Momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher, and the Mets had a lot of momentum tonight with Noah Syndergaard on the mound.  Not only was Syndergaard great, but the bats also awoke. 

It was surprising as this Mets lineup was essentially Yoenis Cespedes and seven guys, the Mets found off the street. Here was the lineup:

1. Granderson 2-5, R
2. Cabrera 2-5, 2 R
3. Cespedes 3-4, 2 R, BB
4. Flores 2-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR
5. Johnson 3-5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR
6. Reynolds 3-5, 2 RBI, 2 2B
7. Loney 1-5, RBI, 2B
8. Rivera 3-5, 2 RBI, 2B
9. Syndergaard 0-4, BB

This lineup absolutely destroyed Pirates pitching tonight. The tone was set in the first when the Mets loaded the bases with no outs, and Flores scored a run on an RBI ground out. After Johnson failed to score the runners with a weak pop out, Reynolds came up with a big two out two RBI double. The Mets were off and running in an 11-2 victory. 

The Mets needed this for a number of reasons. First, the bench was short again. Shocking, isn’t it. Neil Walker couldn’t play due to his back again. Juan Lagares was scratched from the lineup with his thumb not allowing him to play again. 

One thing that helped was the Pirates throwing Jeff Locke, who has allowed 18 earned in 8.2 innings over his last two starts. That includes the seven earned in four innings tonight. The Mets shouldn’t apologize for beating up on a struggling pitcher when they had to start the lineup they did. 

However, that lineup produced for at least one glorious night. The Mets still have their issues, but you can look past them on a night when the Mets give you a laugher. 

By the way, Syndergaard was great as usual:

  
Tonight, Syndergaard almost pitched his first ever shut-out. He lost it in the ninth. David Freese‘s RBI double scored John Jaso, who had three of the five hits off Syndergaard. But man, Syndergaard was so close. He snared a ball hit up the middle of the bat of Gregory Polanco. Syndergaard had Jaso dead to rights at third, but he took the sure out at first. Syndergaard would be lifted with one out in the ninth for Jeurys Familia, who was obviously needed to close out the 11-2 win. 

Before tonight, Syndergaard had never thrown a pitch in the ninth inning in his career. His final line was 8.2 innings, five hits, two runs (thanks for a Flores throwing error once Syndergaard left the game), one earned, no walks, and 11 strikeouts. He was absolutely dominant, but then again, he always is. Tonight, the real story was the Mets scoring some runs.