The Mets blowout the Giants for a good series start

The Mets, after playing three games in two days against the Rockies and winning two of them, headed to San Francisco to start their second and final regular season series against the Giants. A start that was originally going to be Max Scherzer, the Mets had David Peterson taking the mound. Peterson has had a good season despite an uncertain position in the rotation, only having one bad start in Triple-A. The Mets were facing Alex Cobb, a pitcher who looked good last year but not so hot this season.

In the top of the first, Brandon Nimmo began the game with a strikeout against Cobb. Starling Marte followed with a strikeout of his own. Francisco Lindor struck out as well, providing a sense of consistency and allowing for a quick and easy first inning for Alex Cobb. In the bottom of the inning, Peterson got a ground out from Darin Ruf to start his night off on the right foot. Next, designated hitter and Met Legend Wilmer Flores hit a long fly out to Marte in right field for the second out. Mike Yastrzemski finished the inning with a strikeout for a quick and easy first inning for Peterson as well.

In the second inning, Pete Alonso became the first base runner of the game when he hit a line drive at Brandon Crawford so hard that Crawford lost control of it and had no play to get the out. McNeil immediately followed it with a ball directly at Cobb, which turned into an easy double play. Mark Canha ended the inning with a shallow fly out to Yastrzemski in right field. Peterson started out the bottom of the inning by allowing a leadoff double to Evan Longoria. Kevin Padlo became the first out of the inning with a strikeout. Crawford then hit a two-run home run to put the first runs on the board and put the Mets at a two-run deficit. Peterson struck out Thairo Estrada to get back on steady footing. Joey Bart hit a single through the hole between Lindor and Eduardo Escobar for a single, prolonging the inning. Stuart Fairchild, rookie center fielder and new Giant, grounded into a force out for his first at-bat for San Francisco.

Leading off the third inning, Escobar struck out on a foul tip for the fourth strikeout of the game thus far by Mets hitters. J.D. Davis hit a line drive into centerfield for a single. Patrick Mazeika hit a popup to shallow right-center field for the second out. Nimmo’s second at-bat of the day was an infield hit, a chopper to Crawford that Nimmo beat out with pure hustle. Marte then hit a dribbler up the line that Cobb attempted to field, but Marte’s speed made it impossible to even attempt a play and loading the bases with two outs for Lindor. Lindor hit a ball that just barely stayed in fair ground and ended up bouncing into the stands for a ground rule double, allowing two runs to score to tie the game, and leaving two runners in scoring position for Alonso. Alonso took the first pitch he saw deep for a three-run home run, putting five runs on the board with two outs. McNeil hit a ground out to end the inning, but the Mets attained the lead just after giving it up.

In the bottom of the third, things started out rough. Peterson got into trouble with a walk to Ruf and hitting Flores with a pitch. But Yastrzemski hit into a double play much like the one McNeil hit into in the second, with Peterson getting the ball and immediately turning a double play to extract himself from trouble. Longoria struck out to end the inning before Peterson could get himself into any trouble.

In the fourth, Canha led off with a strikeout. Escobar then hit a ground ball to Crawford, originally ruled an out, but after a challenge by the Mets Escobar was ruled safe to change the situation for Davis from two outs with no one on to one out with Escobar on first. Davis hit a liner right to Estrada at second for the second out. Mazeika popped out to Crawford to end the inning. In the bottom of the inning, Peterson got a quick first out when Padlo hit a long fly out to Nimmo. Crawford then hit a grounder to Lindor on the first pitch for the second out. Estrada followed with a bullet, but right to Escobar at third, who lept to snag it and end the inning.

Getting his third at-bat of the game, Nimmo started the fifth with another infield hit, putting a ball just past a diving Cobb, and with Padlo running after the ball as well as Estrada, no one was around to cover first, allowing Nimmo to cruise into first. During Marte’s at-bat, Nimmo advanced to second on a wild pitch. Marte struck out looking on a pitch that he was not happy at being called a strike, which he made known to home plate umpire D.J. Rayburn. Lindor hit a grounder to Estrada for the second out, advancing Nimmo to third. Alonso hit a grounder to Longoria for the third out, ending the inning before Nimmo could score. In the bottom of th inning, Peterson struck out Bart to start things off. Fairchild then hit a fly out to Canha for the second out. Ruf hit a sharp grounder to Lindor who threw it to Alonso for the third out.

Cobb was back out for the Giants in the sixth inning, and McNeil was leading off. McNeil got his first hit of the game with a line drive to center field for a single. Canha hit a little dribbler for Cobb to field, getting the out at first but allowing McNeil to advance to second. During Escobar’s at-bat, McNeil stole third, putting another run just 90 feet from scoring with just one out. Escobar was called out on strikes for the second out. Davis hit a double up the third base line past a diving Longoria to drive in McNeil. Mazeika hit a fly ball to Fairchild in center for the last out of the inning, stranding Davis at second. Peterson was still on the mound for the bottom of the sixth, and his first out was a fly out to Canha by Flores. Yastrzemski then gave Canha some more work by also hitting a fly ball to left for the second out. Then, on his 100th pitch of the evening, Peterson struck Longoria out, retiring his eleventh batter straight and ending his evening on a high note.

The Giants brought Jarlín García out to pitch in the seventh. Nimmo was his first batter of the evening, and it was an easy at-bat as Nimmo hit a pop out into foul territory that Longoria caught for the first out. Marte hit a ball softly up the first base line, and Padlo fielded it and lunged to tag Marte out as he was heading to first for the second out. Lindor struck out looking for the third out. Colin Holderman took the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the seventh. Joc Pederson came out to pinch hit for Padlo. Pederson hit a grounder to Alonso for the first out for Holderman. Holderman cut his thumb at some point during the play, but he continued on. Crawford hit a line drive into left for a single to put a runner on with one out. Tommy La Stella came in for Estrada, hitting a liner to right but directly at Marte for the second out. Michael Papierski came in to hit for Bart, but he struck out for the third out of the inning.

In the eighth, the Giants called upon Mauricio Llovera to pitch. On the first pitch, Alonso hit a ball to La Stella who wasn’t able to get the ball out of hands in time to get Alonso at first. McNeil, after attempting to bunt his way on base, decided to go the easy way out and hit a ball 418 feet into the right field stands, practically hitting water. Canha, deciding to get in on the fun, hit a home run into the left field stands for back-to-back homer action. Escobar nearly got in on the fun but it was for naught, hitting a long fly ball to center field for the first out. Davis then hit a bullet to center for his second double of the game. The Giants had to switch pitchers before Llovera was brutalized further, bringing out Jose Alvarez. Mazeika hit a ball down the right field line for an RBI double, further beating the dead horse of victory. Nimmo made the second out of the inning with a little fly ball flare to left. Marte hit a first-pitch laser right to Longoria for the third out.

In the bottom of the inning, Holderman was back out for the Mets. He struck out Luis Gonzalez, in for Fairchild, for the first out of the inning. Ruf hit a ball back to the mound, and despite the ball taking a wild hop, McNeil snagged it and tossed it to first for the second out. Flores hit a grounder to Lindor for the final out, giving the Mets a much calmer inning than the one they had just caused at the plate for the Giants.

In the top of the ninth, Luis González took over pitching for the Giants, a position player on the mound. Lindor hit a grounder to Flores who took over at first for the first out. Alonso then hit a grounder right to La Stella for the second out. McNeil walked on five pitches. Canha singled to Pederson, and Escobar hit a double to drive both McNeil and Canha in. Davis then hit a single and drove in Escobar, but Mazeika topped a ball back to González for the final out of the inning. In the bottom of the ninth, Chasen Shreve came in for the Mets. Yastrzemski hit a ball sharply to McNeil and McNeil was unable to make the play. Longoria then singled to left, putting runners on first and second with no outs. Shreve then got two outs, with a Pederson fly out to center and a Crawford pop out to Escobar. The Giants showed some sign of life when La Stella singled to center, driving in Yastrzemski. But Papierski grounded out to LIndor to end the game.

The Mets started their series in San Francisco with not just a win, but a big, blowout win. Every Met starter got a hit, they drove in double digit runs, had multiple home runs, and had a good pitching performance from their pitching depth. With just two more games against the Giants before heading home, this a good way to start the series out and helps create momentum for tomorrow when the Mets have their current ace Chris Bassitt face off against Logan Webb.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Pete Alonso, +30.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Patrick Mazieka, -5.0 % WPA
Mets pitchers: +7.4% WPA
Mets hitters: +42.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso three-run home run in the third inning, +27.8 WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Brandon Crawford two-run home run in the second inning, -17.4% WPA