Eduardo Escobar Cycles Mets To Victory

If you were an analyst or New York Mets fan who thought the team had something to prove on this west coast trip, you have to find yourself feeling awful silly. After all, they split with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and now they took the opener of the series against the San Diego Padres.

That’s not to say everything was perfect for the Mets. They had some short starts, and their bullpen has been getting taxed as a result. That means they desperately needed length from Carlos Carrasco. Carrasco would deliver.

Arguably, it was the best performance by Carrasco as a member of the Mets. He pitched 7.0 innings, which was the second most innings he’s thrown in a start, and he struck out a season high 10 batters. He did that while getting the key outs he needed in the big spots.

Entering the bottom of the third, the Mets were up 3-0 largely because Blake Snell could not find the strike zone early on. After Starling Marte stole second with two outs, Snell would walk three consecutive to force in a run, then Eduardo Escobar hit a two RBI single giving the Mets a 3-0 lead. It was not the last time we would hear from him.

As alluded to above, Carrasco got into trouble in the third. It started with a Jorge Alfaro lead-off double past a non-moving J.D. Davis, who got the surprise start at first. Alfaro scored on a Jurickson Profar RBI single. On the play, Mark Canha didn’t come close to getting Alfaro. Tomas Nido read it perfectly, and he came up firing to first to pick off Profar. With that, the rally was stymied to just one run.

The Mets began tacking on runs from there.

In the fourth, Escobar continued his hot hitting with a lead-off single, and he would eventually score on a Brandon Nimmo RBI single. In the fifth, Alonso reached on a Manny Machado error, and he moved to third on a Canha two out double before scoring on a sacrifice fly.

To their credit, the Padres just didn’t go away. In the seventh, Nomar Mazara hit a two out double scoring Ha-Seong Kim from first. Carrasco got out of the inning and ended his night by striking Alfaro.

The Mets would extend their lead in the eighth. Again, it was courtesy of Escobar, who would hit a two run homer to extend the Mets lead to 7-2:

As noted, the Padres wouldn’t go away. In the bottom of the eighth, they went to work against Joely Rodriguez. If you wanted, you could question Buck Showalter going to him, but with a five run lead and a depleted bullpen, you go to Rodriguez in these spots. He allowed two on with one out before Showalter went to Drew Smith.

Smith would get Machado, but he would get tagged by Luke Voit for a three run homer. Suddenly, a 7-2 impending blowout was now a game in question. Well, it wouldn’t be for long.

You see while the Padres refused to go away, the Mets refused to keep this game close.

In his second inning of work, the Mets would rock Craig Stammen beginning with an opposite field one out single by Pete Alonso. After Canha singled, the Padres brought in Tim Hill. Hill would easily dispatch of Davis, but Escobar got a hold of one. Escobar didn’t hit it out of the park, but he would hit that deep right foot wall.

After it ricocheted off the wall, he would himself with a two out two RBI double. More than that, it was the triple he needed for the cycle. It was the first since Scott Hairston in 2012 and the 11th in team history.

The Mets weren’t actually done scoring. Jeff McNeil would double home Escobar. That would set the stage for Tomas Nido who is a monster with two outs and runners in scoring position. Tonight would be no different. As McNeil took off towards third, Nido shot the ball down the third base line driving home a run. With that single, it was 11-5.

That was once too much for the Padres, who didn’t have any fight left in the ninth. With the huge lead, Showalter opted for a second inning of Drew Smith instead of using Edwin Diaz. After the huge top of the ninth, it was no longer a save situation allowing the Mets to save him for another fight. Smith set the side down in order.

Even with the Padres giving everything they had, the Mets were just flat out better. If you wanted a litmus test to see how good the Mets are and can be, here it is.

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