4/18-4/23, New York Mets Weekly Report

NEWS: This has been a very fun week regarding New York Mets news. Third Baseman Brett Baty, who should have started the year with the Major League team, finally got the call up. However, this isn’t the first time the Mets have called up a highly regarded prospect this season, as they called up Catcher Francisco Alvarez just a few weeks ago. He was called up due to an injury to Omar Narvaez. Justin Verlander, who started the year on the IL, is currently rehabbing in Port St. Lucie, and is expected to make his debut soon. 

Series 6: New York Mets @ Los Angeles Dodgers

Game 1: Late start for the fans on the east coast, as this game began at 10:10pm. Lefty David Peterson started this game for the Mets, and he’s looked good in his last few starts. However, it didn’t take long for him to make a mistake, as Dodgers 1B Freddie Freeman hit a solo homerun in the first inning. Daniel Vogelbach, the Mets DH who’s had a slow start to the season, hit a 2-run homerun to take the lead. Once again, it didn’t take long for David Peterson to give the lead right back, as Austin Wynns hit a 2-run double in the bottom of the second. After some great hitting from Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil, the Mets tied it up at 3. After a groundout RBI from Mark Canha, Brett Baty got his first hit and RBI of the season, bringing in Jeff McNeil on a single. After 2 home runs from Freddie Freeman and Max Muncy, the Dodgers regained the lead again, 6-5. The story of last year for the Mets was late-inning comebacks, and that is continuing over to this year. After a balk from pitcher Phil Bickford, the Mets tied it up at 6. Lindor and Pete Alonso would each drive in a run, and the Mets would win 8-6. Record: 11-6. 

Game 2: Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who’s considered to be in the running to eventually make the Hall of Fame, was one win away from number 200. On the other hand, the Mets were starting pitcher Tylor Megill, who has struggled some in his young career. That was very apparent in this game as in just the third at bat of the game, the Dodgers took a 2-0 lead on a J.D. Martinez home run. J.D. would hit another home run in the third inning, giving the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Two sacrifice flies in the 8th inning by Freddie Freeman and J.D. Martinez would end the scoring, and the Dodgers would win 5-0, granting Clayton Kershaw his 200th career win. Record: 11-7.

Game 3: The Mets were in need of just one more win in order to win the series, and that’s tough to do in Dodger Stadium. Unfortunately, the Mets offense went ghost for the first 4 innings, and the Dodgers took advantage on a David Peralta sac fly, making it 1-0. Francisco Alvarez would start the fifth inning with a single, and Brandon Nimmo brought him in on a 2-run home run. Nimmo, including this home run, went 5-5 on the day. After this inning, Marte was taken out due to neck stiffness and Mark Canha replaced him. The 8th inning would feature scoring from both teams as Tommy Pham brought in Lindor on a sacrifice fly, and J.D. Martinez brought in Freddie Freeman on an RBI double. Entering the ninth inning, the Mets held a 3-2 lead and were in need of insurance runs. Mark Canha would give the Mets just that, bringing in Luis Guillorme and Brandon Nimmo on a 2 RBI double, making it 5-2. Adam Ottavino would come in for the save and give up a solo home run to the first batter, but got 3 outs right after, and the Mets would win 5-3. Record: 12-7. 

Series 7: New York Mets @ San Francisco Giants

Game 1: Kodai Senga would start the series opener against the Giants in his 4th career start. Kodai went through 3 scoreless innings before the Mets would give him some run support. Pete Alonso smashed his 9th homer of the season, which brought in Francisco Lindor, making it a 2-0 game. Eduardo Escobar would follow this up with a 2-run home run himself, bringing in Jeff McNeil and making it a 4-0 game. Brandon Nimmo continued his hot start to the season with an RBI double, making it 5-0 after Luis Guillorme scored. The fun did not last long however, as Kodai Senga would give up two home runs in the 5th inning, leading to a 4-run inning by the Giants. Following this, the Mets started rolling and did not look back. Jeff McNeil hit his first home run of the season, making it 6-4. Pete Alonso would then hit a 2 RBI single in the 7th inning scoring Mark Canha and Francisco Lindor. Jeff McNeil would end the scoring with an RBI single bringing in Pete Alonso, and the Mets would win 9-4. Record: 13-7.

Game 2: Game two marked the first start that pitcher Joey Lucchesi has made in 686 days. It was very easy to forget how good he is, but he proved to everyone just how dominant he can be. Joey went 7 innings scoreless, which is the longest start by a Mets pitcher this season. He racked up 9 strikeouts in those 7 innings, which is the second most strikeouts he has had in a game in his MLB career. Mets would win 7-0 and improve to 14-7 on the season. 

Game 3: Young lefty starter David Peterson was on the mound for this one, and he has struggled in the season so far. He allowed 0 runs in all of spring training, but before this start he already allowed 14 runs in 4 starts. He was trying to get back on track but that did not happen. The Mets started this game with the 1-2-3 hitters all getting out. David Peterson came out to the mound, and before he was able to finish the inning, he had given up 4 runs. Daniel Vogelbach tried to start a rally, bringing in a run on a deep double, but David Peterson gave up 2 more runs in the bottom of the inning. Once again, the Mets offense tried to get them back in it with a solo HR from Brandon Nimmo, but in the same inning, former Met Wilmer Flores hit a homerun of his own to make it 7-2. Starling Marte and Brett Baty would each bring in a run in the 8th and 9th innings, but it wasn’t enough and the Mets lose, 7-4. Record: 14-8.

Game 4: The story of game 3 for the Mets was bad pitching, and that continued into the final game of the series. After two innings, the Mets were down 2-0 following a Joc Peterson RBI single and solo home run from Thairo Estrada. The next two innings would go much better for the Mets, as Fracisco Lindor brought in Starling Marte on an RBI double, and Mark Canha and Brandon Nimmo both had sacrifice flies. This gave the Mets a 3-2 lead, and hopes of finishing the series off on a good note. However, the Giants had other plans. Blake Sabol and Brett Wisely would bring in a pair of runners, and give them a 4-3 lead. After the Mets seemed defeated, rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez hit his first homerun of the season, and tied it up at 4. Despite the offensive efforts to win this game, Mike Yastremski would hit an RBI double in the 8th inning, which would win it for the Giants. Record: 14-9