Trout, Ohtani, Walsh crumble Cookie and the Mets

This game was as bad for our beloved Mets as the opening game of the series in Anaheim was good for them, as they fell to the Angels 11-6, though the game was not as close as the score suggests.

The story of the game came down to three players, really. Mike Trout, who returned from brief reprieve due to a groin injury, went 3-4 with two home runs and three RBI, and looked like his normal self. Shohei Ohtani also went 3-4 with a home run with three RBI of his own, and, the player of the game, Jared Walsh, went 4-5, drove in three as well, and hit for the cycle. Aside for a solo home run by Andrew Velasquez, the rest of the Angels lineup was mostly quiet, but they did not have to be loud.

The Mets had a frustrating night on offense. They threatened in the first and second innings, but could not get anything across, in large part due to some excellent defense by the Angels, including Jared Walsh himself.

All six of the Mets runs came in the last three innings, when the game was well out of reach. Mark Canha hit an RBI single to make it 8-1, and Pete Alonso hit a solo homer to make it 9-2. They plated four with two outs in the ninth, one on an error by Jared Walsh (he contains multitudes), and three on Khalil Lee’s first Major League home run, which was very cool and also a total bomb, going 411 feet, coming off the bat at an impressive 104.5 MPH.

The Mets will look to end the series and the long long long West Coast road trip on a high note on Sunday Night Baseball, as Taijuan Walker takes on Patrick Sandoval (who is notably not Noah Syndergaard).

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Box scores

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Win Probability Added

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Luis Guillorme, +12.1% WPA
Big Mets loser: Carlos Carrasco, -22.9% WPA
Mets pitchers: -24.6% WPA
Mets hitters: -25.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Luis Guillorme reaching on a fielder’s choice, J.D. Davis goes to third on an error, in the fifth inning, +9.8 WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Shohei Ohtani’s first inning double, -14.3% WPA