The Carson Show

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Carson Benge went 5 for 5 and was a double away from the cycle while Sean Manaea pitched decently enough to give the Mets a 7-3 win over the Padres. They won their first road series in a month. 

The Mets pounced early and often against the San Diego righty Randy Vásquez, although they could have scored more. Benge singled to start the ballgame, and Bo Bichette doubled him over to third. With second and third and nobody out and Juan Soto coming up, you’d think the Mets would get multiple runs. Instead, Soto hit an RBI ground out, Jared Young struck out, and A.J. Ewing flew out to left. There’s your run, Huascar Brazobán.

Brazobán as the opener went ahead and walked Fernando Tatis Jr. on four pitches. He then walked Jackson Merrill on nine. But on a 1-1 offering, Brazzy coaxed Ty France into hitting a 4-6-3 double play ball. Manny Machado innocently flew out to center to end the frame and Huascar’s day.

Marcus Semien homered to start the second. It was his third four-bagger for the road trip, which isn’t too shabby. 

Manaea came in to pitch in the bottom of the second, and immediately it became apparent he didn’t have his 92-93 mph fastball. Instead, he was back to throwing high 80s to 90. It got him into some trouble. Xander Bogaerts had a hard-hit single to left then stole second base. Miguel Andujar hit a ball hard too but was robbed by a diving MJ Melendez of all people.

Jase Bowen flew out to right. Manaea then walked Samo Taylor on four pitches before he got the suddenly dangerous Freddy Fermin to fly out to right. This was going to be a laborious afternoon. 

The Mets doubled their run total in the fifth. Benge led off with his third single in as many at-bats. Bichette had a hard-hit base knock of his own that moved Benge to third. Soto walked to load the bases. Young singled to center to make it 3-0 Mets. The lefty Yuki Matsui entered the frame. A.J. Ewing hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored a run that was initially ruled a line drive double play because Soto was out trying to get to third. Semien pulled another ball hard but their left fielder Taylor made a nice catch at the wall. 

Manaea actually retired eight in a row when, with one out in the fifth, it seemingly all collapsed on him. Taylor singled to left center before that pesky Fermin hit his second home run of the season, cutting the lead in half to 4-2. Tatis Jr. followed that up with a ringing double to left. Merrill lined out to Melendez, but that was the fourth consecutive hard hit ball by the Padres. Home run threat Ty France was up as the tying run. Manaea got bailed out by Tatis and Luis Torrens when Tatis inexplicably tried to steal third. Torrens threw the fool out to end the inning and Manaea’s four-inning stint. 

The Mets got the two runs right back in the sixth against Matsui. Melendez homered to right center to make it 5-2. Benge decided singles were fun but home runs are better and made three left turns of his own to make it 6-2. 

Brooks Raley threw a 1-2-3 sixth. A.J. Minter only needed 13 pitches to dispatch the Fathers in the seventh. 

The Mets tacked on against Ron Marinaccio in the top of the eighth. Brett Baty walked. Two outs later, he scored when Benge tripled down the right field line to make it a 5 for 5 afternoon. Remember when Benge was hitting under .200? It wasn’t that long ago. Now he’s hitting .265 with a .733 OPS. That’s quite an improvement. 

Luke Weaver had a little trouble in the eighth. He gave up a hard hit out to center to start. Merrill reached on an infield hit. With two out, Manny Machado reached on a Baty throwing error. Then Bogaerts hit a drive to center. That’s when Dream Weaver got help from a self-proclaimed psychopath. 

Does Luis Robert Jr. make that catch? Well I’m asking you. 

Devin Williams hadn’t pitched since Monday, so he got in the game for the non-save situation in the bottom of the ninth. A lack of adrenaline and/or rust probably contributed to him allowing a two-out rally. He walked Taylor and Fermin doubled to left to score a third run. But Williams beared down and fanned Tatis Jr. on a changeup. 

So, the Mets won their first series at Petco Park since 2018. They ended up going .500 on the six-game road trip, the final one in the Pacific Time Zone. To be frank, the Mets should have at least gone 4-2. They needed to go at least 4-2. Alas. 

Bob Nightengale claimed RHP Freddy Peralta will be seeking a free agent contract similar to Max Fried's 8-year, $218 million deal. Oh yeah, he’s a goner.

Pitcher List looked into Jonah Tong’s new arm angle and mechanics.

The Triple-A Syracuse Mets held on tight to edge the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (Yankees affiliate) 4-3. PH-RF Matt Rudick, who came into the game when Christian Arroyo got injured, went 2 for 3 with the game-winning two-run home run, a run scored, and three RBI. Francisco Alvarez (meniscus) caught all nine innings, went 1 for 3 with a run scored and a walk, and went 4 for 5 on ABS challenges. LHP Zach Thornton was great: he tossed five shutout frames, permitting just two hits. He walked two and struck out five. RHP TOBIAS! Myers got the win after he didn’t allow an earned run in two innings on one hit. He threw 25 pitches. 

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies beat the Reading Fightin Phils for the fifth day in a row, winning yesterday by the score of 4 to 2. LF Vincent Perozo went 2 for 4 with a home run, a run scored, and an RBI. 3B Jacob Reimer went 2 for 4 with a double. RHP Jordan Geber got the dub. He allowed just one hit in his three scoreless innings of work. He walked three and didn’t strike anybody out. LHP Jefry Yan struck out the side in a shutout eighth inning. 

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones took down the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies) 5-3. C Daiverson Gutierrez went 2 for 3 with a double,  three RBI, and a walk. 2B Colin Houck had a 2 for 5 afternoon with a double of his own. RHP Noah Hall gave up three runs on three hits in five innings, walking five and striking out six. 

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets got outscored by the Clearwater Threshers (Phillies) 11-8. C Julio Zayas and 1B Chase Meggers both had multi-hit days. Starting RHP Jonathan Jimenez had a rough go of it. He permitted six earned runs on seven hits in just four and a third innings. He walked two and fanned one. 

On this day in 2010,  the New York Mets selected Jacob deGrom, a pitcher from Stetson University, with the 272nd pick in the MLB draft.

The Mets have the day off before they start a series against the St. Louis Cardinals. In the meantime, I hear there’s a big basketball game this evening.