The Errors of Their Ways

Happy Memorial Day! Today’s edition of The Mets Newsletter is free, but without a paid subscription you miss out on getting it every single day. 

The Mets took advantage of four errors by the defending champions, Pete Alonso ended his career-long home run drought, and Kodai Senga once again bent but didn’t break as the Mets won 3-1, taking a series from the Dodgers.

Senga’s lifetime ERA in the first inning is over four. After that, it’s somewhere in the twos. So it wasn’t a total surprise that the top of the first inning was a mess. What was a surprise is the Dodgers only got one run out of it. Shohei Ohtani homered on the second pitch he saw - a fastball to the Coca-Cola Corner in right. Mookie Betts then reached on another error by Mark Vientos at third base - the metrics confirm he’s been rough there this year. Freddie Freeman then doubled to left center, moving Betts to third. But Will Smith hit a fly ball caught by Tyrone Taylor, who then threw a dime to Luis Torrens to nab Betts at home plate. 

Revitalized, Senga got Teoscar Hernández looking at a slider to strike him out and end the inning. 

In the bottom of the first against Landon Knack, Francisco Lindor and Vientos both struck out. Juan Soto reached on an error by third baseman Max Muncy. It’s worth noting Soto busted it out of the box - had he not done so Muncy would have easily thrown him out. On the very next pitch, Alonso ended his 65 at-bat home run drought by depositing a dinger to the left field seats to make it 2-1. 

The Mets added to their lead in the bottom of the third. Lindor singled to right center. Vientos then reached on what was scored an infield hit - Betts tried to make a great play and failed miserably. Lindor ended up at third because he didn’t stop running - that part was charged an error. This directly led to New York’s third run - Soto hit into a fielder’s choice to the second baseman, Vientos out at second, Lindor scoring. After that, Knack retired the next 10 batters before allowing a Jeff McNeil double in the sixth. The Mets finished the night 0 for 5 with runners in scoring position. Once again, the pitching bailed them out.

Senga had 1-2-3 second and third frames. He gave up a single to Freddie Freeman to start the fourth, but he was erased by a Will Smith 4-6-3 double play. Teoscar Hernández doubled to left on a ball McNeil almost got to. Senga walked Max Muncy, and Hernández stole third on a botched backpick by Torrens, but Senga coaxed Andy Pages to innocently fly out to left for the third out. The fifth was also a little adventure. In a frustrating at-bat where no close calls went his way, Senga walked Michael Conforto. He got the next two batters out, but Mookie Betts singled to left. Senga possibly then pitched around Freeman on purpose, who already had two hits off of him, to load the bases for Will Smith, who is amazing with runners in scoring position. The gamble paid off - Smith grounded out to Vientos. 

In the top of the sixth, Senga came back from a 3-0 count to strike out Hernández. After walking Muncy on four pitches though, Carlos Mendoza had seen enough and brought in Ryne Stanek. Bread Boy’s night consisted of six pitches, all to Andy Pages, who grounded into a 4-6-3 double play (Brett Baty at second made a nice play and throw to Lindor.) 

Fantastic Max Kranick came on to pitch the seventh and eighth. He saw six batters and retired them all on fly ball outs. Most notable was the first one - a Michael Conforto shot to right that Soto made a nice catch on. (It had a .470 expected batting average.) 

Because Edwin Díaz had pitched the last two nights, Reed Garrett came on for the ninth. After whiffing Hernández on a splitter, he permitted a Muncy single. Pages reached on a 6-4 fielder’s choice, then poor Scooter Conforto struck out on a splitty to end it. 

An excellent series win against the defending champs. It doesn’t matter that they’re really hurting bad pitching wise. Now the Mets play the White Sox and Rockies, as a treat.

Luis Torrens was seen more than once having a chat with Kodai Senga on the mound. Does Torrens know Japanese? The radio crew wants to know.

Torrens notably caught back-to-back days, leaving Francisco Alvarez to ride the pine. Unfortunately, he went 0 for 3 with a strikeout. 

Tyrone Taylor has been hitting well lately, and it’s thanks to Lindor. Taylor told Abbey Mastracco he worked on his “gather” - when the hitter “gathers” his weight on his back foot. He asked Lindor for advice before a game against the Nationals. Lindor instead said to meet him at his hotel room that night, where Taylor took some “dry swings” with bats Lindor had in his room. (Lindor gets a spacious hotel room. Or at least, a bigger one than Taylor. Taylor admitted as much in the article.) Tyrone’s seven-game hitting streak ended last night.

Griffin Canning, Carlos Mendoza, and Jesse Winker watched Shohei Ohtani throw a live batting practice yesterday afternoon. Canning I get - he was teammates with Ohtani. Mendoza for scouting purposes I guess. Winker? Pure intimidation attempt imho.

TikTok showed us a day in the life of the Mets for a road game.

Francisco Lindor and his wife Katia were both mic’ed up during the top of the second inning on the ESPN broadcast. This was the first time those in-game interviews were worthwhile.

After the game, Jeff McNeil played catch with one of Lindor’s daughters. 2021 - the year of the ratcoon - was forever ago.

The Rochester Red Wings (Nationals affiliate) beat the Triple-A Syracuse Mets by a score of 9-5 in 11 innings. Ronny Mauricio went 2 for 4 with a run scored, an RBI, and a strike out. Brandon Sproat the GOAT allowed two earned runs in five innings of work. He allowed seven hits but zero walks. Sproat fanned four batters. 49 of his 80 pitches were for strikes.

The Double-A Binghamton Rumble Ponies swept a doubleheader against the Richmond Flying Squirrels (Giants). Bingo won Game 1 2-1. DH William Lugo went 2 for 3 with a double, a run scored, an RBI, and a strikeout. Jack Wenninger got the dub. In five innings he permitted one earned run, three hits, and no walks. Wenninger struck out five.

The Ponies won Game 2 by a score of 4-2. Jet(!)t Williams, D’ Andre Smith, and Alex Ramírez all went 2 for 3. 

The High-A Brooklyn Cyclones split a double dip with the Jersey Shore BlueClaws (Phillies). Game 1 was a 6-4 victory for Brooklyn. Carson Benge went 2 for 2 with two walks and two runs scored. Jesus Baez went 2 for 4 with three RBI. Starter Matt Allan continues to be on a short leash. He threw just 38 pitches, allowing no earned runs, two walks, and one hit in one and two thirds innings.  

The Cyclones lost Game 2 by the same score as Game 1 - 6-4. Shortstop Boston Baro went 2 for 4 with a home run, a triple, a run scored, and two RBI. Joel Díaz was the losing pitcher. His line: 3.0 IP 8 H 5 ER 1 BB 4 K.

The Low-A St. Lucie Mets lost to the Jupiter Hammerheads (Marlins) 4-3. Corey Collins went 3 for 3 with two doubles, a walk and an RBI. Nick Roselli went yard. Will Watson got the loss. He gave up three earned runs on three hits and one walk in four and two thirds innings, while striking out six. 

The Mets begin a series with the White Sox. Chicago (AL) will start old chum Adrian Houser (1-0, 0.00 ERA). New York (NL) will counter with Clay Holmes (5-3, 3.13 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 pm eastern. The game will (finally) air on SNY.