Break Up the Mets (Again)!

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Christian Scott pitched into the seventh inning and the no name bullpen was nails as the Mets completed a sweep of the Washington Nationals by winning 4-3.

Scotty got a little help in the top of the first. With two out, Dylan Crews hit a long drive deep to right center that would have been a home run in four MLB ballparks. Carson Benge, noted psychopath, wasn’t going to let it touch grass.

Nationals starter Jake Irvin did not have an impressive ERA going into the showdown against the Mets, so of course he looked to be virtually lights out for the first few innings. That’s not to say New York (NL) didn’t have their chances. Francisco Lindor walked and Bo Bichette singled with one out in the bottom of the first. Benge and Jared Young however popped it up to short and second base, respectively. 

Scott walked the leadoff batter in the second, Daylen Lile, and then plunked Brady House to place a Nat in scoring position. The right-hander retired the next two batters on a strikeout and pop up before Keibert Ruiz punched a single to right to score Lile. 

Scotty got the first two outs in the top of the third, but Abimelec Ortiz took him downtown for a solo dinger to make it 2-0.

AJ Ewing had another rough day at the plate. The only time he reached base was when he led off the third with a walk. Irvin promptly picked him off. 

The scoreboard flipped in the bottom of the fourth. Young started things off with a single. After Luis Robert Jr. struck out looking, Brett Baty smoked a double to right which pushed Young to third. A Jorge Polanco ground out to first scored Young who was running on contact. Luis Torrens then hit his first homer at Citi Field all year, a two-run shot to center. The Mets had a 3-2 lead.

The Metropolitans added on in the fifth. Lindor and Bichette hit back-to-back singles. Benge grounded into a double play, but the red hot Young doubled to score Lindor. 

Scott reached the rarified air of the seventh inning. He walked Jorbit Vivas, who advanced to second on a nice play by Lindor to throw out Andres Chaparro. Ruiz singled Vivas in to make it a one-run game again. After Jacob Young also recorded a base knock, the lefty Nate Lavender entered the chat. Lavender needed all of seven pitches to get CJ Abrams to pop it up to Torrens and catch Ortiz looking at strike three.

The formerly fantastic Max Kranick worked around a Bichette triple to toss a shutout bottom of the seventh. Daniel Duarte continued his out of nowhere dominance, retiring Crews, Lile, and House 1-2-3 in the eighth. Jake Bird handled the bottom half of the frame for Washington. 

Then it was Kodai Senga time. This time, mercifully, Senga only threw the four-seamer and forkball. Vivas grounded out, pinch hitter José Tena struck out on the ghost fork, and Harry Ford did the exact same thing. 

The Mets have won nine of their last dozen. It would still take nothing short of a miracle for them to make the playoffs this year. But if they do pull it off, it wouldn’t be the first time a Mets team did such a thing.

Luis Robert played left field for the first time in the majors yesterday. He of course got zero action on the field. While this shows the franchise’s faith in AJ Ewing as their long-term solution at center, I fear that the front office will look at Ewing’s struggles this month and think twice about him. 

Anthony Reiber at Newsday said the Mets should dump Marcus Semien (he was on the bench yesterday) and call up Ronny Mauricio. I don’t exactly hate that idea - Mauricio is tearing it up in Triple-A. I doubt it’ll happen though, because 1) it seems like the Mets don’t think much of Mauricio anymore, 2) Semien would cost a lot of money, and 3)Christopher Morel has an OPS in Triple-A of over 1.000 and is more deserving of a promotion than Mauricio at this point.

Moments after I wrote the above paragraph, I read multiple reports that Morel is in fact going to get called up today. He’ll probably replace Gabriel Arias on the roster, not Semien, but it’s possible he gets some starts at second instead of Semien and Baty.

SS Elian Peña was called up to High-A Brooklyn today. There is video of one of the Mets’ top prospects getting the news, naturally. 

Will Sammon reported that the Mets are promoting 2B/SS Émilien Pitre to Triple A. Pitre was one of the three prospects the Mets acquired for Freddy Peralta. 

With yesterday’s win, the Mets are now 22-22 under interim manager Andy Green. (They were 34-47 this season under Carlos Mendoza.) For what it’s worth, Gary Cohen seemed to give Green his seal of approval after Green made a 4D chess move in the bottom of the ninth on Saturday. Green pinch ran Francisco Alvarez for Luis Robert Jr. at second base even though the winning run was at third. Why? Because the runner on third, Cristian Pache, was told to run on contact, and Green didn’t want the possibility of the Nationals intentionally walking the bases loaded to get Pache out at home and then Alvy at third on a ground ball. Gare said he never heard of a manager doing such a thing. 

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets edged the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp (Marlins affiliate) 2-1. 3B Eric Wagaman went 1 for 4 with an RBI double. CF Jose Ramos went 2 for 3 with a run scored and a walk. 2B Zack Short went 3 for 4 with a run scored. LF Nick Morabito swiped two bags. RHP Jonah Tong got a no-decision. He gave up one run on three hits in four and two thirds innings. He walked two and punched out six. 

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies outlasted the Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox) 8-6. SS Marco Vargas went 4 for 5 with a home run, two runs scored, four RBI, and two stolen bases. C Chris Suero went 3 for 4 with a double, three runs scored, a walk, and two stolen bags. RHP R.J. Gordon only lasted four innings. He permitted two earned runs on two hits while walking three and fanning two.

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones lost 1-0 to the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) one day after they won by the same score. There lone hit was a DH John Spikerman double. LHP Daviel Hurtado was great though. He threw seven shutout frames, allowing just one hit while walking two and striking out five. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets lost 7-3 to the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins). LF Kuhio Aloy went 2 for 4 with two home runs, two runs scored, and two RBI. RHP Will Watson threw three shutout innings. He allowed one hit, walked one, and struck out two. 

On this day in 2022, Brett Baty hit a home run on the first swing of his major league career. Baty joined Benny Ayala, Mike Fitzgerald, Kaz Matsui, and Mike Jacobs as the only Mets to homer in their first big league at-bat.

Two years ago today, Luis Severino threw a complete game four-hit shutout. Sevy struck out eight Marlins in the victory.

Tonight the Mets begin a series with the Padres at Citi Field. RHP Walker Buehler (7-5 4.88 ERA 4.24 xFIP) will toe the rubber for San Diego, while New York (NL) will counter with RHP Nolan McLean (8-8 3.42 ERA 3.40 xFIP). First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 pm eastern. The game will air on SNY and Audacy Radio 880 AM with Howie Rose and Keith Raad.