Big Drip clips the Angels’ wings

The Mets kicked off a rare series in Anaheim with a 7-3 victory over the scuffling Angels. Tylor Megill was solid in his return to the mound and David Peterson followed with strong work in long relief. The Mets offense unloaded for 13 hits and Brandon Nimmo in particular had a big night at the plate with a home run and three RBIs.

The Mets threatened right away against Angels starter Jhonathan Diaz in the first inning, but unfortunately Pete Alonso’s first at-bat back after being hit in the hand with a pitch resulted in an inning-ending double play. But, the Mets cashed in on their next threat against Diaz in the following frame, continuing to get things done with two outs. With two men on and two out after singles from Eduardo Escobar and Jeff McNeil, Tomás Nido hit a laser to the normally slick fielding Andrew Velazquez at short and the ball took a hop that ate up Velazquez, going past him and allowing Escobar to score the game’s first run. The official scoring on the play could have gone either way and the official scorer opted to give Nido a hit. Brandon Nimmo then walked to load the bases and Mark Canha crushed a key RBI double to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.

That was the end of Diaz’s night and he excited the game in favor of Archie Bradley, who walked Francisco Lindor to once again load the bases, but was able to avoid further damage by getting Pete Alonso to pop out to second to end the inning. The Angels responded immediately in the bottom of the frame when Brandon Marsh hit an absolute monster of a two-run homer off Tylor Megill to bring the Angels within a run. Marsh ended up being responsible for all three Angels runs tonight; he also hit a solo homer off David Peterson in the sixth inning—the first home run off a left-handed pitcher in his career.

Brandon Nimmo extended the Mets’ lead in the fourth inning with a solo homer off Andrew Wants—once again with two outs. Overall, despite allowing the solo homer, Peterson was excellent in relief of Megill, who bounced back after allowing a walk and a bunt single to lead off the bottom fourth by striking out Jo Adell for his fourth (and final) strikeout of the night. Peterson then came in and quickly neutralized the Angels threat by getting Tyler Wade to ground into an inning-ending double play, which was nicely turned by Luis Guillorme.

The one highlight for Pete Alonso in what was otherwise a rough return to action was a rare stolen base from the Polar Bear after notching a one-out single in the fifth. An Eduardo Escobar bloop single then sent Alonso to third, but unfortunately the rally ended on a strike ‘em out, throw ‘em out double play on a stolen base attempt by Escobar. Escobar was initially ruled safe on the field, but replay review revealed that his hand came off the base for a fraction of a second.

But once again the Mets came charging right back in the next inning, putting up a crooked number against Jimmy Herget in the sixth. J.D. Davis singled and Luis Guillorme walked to lead off the inning and Tomás Nido laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance the runners to second and third. Brandon Nimmo then came through with a double just fair down the left field line to drive in two and open up a 6-2 lead for the Mets. Mark Canha followed with a bouncing single against the shift to right field to plate an additional run. Jaime Barría came in to stop the bleeding and was successful, retiring Lindor and Alonso to end the inning.

But that was all the runs the Mets would need on this California night. David Peterson tossed 2 ²⁄₃ innings of relief, allowing only the solo homer to Marsh and striking out three batters. Drew Smith tossed a 1-2-3 seventh inning and Joely Rodríguez and Adam Ottavino combined for a scoreless eighth. However, the latter required some escape artistry from Ottavino; Rodríguez allowed a single and a walk before bouncing back to get Marsh to strike out looking. Then, Adam Ottavino came in and got Jo Adell to ground into an inning-ending double play—once again expertly turned by Guillorme, this time on a jumping throw after stepping on second.

Jaime Barría ended up going the final 3 ²⁄₃ innings for the Angels, allowing just two hits along the way and striking out two. Edwin Díaz pitched a perfect bottom of the ninth inning, assisted by a fantastic diving catch from Jeff McNeil to rob Matt Duffy of a hit. Díaz then struck out Velazquez and old friend Juan Lagares in succession to put the cherry on top of this victory.

The New York Mets have still not lost three games in a row this season. Now at 39-21, only the 1986 Mets got off to a better start through 60 games than this team. The Mets look to start a new winning streak tomorrow with Carlos Carrasco facing off against Michael Lorenzen.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Mark Canha, +20.6% WPA
Big Mets loser: Pete Alonso, -9.9% WPA
Mets pitchers: +15.5% WPA
Mets hitters: +34.5% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Canha’s RBI double in the top of the second inning, +16.4% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Brandon Marsh’s two-run homer in the bottom of the second inning, -16.9% WPA