Ninth inning magic

After the Mets’ bullpen blew the first two games of the series against the Twins, the Mets looked to hopefully take one win in Minnesota. After a pitchers’ duel through eight, the Mets were able to push across two runs in the top of the ninth to win the damn thing 2-0.

Pablo López was absolutely dominant for the Twins this afternoon, going inning innings, allowing just two hits, and striking out 14. Lopez didn’t walk a batter or allow an extra base hit. The Mets could not figure him out at all.

Thankfully, Tylor Megill started for the Mets and had one of his most successful starts of the season, going five innings, giving up two hits, four walks, and two strikeouts without allowing a run. Phil Bickford, Trevor Gott, and Brooks Raley all contributed scoreless innings to keep the game tied at zero-zero.

In the ninth, Francisco Lindor popped up a pitch to shallow left that fell between the infield and the left fielder, which, due to his hustle, turned into a double. Griffin Jax then hit Jeff McNeil with a breaking ball, putting two on and no one out.

After a Pete Alonso strikeout, DJ Stewart took a full count and multiple two-strike foul offs before driving a ball to the right center field gap, scoring both Lindor and Mauricio and putting the Mets up 2-0.

Adam Ottavino entered in the bottom of the ninth and Carlos Correa, the almost-Met of the offseason, drilled a hard-hit double to the left-field corner on the second pitch he saw. After striking out Matt Wallner, Otto walked Donovan Solano, putting two on and one out, just like the Mets had in the top of the inning. But a strikeout to Christian Vazquez put the Mets within one run of a victory.

A hot-shot off the bat of Willi Castro was handled beautifully by Pete Alonso, and the Mets took the final game of the series.

The Mets return to Citi Field tomorrow to take on the Diamondbacks for the first of four games. José Quintana and Zach Davies will face off at 7:10pm on Monday night to begin the series.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: DJ Stewart, +31.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Pete Alonso, -18.3% WPA
Mets pitchers: +54.1% WPA
Mets hitters: -12.9% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: DJ Stewart’s two-run double, +35.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Carlos Correa’s ninth-inning double, -10.5% WPA