Mets Battled for This Win

Noah Syndergaard set the tone for the night by battling through the game. 

He absolutely gutted out six innings. There was a Pirate in scoring position four of the six innings. Even with Rene Rivera behind the plate, the Pirates were 4/4 in stolen base attempts.  He surrendered a career high five doubles.  He allowed two in the first, and when the Mets tied the game in the fourth, he gave the Pirates the lead right back. He still hung in there.  He allowed seven hits, three runs, two earned, and two walks with five strikeouts.  The unearned run was the result of Neil Walker‘s error in the first.  It was part of a tough homecoming for Walker:

With the way the Mets have been going offensively lately, and with the Pirates starting phenom Jameson Taillon, Syndergaard was going to have to help himself at the plate. He did. 

In the fifth, he hit a leadoff double, and Alejandro De Aza would sacrifice him over to third. Michael Conforto hit a sacrifice fly, which would tie the score at 3-3. The Mets scored their first two runs in the fourth when Ty Kelly hit his first career homerun. It was a nice parting gift for him as it appers likely he will be demoted after today’s game due to the Mets re-acquiring Kelly Johnson. 

In the seventh, Jim Henderson allowed the Pirates to take a 5-3 lead with a rough inning. He allowed a leadoff walk to Andrew McCutchen. Then after Gregory Polanco just missed a homerun, he ripped a go-ahead double to right-center. He moved to third on Walker’s second error of the game, and he would score on a Josh Harrison sacrifice fly. 

The Mets would battle back again. In the eighth, De Aza would get a leadoff walk, and he would score on a Conforto homerun. The Mets would then load the bases, but they would fail to get a runner home to break the 5-5 tie. Kelly would pop out to short left, and Curtis Granderson, pinch hitting for Rivera, would ground out killing the rally. 
The Mets would get another chance with the bases loaded in the tenth. This time Collins pinch hit Wilmer Flores for Kelly. Flores hit a one out bloop single to give the Mets the 6-5 lead.  The Mets wouldn’t score another run, but they got all they needed. 

Addison Reed got the well earned win. With the Mets bullpen being a bit taxed, Collins asked him to pitch two innings. Despite a slight dip on velocity, Reed pitched two scoreless innings. It was another great outing for him in what has been an incredible year for him. 

Jeurys Familia come on in the 10th and recorded his 19th straight save this year. Of course on this night, it wasn’t an easy save. Familia walked the first two batters before getting Sean Rodriguez to hit into the 6-4-3 double play. Familia walked the next batter, and Plawecki stopped the ball with his face preventing the tying run from scoring. Familia then struck out David Freese to finally end the game and the losing streak. 

Overall, there was a lot to like. The Mets offense got going again. Conforto was 1-3 with a run, three RBI, a walk, and a homerun. Yoenis Cespedes went 3-5, and he scored the game winning run. The Mets snapped their nine game losing streak against the Pirates dating back to last year. 

Game Notes:

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