A Dirty Dozen

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Frankie Montas once again got roughed up and the offense was mostly handcuffed as the Mets got clobbered by the Giants by a score of 12-4. 

Well, it started off nice. Against rookie left-hander Carson Whisenhunt with one out in the bottom of the first, Francisco Lindor hit a homer to left field to make it 1-0 Mets. 

But Whisenhunt settled in, whereas Montas imploded. After retiring the first six batters he faced, Jung Hoo Lee led off the third with a single to center. Lee then reached third when he stole second and Lindor didn’t catch Francisco Alvarez’s throw. Patrick Bailey followed with a base knock of his own, scoring Lee. After a Grant McCray strike out, Montas walked Heliot Ramos. The struggling Rafael Devers didn’t struggle in smacking a three-run shot to right field to suddenly give San Francisco a 4-1 advantage. Cripes. 

Oh, it got even worse. In the fourth with one out, Casey Schmitt and Jung Hoo Lee hit back-to-back singles. Schmitt scored when Patrick Bailey hit it to Pete Alonso, who didn’t field the tough hop cleanly and hesitated before throwing home, the throw being way too late to nab the runner. McCray was credited with a sacrifice hit to move Lee to third and Bailey to second. Then Ramos beat out a Lindor throw from the 5.5 hole to score Lee. Devers followed with an RBI single. Incredibly, Carlos Mendoza had Montas come out to start the fifth. After he walked Matt Chapman to begin that frame, Mendy finally had enough. Austin Warren proceeded to play hero, throwing 58 pitches over four shutout innings. The most pitches Warren had thrown all season in a game before yesterday was 39 for Triple-A Syracuse. He is so DFA’d. 

The Mets got a run back in the bottom of the fifth against Whisenhunt. Jeff McNeil singled, then scored when Alvarez doubled and right fielder McCray made a throwing error to make it 7-2 Giants. In the sixth, Lindor walked and Soto popped up to the second baseman Schmitt. The Giants brought in old chum Jose Buttó. Buttó needed all of one pitch to get Alonso to ground into a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the inning. Alonso again ended a potential rally in its tracks in the eighth. Against another old chum in Joey Lucchesi, Nimmo singled with one out. Lindor reached on a fielder’s choice, erasing Nimmo, but Soto singled to center to put two runners on for Alonso. Instead of hitting a three-run homer to bring the game within reach, he struck out. 

Because somebody had to pitch besides Austin Warren in the ninth, Ryne Stanek was asked to soak up one measly inning. He gave up five runs instead, “highlighted” by a Casey Schmitt three-run shot. Luis Torrens came in to pitch and after giving up a double got the third out when Bailey flew out to center. Torrens became the 42nd different pitcher the Mets have thrown out there this season, a franchise record. On August 3rd. 

The Mets added two runs in the bottom of the ninth against Ryan Walker. With two outs, Mark Vientos extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a double in the left center gap. Cedric Mullins walked, then Alvarez, who Mendoza said before the game is like a “different player” since he got called back up, singled the opposite way to score Swaggy V and Mullins. Out of pity I guess, Mendoza brought in Tyrone Taylor to pinch hit for Nimmo. Taylor is so discombobulated at the plate right now that he swung and missed on a ball that hit him. He eventually popped up to the catcher in foul territory, ending the highly unlikely rally. 

This could be a watershed moment in the Mets’ 2025 season. This might be the breaking point for David Stearns to finally call up Nolan McLean or Brandon Sproat the GOAT to replace Frankie Montas and Ryne Stanek. At least, it should be. 

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11 of Lindor’s 21 home runs this season have been hit with two strikes. Impressive.

Less impressive: SNY showed the following statistic - Since June 11th, 6th innings were covered by Met starters for just 9.2 innings, Met relievers 34.1 innings.

Montas warmed up to Notorious B.I.G.’s “Ten Crack Commandments.” Didn’t work!

As you might have surmised, Austin Warren was called up to replace Rico Garcia, who was designated for assignment.

- Tylor Megill (right elbow sprain) threw 20 pitches in live BP yesterday morning. He will throw more pitches in a live BP on Thursday. 

Paul Blackburn (right shoulder impingement) had a solid rehab start Saturday night in Triple-A. He'll throw a bullpen on Wednesday before the Mets make a decision on him, Mendoza said. Talk about kicking the can down the road. 

The Mets reportedly promoted RHP Hunter Hodges and LHP Gregori Louis to High-A Brooklyn.

The Mets signed undrafted free agent LHP Colton Cosper. Cosper had most recently pitched for the Williamsport Crosscutters.

Antoan Richardson and Juan Soto talked to the New York Post about the latter’s base stealing this season.

Old chum Noah Syndergaard was released by the White Sox. So he’s available for the Alumni Game again.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets (57-51) won their fifth consecutive game, defeating the Buffalo Bisons (Blue Jays affiliate) 4-3. Luke Ritter went 2 for 4 with a home run, two runs scored, an RBI, and a strikeout. In a bullpen game, Kevin Herget served as the opener. He allowed just one hit and fanned two in two innings of work.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies (68-32) shut out the Harrisburg Senators (Nationals) 2-0. Jack Wenninger tossed six shutout frames, allowing six hits while walking three and striking out three, lowering his ERA to 2.84. The Rumble Ponies won despite only getting four hits. Carson Benge’s two-run bomb in the sixth inning helped. It was Benge’s fifth dinger in six games.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones (60-42) fell to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 3-1 in 11 innings. Half of Brooklyn’s six hits came off the bat of AJ Ewing. Starter Brendan Girton threw four innings allowing no earned runs on just one hit, walking two and punching out four batters.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets (60-41) handled the Daytona Tortugas (Reds) 9-5. Right fielder John Bay went 2 for 3 with a triple, two runs scored, and two RBI. Jose Chirinos got the dub for throwing five scoreless innings, allowing four hits, walking nobody, and striking out six.

13 years ago today, Mike Baxter tied a franchise record when he walked five times in a game.

Tonight the Mets begin a series against the Guardians. Slade Cecconi (5-4, 3.77 ERA) gets the starting nod for Cleveland. Sean Manaea (1-1, 2.08 ERA) will give it a go for New York (NL). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm eastern. The game will air on SNY.