Sox

Riding high off their blowout win Friday night, the Mets looked to keep the good vibes going in Boston yesterday, as they tried once again to upset the best team in baseball. But the Mets would have no such luck this time, dropping the middle game of the series by a score of 5-3.

Corey Oswalt took the mound for the Mets, making the spot start that was necessitated by the doubleheader earlier in the week. He ran into a bit of trouble in the first inning, thanks in part to a throwing error by Dominic Smith. He yielded an RBI single in the inning, and would later face a bases loaded, two outs jam, but he stiffened and got out of the inning having only allowed the one run.

Oswalt then wiggled out of another two-out jam in the second—once again influenced by another Smith error—and recorded the first two outs in the third before Mickey Callaway pulled him with just 61 pitches. Daniel Zamora was the first man out of the bullpen, and he impressed. The prize of the Josh Smoker trade wound up recording four outs, all by strikeout, and only allowed a walk to Mookie Betts.

In the top of the fourth, the Mets offense finally got going against Rick Porcello. Jeff McNeil led off the frame with the team’s first hit of the game, and Todd Frazier would later walk, setting Brandon Nimmo up with two on and two out. Nimmo got a pitch to hit, and didn’t miss it, parking it into the bullpen in right field—right in front of the blue sea of Mets fans who packed Fenway last night. It was Nimmo’s 17th dinger of the season, and it put the Mets out in front 3-1.

But that lead was not long-lived. Paul Sewald took over for Zamora in the bottom of the fifth, and ran into trouble after recording the first two outs. Back-to-back singles brought the lead run to the plate in the form of Jackie Bradley Jr., who hit a ball all the way up the green monster, bouncing it off the famous red “Omir Santos line.” It was initially ruled a three-run homer that gave the Red Sox the lead, but the umpires reviewed it and reversed the call, instead placing Bradley at second base with a two-run double instead.

So the Mets caught a break, but the game was still tied at 3-3, and the threat was not over with. Drew Smith came on to replace Sewald after that and intentionally walked Rafael Devers to get to Brock Holt, who instantly made the Mets pay. Holt clanked one high off the monster in left-center field, scoring Bradley from second and Devers from first to offically give the Red Sox the lead—for real this time—at 5-3.

And Boston did not look back. The Sox handed it off to their bullpen, who completely overmatched the Mets. New York could only muster two walks in the seventh inning off knuckleballer Steven Wright, but were otherwise held without a baserunner for the rest of the game against the stout Red Sox bullpen. The Mets finished the game with only two hits.

The Mets bullpen, for their part, did the job as well, not yielding anymore Red Sox runs either. But it was too little too late. The Mets were bested by the now 103-win Red Sox, and will look to take the rubber game this afternoon when both team’s aces, and potential Cy Young winners, take the rubber in Fenway.

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What’s WPA?

Big winners: Brandon Nimmo, +40.2% WPA
Big losers: Paul Sewald -25.3% WPA, Drew Smith -17.5% WPA, Austin Jackson -12.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brandon Nimmo hits a three-run homer in the fourth inning, +31.1% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Jackie Bradley Jr. hits a two-run double in the bottom of the fifth, -25.2% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: -27.0% WPA
Total batter WPA: -23.0 % WPA
GWRBI!: Brock Holt