Dom delivers, offense sparkles in Mets’ win

The Mets offense erased their Saturday woes on primetime television, notching 10 runs en route to a 10-6 win over the Phillies on Sunday Night Baseball. The win secured their seventh straight series victory to start the season, which is 1) absolutely incredible scenes and 2) legitimately impressive regardless of their opponents.

Max Scherzer got the ball, and provided an almost quality start. He started off hot, striking out the first five Phillies he faced and generally looked locked in on the bump, but Kyle Schwarber remembered that he destroys literally every pitch a New York Met throws at him, tattooing a solo shot to make it 1-0 Phillies.

The Mets answered back in the bottom of the second, with their first run of the game coming on a Starling Marte ground out and the second on a Luis Guillorme double to the dead center field wall that nearly got out.

Scherzer held that 2-1 lead until the fourth inning. He walked J.T. Realmuto with two away to bring up [ominous piano keys play in the background] Kyle Schwarber yet again. Schwarber did his best Adrián Beltré impression, dropped to one knee and hit a two run home run into the bullpen, putting the Phillies back out in front.

The Mets, who are Good, battled back again to tie it, when Eduardo Escobar scored on a double off the bat of Dominic Smith. However, the Mets offense decided they had enough of trading leads with the Phillies and decided to be proactive this time around, starting in the fifth inning.

A single by Francisco Lindor and a double by Jeff McNeil had the Mets threatening with one away in the frame. Pete Alonso worked a 2-0 count before getting a free pass, loading the bases and ending Phillies starter Zach Elfin’s night. Jose Alvarado came in to face Smith, and immediately surrendered the go ahead by throwing a pitch Realmuto did not call for, crossing him up and causing a passed ball. Smith — who was an excellent 4-4 on the night and perhaps even saved his roster spot as rosters shrink on Monday — poured salt in the proverbial wound, smoking a single up the middle to make it 6-3 Mets, a lead they would never relinquish.

Bryce Harper did not appreciate the Mets proactive nature with the bats, and tagged Scherzer for his third home run of his outing, shortening the Mets lead to 6-4. Scherzer finished the rest of the inning unscathed, and finished a Mostly Good outing despite surrendering three home runs in six innings.

The Mets were by no means done scoring, as evidenced by the seventh inning singles by Alonso and Marte that pushed the lead to 7-4 and 9-4 respectively. McNeil added the final exclamation point on the win, when he hit a softly hit double to Kyle Schwarber that absolutely should have been caught. Alas, it was not, and the Mets scored their tenth run of the game.

Yoan Lopez came in for the ninth inning in a mop-up role and had an adventure. He got Realmuto to line out, and immediately missed inside twice to Schwarber, raising tensions everywhere amid the recent drama with the St. Louis Cardinals. Lopez, who probably was not trying to hit anyone, got Schwarber to ground out. He did eventually hit someone, this time Alec Bohm on a 1-2 change up, served up a two run home run to Johan Carmago to make the game feel more respectable, and closed out the series win, striking out Odubel Herrera.

Box scores

ESPN
MLB

Win Probability Added

Fangraphs.com

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Dominic Smith, +43.9% WPA
Big Mets loser: Max Scherzer, -19.6% WPA
Mets pitchers: -12.7% WPA
Mets hitters: +62.7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Dominic Smith’s fourth inning RBI double, +18.6% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Kyle Schwarber’s fourth inning two run home run, -28.7% WPA

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