The Mets lost to the Tigers in a true rollercoaster affair at Citi Field. Noah Syndergaard had an incredibly poor outing and Mets quickly found themselves in a 4-0 hole early. But the Mets clawed back and it would be a back-and-forth contest for the rest of the night.
Amed Rosario put the Mets on the board in the third with a solo home run. In the fourth, Pete Alonso hit a leadoff double and Wilson Ramos drove him in with an RBI single to bring the Mets within two. Rajai Davis reached base on a single and this time it was Adeiny Hechavarria that delivered the three-run shot that put the Mets on top 5-4. However, Syndergaard immediately gave the run back on a solo homer by Miguel Cabrera.
Pete Alonso responded with a solo home run of his own in the fifth to put the Mets back in front 6-5. But Syndergaard once again could not put up a zero in response. With one out, he yielded a single and a double to put runners at second and third. He was then removed from the game in favor of Tyler Bashlor, who did well to escape the jam, but not before a fly ball by Christin Stewart tied the game at six. That closed the book on Syndergaard, whose final line was an ugly six runs on ten hits in 5 1⁄3 innings of work. He did, however, strike out nine batters, one short of his season high.
With two outs in the sixth and Buck Farmer pitching for the Tigers, the latest of a series of improbable home runs happened for the Mets. This time it was Aaron Altherr—freshly claimed off waivers—who hit a solo homer in his very first at-bat as a Met to once again give the Mets a lead at 7-6. Ultimately, it was Drew Gagnon who would take the loss in this wild game. Gagnon has had a stretch of success of late, but that ended tonight, as he surrendered three runs in the seventh to give the Tigers a 9-7 lead.
The Mets did make their best attempt at yet another comeback against Joe Jimenez in the eighth. Wilson Ramos clubbed a solo homer to lead off the inning to bring the Mets within a run. With two outs, Adeiny Hechavarria doubled to put the tying run in scoring position. But this time Dominic Smith could not capitalize as a pinch hitter and struck out to end the threat. The Mets went down 1-2-3 against Shane Greene in the ninth to end the game.
Full recap to follow.
GameThread Roll Call
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- MetsFan4Decades: 133
- JR and the Off-Balance Shots: 106
- MookieTheCat: 93
- LouMonte7: 82
- stickguy: 81
- Jets Mets Devils Nets 16: 76
- deegie: 61
- David Klein: 58
- John Oldnrude: 40
- Aussie Mets Fan: 34