Jose Peraza

Mets McCann Hit

This was ticketed for another very frustrating game. The Mets offense could do absolutely nothing against Charlie Morton over the first six innings.

In years past. it made sense. Morton has a very good track record, but he entered this start with a 3.68 ERA. While Morton’s curve was sharp, this seemed more indicative of how poorly the Mets offense has performed.

The shame was Tylor Megill gave the Mets another solid effort. He started the game with four scoreless with the help of a great Dominic Smith play in left.

Megill ran into trouble in the fifth. After two quick outs, Ronald Acuña and Freddie Freeman singled, and then Ozzie Albies hit a three run homer. Honestly, at the time, it seemed like the 3-0 lead was insurmountable.

Things changed in the seventh. Smith hit a 3-2 curve for a single. Then, the Mets got a little bit of luck. Kevin Pillar battled Morton, and the home plate umpire Adam Beck called what should’ve been strike three ball four.

James McCann came to the plate as the tying run. McCann had looked overmatched, but then, he hit the game tying three run homer.

Morton was done for the night with his being lifted for A.J. Minter, but the Mets bats weren’t. Jose Peraza hit a pinch hit ground rule double, and two batters later, Francisco Lindor had the go-ahead RBI single.

These runs were the benefit of Drew Smith. Smith picked up the win after pitching a scoreless sixth. It was the first of four scoreless from this Mets bullpen.

Naturally, one of those came from Edwin Diaz. Ehire Adrianza had put a scare into everyone hitting a potential homer JUST foul. Despite the scare, Diaz recorded his 17th save, and the Mets earned the 4-3 win.

Again, there are signs of life from this offense. Overall, what you like most is the fight in this team.

Game Notes: The Mets had two sacrifice bunts with neither coming from a pitcher (Lindor, Luis Guillorme). Michael Conforto is only slugging .318.

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Mets Ran Away From Win

It was Jerad Eickhoff facing off against Ian Anderson, so naturally, this was a pitcher’s duel. That’s nothing to say against Anderson, who has been very good in his brief career. Rather, it’s noteworthy when Eickhoff hasn’t pitched in the majors in two years.

We saw that immediately when the Atlanta Braves loaded the bases in the first with one out. Eickhoff responded by striking out Austin Riley and getting Dansby Swanson to ground out to him.

While not flawless, it was a good start for Eickhoff. He’d pitch four scoreless innings allowing three hits and three walks while striking out three. Understandably, Luis Rojas and the Mets didn’t have him face the order a third time.

Instead, Miguel Castro started the fifth. He’d leave one over the middle of the plate for Ronald Acuña Jr., and Acuña hit a solo homer to deep center to give the Braves the 1-0 lead.

That’s all the Braves needed entering the seventh because of the Mets poor base running. It was almost indescribably bad.

In the second, Pete Alonso was running on the 3-2 pitch, and he thought he could beat Acuña’s arm. He couldn’t as Acuña’s throw was perfect and nailed Alonso at third.

With the Mets offense sputtering, they didn’t get another rally going until the sixth. That started with a Jonathan Villar one out double against Anderson. Of course, because this is the Mets, Villar came out of the game with an injury.

Jose Peraza pinch ran for Villar and for reasons that defy logic he took off for third on a Francisco Lindor grounder to his right. After Swanson easily nailed Peraza, Lindor would make matters worse. With Jeff McNeil up, Lindor broke for second. Anderson threw over leading to Lindor getting caught stealing easily.

In the seventh, the Mets got a one out rally started against Braves closer Will Smith. Alonso and Dominic Smith hit back-to-back singles, and this time, Alonso didn’t test Acuña.

Then, Luis Rojas made a monumentally dumb move. The slow footed Alonso was the tying run, and yet, somehow, Rojas opts to pinch run Albert Almora for Smith. There’s no good explanation why you don’t look to do all you can do to try to ensure you get the tying run.

After James McCann was plunked the bases were loaded, and Kevin Pillar was up. Pillar ripped a liner, but it was right at Riley. Riley snagged it, and he was initially ruled to beat Alonso back to the bag for a game ending double play.

As it turned out, it was a blown call overturned on replay. That’s fortunate as Rojas’ mistake didn’t cost him and the Mets there.

Whatever the case, it didn’t matter as Brandon Drury popped out to end the inning. With that, the Mets ran themselves out of innings and the game. That’s the biggest reason for this split doubleheader.

Game Notes: Joey Lucchesi has a torn UCL. Jeurys Familia was placed on the IL with a hip impingement. Robert Gsellman is on the IL with a lat injury. Stephen Tarpley was the 27th man for the doubleheader. Yennsy Diaz was recalled. Mason Williams was designated for assignment.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Better Than Padres

For all the talk about the San Diego Padres this year, a depleted New York Mets team just took the season series:

1. People keep telling us to appreciate Jacob deGrom and not take him for granted. Not sure why because every Mets fan absolutely venerates him.

2. One of these days, deGrom is going to have a perfect game. It’s just going to happen.

3. Next time deGrom departs a game early, the reaction should be calm. He’s listening to his body, the Mets are listening to him, and they’re all just getting him ready to dominate in October . . . which he will.

4. While we’re told not to under appreciate deGrom, his sheer greatness is actually overshadowing Marcus Stroman who has been great this year.

5. Give credit where it is due, Joey Lucchesi has absolutely turned around his season. He wants a chance to go through a lineup a third time, and sooner or later, he probably should get that chance.

6. Not enough credit is being given to Luis Rojas and Jeremy Hefner for the job they’re doing.

7. Of course, it was a poor decision to leave in Jeurys Familia that long and to bring in Jacob Barnes in that spot. However, when you’re short bad and indefensible decisions like that are going to happen.

8. The question does need to be asked – if the Mets are so reticent to use Barnes, why is he still on the team?

9. Seeing Seth Lugo back to Lugoat form, you’re further convinced this team is going to win the World Series.

10. People can dismiss what Chris Paddack said all they want, but he does seem to have Pete Alonso‘s number.

11. Dominic Smith really needs to pick it up. Sooner or later, this team will get healthy, and he’s going to be in peril of losing playing time.

12. It’s great to see Luis Guillorme back healthy and performing wizardry in the field.

13. Months later, he may no longer be on the roster, but people should remember how Jose Peraza held down the fort and each and every single one of his homers gave the Mets a lead.

14. He’s probably not the best option, but Jonathan Villar has done everything the Mets could’ve asked. He’s been better than anyone could’ve reasonably expected, and at this point, the third base job should be his.

15. Of course, Billy McKinney is dealing with a sore knee and needed to miss a game. This would’ve be the 2021 Mets if that didn’t happen.

16. Tomas Nido has started struggling at the plate once he stopped being the everyday catcher, but James McCann is thriving.

17. More than what they’re doing at the plate, the Mets pitchers are thriving while throwing to both of these catchers. So long as the catchers are maximizing pitcher performances, they’re doing a great job.

18. On the topic of catchers, if Francisco Alvarez hits a huge homer, let him do a bat flip. Criticize him when he celebrates and the ball doesn’t go out, which is something that hasn’t happened yet.

19. People may want to get rid of the DH, but deGrom has more RBI than earned runs allowed.

20. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s June 14, and the Mets are over .500 so far this month.

Game Recaps

Jacob deGrom Provides Thrills and Chills

Mets Prove Power Rankings Pure Trash

Jacob Barnes Wrong But –

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Jacob deGrom Provides Thrills And Chills

Jacob deGrom was the difference in this game for the New York Mets more ways than one. The only thing which could stop deGrom was himself.

For the first 4.1 innings, deGrom was simply unhittable, and were once again on the perfect game watch. That was until Wil Myers dribbled one against the shift for a hit.

Myers thought he could steal a base, but James McCann gunned him down. With that caught stealing, deGrom would face the minimum through six. Given how dominant he was even that seemed like a batter or two too many.

Of course, deGrom set all kinds of records. His 0.56 ERA though 10 starts is the lowest ever. He needed just 61.2 innings to reach 100 strikeouts which is the fewest innings to reach that mark. Oh, and by the way, he’s hitting .400 with an .840 OPS.

He went out there and beat the Padres every way imaginable. He allowed just the one hit over 6.0 innings walking none and striking out 10. He’d get the win because he actually got run support.

At first, it didn’t seem that would happen. Blake Snell, who was great his last game against the Mets, had a strong start to this game.

The Mets didn’t get a threat against him until the fourth. It started with a Jonathan Villar single. It’s not a stretch to say at that point in the game it seemed Villar was the only guy who was going to get a hit.

Villar was on second with one out after he stole second, and Francisco Lindor lined out. Snell completely lost the strike zone walking the bases loaded.

That’s when Dominic Smith has a terrible at-bat. Despite Snell losing the zone, he went to attack a tough slider out of the zone. He checked his swing leading to the inning ending 1-2-3 double play.

It was a really tough game for Smith. He was 0-for-4 with two GIDP. He’s slumping as he’s in a 1-for-13 funk.

This wasn’t the Mets last chance. Rather, it was them starting to get to Snell.

Kevin Pillar led off the fifth with a hustle double. His beating out Tommy Pham‘s throw proved serendipitous as Billy McKinney ripped a double down the first base line to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

Jose Peraza drew a walk, and then Snell would balk to put runners on second and third. deGrom would deliver with a two RBI single giving the Mets a 3-0 lead.

For deGrom, that was more than enough support. However, deGrom would only go six because the flexor tendon in his elbow was bothering him leading him to take himself out of the game.

Perhaps it was deGrom out of the game. It could’ve also been Miguel Castro dealing with a neck issue which would knock him out of this game, but the Padres looked energized.

Jake Cronenworth hit a two run homer pulling the Padres within 3-2. After Castro walked Manny Machado, Luis Rojas pulled his ailing reliever for Seth Lugo.

To the surprise of no one, Lugo did the job retiring the next two to get out of the inning. What was a surprise was that was it for Lugo.

Aaron Loup started the eighth for the Mets. He’d exit the game with one on and two out. That’s when Rojas tabbed Edwin Diaz for the four out save. Jorge Mateo immediately stole second, but it was of little consequence as Pham flew out to end the inning.

Things got interesting in the ninth. Machado hit a two out single putting the tying run on base. Eric Hosmer pinch hit for Myers, and he put a scare into the crowd as he pulled a ball just foul. After that, Diaz got Hosmer to pop out to end the game.

The Mets are now a season high seven games over .500. However, it’s not too much celebrating as there’s reason for concern for deGrom and to a lesser extent Castro.

Game Notes: Luis Guillorme was activates off the IL, and Travis Blankenhorn was sent to Triple-A. The Mets claimed Nick Tropeano off waivers and sent him to Syracuse. Tommy Hunter was transferred to the 60 day IL.

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Mets Deep Six Orioles

The New York Mets got beaten up last night, but tonight, they returned the favor in a 14-1 win. The only downside was the bulk of the damage came against Matt Harvey, who the Mets pushed closer to getting DFA’d.

Pete Alonso opened the scoring with a two run homer in the first. The Mets then put five up against Harvey in the third highlighted by a Kevin Pillar three run homer.

Harvey wouldn’t pitch past the third, and Taijuan Walker was dominant. Walker pitched 7.0 innings allowing one run on five hits and one walk while striking out nine.

As for the Mets, they just keep on hitting. The best way to show how dominant they were is to just show the batting stats from the game:

  1. Jonathan Villar 2-5, 2 R, 2 2B
  2. Francisco Lindor 1-3, R, BB
  3. Pete Alonso 3-5, 3 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
  4. Dominic Smith 0-5
  5. James McCann 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, RBI
  6. Billy McKinney 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI
  7. Kevin Pillar 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
  8. Mason Williams 2-4, R, HR, RBI
  9. Jose Peraza 0-4

Overall, the Mets hit six homers. That included Pillar and Williams going back-to-back in the eighth. Believe it or not, that was the first time it’s happened this year.

The Mets end their road trip and season series with the Orioles. They are now primed to go home and send another statement to the San Diego Padres.

Game Notes: Mets were 5-4 on the nine game road trip.

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20/20 Hindsight: Mets Show They’re Better Than Padres

Just like looking at the records, the San Diego Padres were a much better team than the New York Mets. It certainly didn’t play out this way in the weekend series:

1. Over the first two games of this series, the Padres had Yu Darvish and Blake Snell against Taijuan Walker and Joey Lucchesi. It took everything the Padres had to beat a Mets team with 17 players on the IL.

2. Give Lucchesi credit. He’s fixing his release points, optimizing the churve, and he’s turned his season around.

3. Did it look like Darvish was cheating? Who knows, and really we should stop these witch hunts because: (1) you don’t know; and (2) you don’t know who is and who is not cheating.

4. The exception of course is Jacob deGrom. When one idiot looking for attention, clearly still sore over the 2015 NLDS, the Mets came out en mass to shut him up.

5. deGrom is taking another run at Bob Gibson. In 2017, it was the quality start streak. Now, deGrom has had a better nine start beginning to his season than Gibson had in the Year of the Pitcher.

6. For that matter, deGrom has had a better start to his season than Pedro Martinez had in either of his best seasons.

7. Honestly, it was a treat to watch Fernando Tatis, Jr. for four games.

8. The Tatis for James Shields trade was not worse than the Jarred Kelenic trade. Those saying that don’t understand either trade or how value works.

9. We have another example why GKR are the best with Gary Cohen asking where the Bartolo Colon home run plaque is calling it the most significant event in Petco Park history.

10. Not to be sour grapes, but while the Steve Gelbs segment was funny, we should be reminded he’s the guy who gets to ask the first question at every press conference. If he’s just the sideline guy or in the studio, this is all well and good, but he’s not trying to be just that.

11. Marcus Stroman reminded us again he’s a terrific pitcher who can beat you in so many ways. Also, he showed how mentally tough he was to shut down the Padres after than Bob Brenly fiasco.

12. When Stroman talks about how good the clubhouse is we should listen. It should also be noted this is one of the more likable Mets teams we’ve seen in years.

13. Jose Peraza doesn’t hit many homers, but when he does, it gives the Mets the lead.

14. Brandon Drury is perhaps the perfect encapsulation of this team right now. He probably hasn’t been a viable Major Leaguer since 2017, so, of course, he makes a game changing double play.

15. For those questioning why the Mets are still winning games right now, the answer is pitching and defense. Pitching and defense always wins more games than optimizing your offensive lineups.

16. It took a while, but we’re seeing the real Francisco Lindor, and it’s glorious. Phenomenal defense. Great offense. Unparalleled leadership.

17. Someone awoke the power in Dominic Smith‘s bat.

18. Sometimes you get lucky finding the right guy at the right time. That might’ve just happened for the Mets with Billy McKinney who is playing a good right field and has a 148 OPS+ with the Mets so far.

19. Between the Pete Alonso 9/11 jokes and mocking Kevin Pillar‘s face mask, who knew Padres fans were such trash?

20. The Mets are on pace for 90 wins right now, and that’s while they’re incredibly injured. Who knows just how good this team can and will be.

GAME RECAPS

Mets Just Had Bad Luck

Mets Had Just Three Hits

Jacob deGrom Made Padres Look Like Children

Chris Paddack Not Winning NL Pitcher of the Week

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Chris Paddack Not Winning Pitcher Of The Week

Back in 2019, Chris Paddack famously threw down the gauntlet. He remarked while Pete Alonso was a deserving Rookie of the Month, Paddack would be Rookie if the Year.

The two went on wildly divergent paths from there. Alonso went on to become Rookie of the Year while Paddack has been a well below average pitcher with a tenuous spot in the Padres rotation.

While the New York Mets struggled to get hits and runs in most of this series, they did not have similar struggles against Paddack.

In the third, Jose Peraza hit a one out ground rule double, and after he was sacrificed to third by Marcus Stroman, Billy McKinney drove him home.

That 1-0 grew to 2-0 in the fourth when Dominic Smith homered to dead center

In the sixth, Alonso would get his revenge. After McKinney hit a lead-off single, he stole second. He then came home on an Alonso RBI single. At that point, it was 3-0.

That was a massive lead considering how Stroman was pitching. Yes, Stroman was wild with an uncharacteristic four walks. Still, he made the pitches he needed and got good defense.

For example, in the fourth, the Padres loaded the bases with one out. Webster Rivas hit a ball down the line. Brandon Drury fielded it on his knee, touched third, and began the inning ending double play.

It was one of those days for Stroman. He made the pitches he needed, and he got great defense. He also helped his own cause hitting an RBI double in the top of the seventh to increase the Mets lead to 4-1.

The only time the Padres could get to him was by a fluke. In the sixth, Stroman made a nice grab on a Fernando Tats Jr. grounder. Stroman made a poor throw (Alonso should’ve stopped it), and Alonso compounded it by the throwing it away himself allowing Tatis to go third.

Tatis would then score on a Eric Hosmer RBI groundout. That was it against Stroman.

Stroman allowed the one unearned run over 6.2 innings. He yielded four walks and four hits while striking out seven. He’d pick up the win.

That 4-1 Mets lead in the seventh grew to 6-1 when James McCann hit a two run homer:

In total, the Mets would win this game 6-2. After a tough start to this series, the Mets battled through, and they claimed a split. This deserves everyone’s respect.

Game Notes: After getting six extra base hits to start his Mets career, McKinney finally hit a single.

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Jacob deGrom Made Padres Look Like Children

Each and every time Jacob deGrom takes the mound, he does something special. Then, there are nights like tonight where he was just on another level.

We saw it with everything including his defense. He took what would normally be a weak infield single, and he turned it into an unassisted out.

That was nothing compared to what he did in the fourth.

Jake Cronenworth hit a one out single. It was a very nice play by Billy McKinney sprinting in the gap to keep Cronenworth at first. Cronenworth did get to second when Francisco Lindor bobbled a Fernando Tatis, Jr. grounder.

Then, we got the biggest play of the game. Eric Hosmer blooped a ball which landed in front of Dominic Smith. Cronenworth got crossed up thereby preventing him of any chance of scoring. As a result, the bases were loaded with one out.

That meant deGrom had them right where he wanted them. He made very quick work of Wil Myers striking him out on four pitches. Tucupita Marcano battled, but he’d strike out on a 3-2 slider to end the inning.

Right there was the Padres chance, and as we know when you fail against deGrom, you’re not going to get another opportunity. The Padres wouldn’t. The question really was whether deGrom would get run support.

After back-to-back nights where the Padres flirted with no-hitters, they threw Joe Musgrove, the only pitcher in Padres history to throw a no-hitter.

Ironically, Musgrove didn’t flirt with the no-hitter. That ended when McKinney led off the game with a double. To the shock of no one, the Mets failed to score.

Entering this game, the Mets hadn’t had a hit with RISP in this series. As such, you had to believe the Mets needed to homer to score.

That happened twice in the fifth as Jose Peraza and Lindor each hit a solo homer giving the Mets a 2-0 lead.

As impressive as these homers were, there was the miracle in the sixth. Kevin Pillar and Tomas Nido began that inning with consecutive singles. That’s when Jonathan Villar, who has been on the bench with a hamstring issue pinch hit for Trevor Blankenhorn.

Villar came up big with the Mets first hit with RISP in the series. Villar drove home Pillar to increase the Mets lead to 3-0.

That was more than enough for deGrom, who was absolutely brilliant. He pitched seven scoreless allowing three hits and one walk while striking out 11. His season ERA is now 0.62. That’s the lowest ERA a pitcher has ever had through his first nine starts.

Now, with deGrom recently off the IL, this was supposed to be no restrictions. Maybe that was the case, and maybe it wasn’t, but we saw deGrom lifted despite throwing just 77 pitches.

While the decision seemed curious, the Mets had Seth Lugo for the eighth and Edwin Diaz for the ninth all lined up. After a scoreless eighth for Lugo, the Mets tacked on an insurance run.

Former Mets prospect Nabil Crismatt was pitching his second inning of relief. Lindor led off the 9th with a lead-off double. After Smith drew a one out walk, Pillar drove home Lindor to increase the lead to 4-0.

The Mets threatened for more, but didn’t deliver. Not even with the bases loaded. This meant it was not a save situation for Diaz.

In years past that was an issue for Diaz. Not tonight. He pitched a scoreless inning preserving the Mets 4-0 win and snap the Padres 12 game home winning streak.

This win was made possible by deGrom who was brilliant. He keeps setting new records and further establishes himself as the best pitcher in the game.

Game Notes: In the game, deGrom passed Sid Fernandez for fourth all-time on the Mets strikeout list. deGrom has given up just 10 hits with the bases loaded in his career over 58 plate appearances.

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Mets Just Had Bad Luck

Sometimes, it just isn’t your night. That was the case for the New York Mets tonight.

You could see it in the third. With a runner on first, Fernando Tatis, Jr. launched a pitch to deep center. Mason Williams leapt, caught it, and then, well, his glove made contact with the wall as he was landing.

Instead of two outs, it was 2-0 Padres. That wouldn’t be the last time Tatis and the Padres got the better of Taijuan Walker either.

In the fourth, after a Victor Caratini one out walk, Yu Darvish kept at the butcher boy until he hit a double to right. Jurickson Profar drooped one right in front of Kevin Pillar.

For a moment, it looked like Pillar may have a play on Caratini, who hesitated on the fly ball, but Pillar threw in to second instead. As a result, it was now 3-0 Padres.

In the fifth, it was again Tatis’ time to strike. This time he took advantage of Walker and Brandon Drury.

First, Tatis hit an infield single Drury couldn’t barehand. Then, Drury spiked a throw which Jose Peraza couldn’t field allowing Tatis to get to second on the fielder’s choice.

After a ground out moved Tatis to third, he sprinted for home on a wild pitch which did not get far from James McCann. It was apparent far enough as Tatis beat Walker to the plate sliding well under a tag which was never applied.

With Darvish flat out dealing, it seemed like that 4-0 lead was completely insurmountable. After all, Darvish no-hit the Mets for 4.2 innings.

However, these Mets have a lot of fight in them, and they made this a game.

In the sixth, after Francisco Lindor hit a one out single, McCann hit a two run homer to pull the Mets to within 4-2.

The Mets pushed that inning to tie the score. The once dominant Darvish was on the ropes, and the Mets would be well poised to tie or take the lead.

Darvish followed the McCann homer by hitting Dominic Smith. Tim Hill then came on for Darvish.

Hill walked Billy McKinney. He then got what could’ve been an inning ending double play. Instead, Tatis made a poor throw loading the bases. That’s when the Mets played the ace up their sleeve.

As Pete Alonso did not have a rehab assignment, the Mets gave him the day off, but he was available as a pinch hitter. You couldn’t have drawn it up better. Unfortunately, Alonso hit into an inning ending double play.

That would not be the Mets last opportunity to tie. In the eighth, Lindor drew a lead-off walk against Padres reliever Emilio Pagan. Lindor stayed there until there were two outs and McKinney at the plate.

McKinney hit a ball to deep right. It took a funky bounce off the wall past Wil Myers. Lindor scored easily, and it appeared McKinney was going to hit an inside the park homer.

The problem was with McKinney being left-handed, the Padres shifted Manny Machado to shallow right field. As the ball got away from Myers, Machado made the heads up play to go get it and get it in. As a result, McKunney only had an RBI triple. He was stranded there as Drury grounded out to end the inning.

Again, these banged up resilient Mets would continue to fight to the end. That began with a Tomas Nido pinch hit single against Padres closer Mark Melancon.

Peraza battled in his at-bat and probably got away with a check swing. After he drew a walk, Travis Blankenhorn hit a surefire double play ball. However, Machado tried to tag Nido. When Nido moved back to second, the chances of the double play were gone.

Well, it was for that play. With the tying run at second, Kevin Pillar hit a ball up the middle. If not for the shift, it’s probably a tie game. Instead, it was a game ending double play.

This was just one of those games where the Mets seemed snakebit. An out became a homer. A third baseman was in left. A single was a double play. Really, there’s nothing to do but appreciate the effort and hope the breaks go the Mets way tomorrow.

Game Notes: Luis Guillorme was set to begin his rehab assignment, but the game was rained out.

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Mets Blow It Against Diamondbacks

This seemed like yet another easy win. Everything was clicking for the New York Mets, but baseball always finds a way to make things interesting.

Through the first three innings, there were base runners, but Caleb Smith and Marcus Stroman were making the pitches they needed to make. It also doesn’t help the cause when Jonathan Villar was picked off yet again.

In the fourth, Pete Alonso hit a two out single. Then, for that first time in well over a month, Dominic Smith homered.

Stroman did his part to keep it at 2-0 by continuing to shut down the Arizona Diamondbacks lineup. The Diamondbacks were so frustrated, they began jawing at Stroman, and like most baseball confrontations, it proved to be much ado about nothing.

The Mets would get Stroman’s back the best way they could. That’s by scoring runs.

Villar went right to work against Diamondbacks reliever Joe Mantiply. Villar then scored as the suddenly hot Francisco Lindor tripled him home.

After Alonso was walked, Smith hit a sacrifice fly to drive home Lindor giving the Mets a 4-0 lead. Alonso wasn’t able to move up on the play, which was unfortunate as Tomas Nido followed with an inning ending GIDP.

It didn’t seem to matter much. After all, Stroman was dealing, and the Diamondbacks have been reeling. However, that didn’t stop the Diamondbacks from responding.

The Diamondbacks led off the bottom of the sixth with two straight hits. Then, with one out, Pavin Smith pulled them to within one by hitting a three run homer. Suddenly, an easy 4-0 game was a tight 4-3 one.

Stroman was done after that sixth. What was once a dominant effort turned into merely just a good one. Still, allowing three runs on seven hits and no walks with std strikeouts was enough to get the win. The Mets bullpen assured he would get it.

Again, it wasn’t easy. Jeurys Familia came on to pitch the seventh, and he was greeted by Villar making an error to not only allow Nick Ahmed to reach, but to also take second.

Familia rebounded to get the next two out, but he would walk Ketel Marte. While the tying and go-ahead runs were on base, it’s important to remember we’re seeing vintage Familia this year. He proved that again by striking out Eduardo Escobar to get out of the inning.

Aaron Loup pitched a scoreless eighth, but Edwin Diaz could not converthis 10th save in many chances. It wasn’t entirely his doing.

After striking out Stephen Vogt, he allowed a single to Ahmed. Ahmed then took second when McKinney had a bobble fielding it. Ahmed would be at third with two out when Josh Rojas, the same player jawing at Stroman earlier in the game, hit a game tying single.

Things got dicey from there. Marte singled, and Rojas appeared set to go first to third. However, he slipped, but the Mets couldn’t take advantage as Jose Peraza couldn’t quite secure a throw from Mason Williams.

Diaz got out of the ninth with the game tied 4-4 when Escobar flew out. That meant we got Rob Manfred extra innings gimmick baseball.

Peraza was the designated runner, and James McCann pinch hit for Williams. McCann, who has corrected himself at the plate after his first base stint, hit a go-ahead RBI single off Alex Young to give the Mets a 5-4 lead.

McCann would be stranded there meaning Trevor May had no margin for error when he entered the game with a runner on second to try to earn the save.

May was an odd choice as he’s been fighting it of late, and he threw 26 pitches last night. There was also the fact Seth Lugo was just activated and available. Whatever the case, Luis Rojas went with May.

It was an easy first guess, and it cost the Mets. May issued a one out walk to Smith. Josh Reddick then hit a ball down the line which appeared foul but was ruled fair.

The ball got by Brandon Drury in right allowing the tying and game winning runs to score. The Mets tried to challenge to no avail.

The Mets will certainly want this one back. They blew a 4-0 lead and wasted opportunities to add insurance runs. Diaz blew his first save, and Rojas went to the exhausted reliever with the game on the line.

Overall, the Mets are and need to be better than this. They should be tomorrow.

Game Notes: Mets-Diamondbacks finale will be televised on YouTube. Billy McKinney has four straight games with an extra base hit.

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