Peter Alonso
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.
For the faint of heart, Jacob deGrom took the mound against the Atlanta Braves. Despite everyone signing off on his starting, and deGrom saying he was good to go, people were nervous.
As it turns out, it was the Atlanta Braves who should’ve been nervous as deGrom was deGrom. As is usual, he had the look of a perfect game. Speaking of look, deGrom was the first pitcher checked for sticky substances as per MLB protocols.
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 21, 2021
The Braves didn’t get a base runner until the third when deGrom seemed to lose focus and walk the opposing pitcher, Kyle Muller. The Braves wouldn’t get a hit until the fifth. Part of the reason was deGrom’s pitching, and as it turns out, his defense.
This man is literally unbelievable. ? pic.twitter.com/PeE8ck627q
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 21, 2021
Things did get a little dicey there. deGrom walked Guillermo Heredia on four pitches. Two pitches later, Kevan Smith hit a fly ball to deep left center. There was a miscommunication of sorts between Dominic Smith and Albert Almora Jr. leading to the ball to drop.
Fortunately for the Mets, it went over the wall for an automatic double. If not, chances are Heredia scores there. Pablo Sandoval popped out to end the inning and the Braves only chance against deGrom.
At that time, the Mets lead 1-0 due to the legs of Jonathan Villar.
After leading off the bottom of the first with a walk, he went to second when Francisco Lindor tried to push a bunt through the shift. It was ruled a sacrifice. After Villar advanced on a Smith fly out, he scored on a Muller wild pitch.
It was that way until the bottom of the fifth. Unfortunately, the rally was started when Braves reliever Shane Greene plunked Tomas Nido. It looked to come off his wrist, and it knocked Nido out of the game.
We’d see deGrom come out of the game next, but that was for a pinch hitter. Jeff McNeil was activated off the IL, and he hit a single off the first pitch he saw. After a Villar single, the bases were loaded with two outs.
Greene fell behind Lindor 3-0, and Lindor jumped on the pitch but he flew out to shallow right. With the Braves bringing in the left-handed Sean Newcomb to face Smith. The move backfired as Smith hit a bases clearing double to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
.@TheRealSmith2_ clears the bases! #LGM pic.twitter.com/9aCyo009np
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 21, 2021
After the inning, Smith took over at first with the Mets double switching Pete Alonso out of the game. It appeared to be a move to get Seth Lugo to finish the final two innings.
That plan went by the wayside in what was a screwy inning. Initially, it seemed Lugo hit Ronald Acuña Jr. with a 1-2 pitch. After Acuña was awarded first, the Mets asked for replay.
Not only did the pitch not hit Acuña, but it hit the knob of his bat. With James McCann securing the foul tip, it went from the lead-off hitter reaching to a strikeout. The replay and subsequent discussion took time which Gary Cohen later suggested threw Lugo off a bit.
Freddie Freeman walked, and then Ozzie Albies hit a two run homer to pull the Braves to within 4-2. Lugo rebounded from there, and Edwin Diaz mowed down the Braves in order for his 15th save of the season.
All-in-all, this was a great first game of the doubleheader. deGrom was great, healthy, and he set more records. The Mets got a big hit with insurance runs. Ultimately, they got the 4-2 win.
Game Notes: deGrom has 12 straight starts allowing one run or fewer. He also has 30 consecutive shut out innings.
The New York Mets had an opportunity to effectively end the Washington Nationals season. Instead, they lost three of four:
1. The Mets have been bad on the road. They’re actually 94 season loss pace (.421 winning percentage) on the road. That needs to change.
2. David Peterson took another step back, but as is par for the course, he’ll stay in the rotation due to injuries.
3. Joey Lucchesi had another strong start, but now, he’s down with elbow inflammation. With this stretch of games and the Mets pitching depth, this could be a devastating injury.
4. The whole bench mob thing has been fun, but the Mets showed how much they need their top guys back. Jeff McNeil coming back now couldn’t have come at a better time.
5. For as obsessed as the Washington Nationals social media team is with Francisco Lindor, he certainly shut them up with a huge game.
6. Luis Guillorme may not be hitting the ball, but he’s finding a way on base. It’ll be interesting to see what that means going forward with McNeil returning and Jonathan Villar slumping.
7. Guess Kyle Schwarber got his revenge for the 2015 NLDS.
8. You can criticize Luis Rojas here and there, but bringing Edwin Diaz into a scoreless game in the ninth isn’t one of those times. It doesn’t matter who he’s relieving.
9. Take it for the little it’s worth, but Pete Alonso is a step behind where he was last year when everyone thought he had a disappointing season.
10. Sean Reid-Foley finally had a bad game. The key now is for it to be an isolated incident.
11. The other part of the Steven Matz trade, Yennsy Diaz looked very impressive. It’ll be interesting to see if he gets more of a look.
12. It doesn’t matter how good Reid-Foley and Diaz are looking, with the Mets starters dropping like flies, the Mets really needed Matz this year. Yes, that’s even with his hitting the IL himself.
13. If all the doctors say he’s good to go, and Jacob deGrom feels good, then let him pitch. We’ll all still be nervous, but that’s not a good reason to skip a start.
14. After Bob Brenly mocked Marcus Stroman‘s du-rag, not only didn’t the Arizona Diamondbacks opt to not discipline him, but they then went on to lose 17 straight.
15. Hopefully, Steve Cohen seeking out to talk with Stroman is just laying the ground stages for an extension. Stroman has been great, and he’s built for New York.
16. While the weekend was lost, something good came out of it when Cohen stated his willingness to blow past the luxury tax. That’s a very nice change of pace.
17. If this now classifies as a bad start for Taijuan Walker, he’s an even better signing than we all thought.
18. The Mets two main issues in this series were bullpen and offense. The bullpen will get rest soon, and offensive reinforcements are on the way. The Mets will be fine.
19. The Mets may regret not mercy killing the Nationals when they have starting pitching available. Seeing how stubborn they are, they moved closer to not selling.
20. The Mets have a four game set against the Atlanta Braves, and they lead them by five games in the division. They can’t afford a repeat of what happened in Washington.
After the Chicago Cubs swept the New York Mets at Wrigley, the Mets nearly returned the favor at Citi Field:
1. It all begins and ends with Jacob deGrom. If he’s healthy, he and the Mets are unbeatable. Right now, he’s not healthy.
2. Another important thing is no one knows what’s wrong. We just lived the era of Jeff Wilpon, MD. Let’s let the professionals actually call the shots.
3. Marcus Stroman picked up the slack with seven great innings. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for the win, but with the bullpen innings saved, it may mean one down the road.
4. That David Peterson start was huge, but he’s had those moments. The real key for him is consistency.
5. The Mets are usually known for the worst free agent signing. With Taijuan Walker, it’s nice seeing the Mets make the best one for once.
6. On that note, Kevin Pillar has been much better than advertised. It’s not just the offense and defense. It’s the grit.
7. Pete Alonso is great, but he has his moments where he tries to do way too much. Sometimes,he needs to take instead of jumping out of his heels. It’s why that AN was a sacrifice fly.
8. Its a tough spot for Drew Smith, but if you’re brought in to mop it up, don’t make a game of it. That’s how you eventually lose a roster spot.
9. The Dellin Betances rehab assignment has the feel of the old David Wright ones.
10. Luis Guillorme‘s ability to transfer is at another level, and as we saw with the play at the plate, it’s game changing.
11. Billy McKinney continues to play well. It appears he may need to hold the fort down just a little longer.
12. The new rules, or better put, efforts to enforce the rules, is merely a deflection from the change in the ball. It also has the added benefit for MLB to have a bargaining chip for the impending CBA talks.
13. Knock on wood, but so far, we’re not seeing any change in performance for Mets pitchers. We’ll see if that continues when enforcement officially begins.
14. With all these games bunched up, Sean Reid-Foley suddenly becomes massively important. His stepping in for deGrom is a sign of the value he can provide to this team
15. For all that narrative about the Mets not beating over .500 teams, they just took five of seven from the San Diego Padres and Chicago Cubs.
16. Again, you win with pitching a defense. The Mets have the best FIP and second best DRS. If that continues, they’ll continue to win.
17. The Mets have an opportunity to absolutely bury the Washington Nationals and force them to be sellers. They may be tired, but they can’t miss this chance.
18. Last time deGrom was the Mets only All-Star was 2015. That’s a good omen, but odds are the Mets will get a few pitchers.
19. Dominic Smith seems more comfortable in the OF, and he’s working counts, but he needs to pick it up.
20. The Mets have the largest lead in baseball, and they’re not really playing well yet. This team is scary good.
The New York Mets sought to complete a four game sweep of the Chicago Cubs. It was just the rare story of the Mets getting outpitched.
What makes it frustrating was Marcus Stroman was superb. After he allowed a two run homer to Javier Baez in the first, he just completely and utterly shut down the Cubs allowing just two more hits.
Stroman’s final line was 7.0 innings, four hits, two earned, one walk, and eight strikeouts. This should’ve been good enough to win, but he didn’t.
The reason was Kyle Hendricks, a very good starter in his own right, was just better than Stroman. That’s partially because while Baez got the big hit for the Cubs, the Mets didn’t get that big hit.
While Hendricks allowed just two hits and two walks over seven innings, the Mets STILL had their chances. In fact, there were three good ones which went nowhere.
Jonathan Villar doubled to lead off the first. Billy McKinney hit a one out double in the second. Both would be stranded.
In the fourth, Hendricks got himself into trouble waking Pete Alonso and Dominic Smith to start the inning. That rally fizzled when James McCann hit into a double play.
And that was it. The Mets wouldn’t get another base runner. The Cubs didn’t do much of anything either, but that didn’t matter as much to them as they already got their two runs in the first.
In the end, the Mets still took three of four and they’ve won five of seven from the Padres and Cubs. That’s not a bad stretch.
Game Notes: This was the second straight start Stroman struck out eight. That’s his season high, and he’s done that four times this year.
While we’re seeing pitchers struggling after MLB declaring they’re cracking down on sticky substances, Taijuan Walker just went out there and had a big start against the Chicago Cubs. It was the best start from the best free agent signing.
Over 7.0 innings, Walker allowed two earned on five hits and zero walks while he had a career high 12 strikeouts. The only blemish was a third inning two run homer by Javier Baez.
Career high 1⃣2⃣ K night for @tai_walker. ??? pic.twitter.com/Gm9AAjIxxL
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 16, 2021
Walker partially had a good start because there was excellent defense behind him. Dominic Smith made a leaping catch into the wall robbing Willson Contreras in the third. Jonathan Villar went in the hole and made the play on a ball Joc Pederson hit against the shift.
Jonathan Villar & Pete Alonso.
There when you need them. pic.twitter.com/kJC0SV0A3Q
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 16, 2021
After the Cubs scored their two in the top of the third, the Mets returned serve. Villar drew a one out walk against Alec Mills. After Smith hit a two out double, Pete Alonso tied the score with a two out single.
The next time Alonso stepped to the plate in the fifth he had the opportunity to break the game open. Mills was knocked out of the game, and Cubs reliever, Rex Brothers loaded the bases.
Notably, Smith had a very tough at-bat. After falling down 0-2, he stayed alive, and he drew a walk.
For some reason, even with Brothers losing the zone and falling behind 2-0 to Alonso, Alonso got aggressive. Luckily, Alonso hit a sacrifice fly scoring Villar and putting the Mets ahead 3-2.
Seth Lugo breezed through the Cubs in the eighth, and with Edwin Diaz unavailable, Lugo was being called upon to convert a six out save.
With the Mets rallying in the eighth, that meant Lugo would bat for himself. He went to sacrifice runners to second and third, but he popped up the bunt. Anthony Rizzo let it drop to try to turn the double play.
The plan almost worked. The problem is Lugo busted it out of the box, and Sergio Alcantara dropped the ball. It’s hard to know how much it tired Lugo, and maybe it didn’t at all, but Lugo lost some velocity in the ninth.
Certainly, Lugo struggled in the ninth. It started with a Contreras single, and Jake Marisnick came on as a pinch runner. Eric Sogard then hit a single into the gap.
Kevin Pillar did well to prevent the ball from going into the gap. He made a strong throw back to the infield which normally would have frozen the runners, but Cubs third base coach and perpetual Mets killer Willie Harris got aggressive sending Marisnick.
Luis Guillorme came across, fielded the relay throw, and made a lighting fast transfer as he threw a strike to James McCann. That was a huge play to keep the tying run from scoring.
Pillar to Guillorme to McCann ?
Gary and Keith break down the clutch relay in the 9th inning pic.twitter.com/KQlmrIruhr
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 16, 2021
Lugo might’ve been on fumes, but he had enough left in the tank to strike out Alcantara to end the game. With that, the Mets won another tight game, and they once again did it with pitching and defense.
Game Notes: The Mets were the only team to offer Walker a contract this offseason.
The New York Mets traveled to Baltimore to play the Orioles to complete their nine game road trip. With the split, they finished 5-4:
1. Of course, Kevin Pillar and Mason Williams were the first Mets to go back-to-back. In some ways, that’s the perfect encapsulation of this season.
2. On the subject of homers, Pete Alonso hit three, and he’s heating up just before a temperature check series against the San Diego Padres.
3. Alonso has always been one to speak his mind, and he was right on point when he said the biggest issue is the way MLB changes the ball year-to-year.
4. It’s funny. The Mets really had no choice but to obtain Billy McKinney, but now they suddenly look like geniuses for it.
5. The story of how Kevin Pillar has been a big believer in McKinney, was exited about the acquisition, and picked up McKinney when he joined the team speaks volumes about why this team is performing so well.
6. It’s funny how quickly fans went from why would the Mets sign Pillar to Pillar becoming a fan favorite they fiercely defend has been hilarious. It’s also a sign about all the things Pillar does right on and off the field.
7. While the Mets offensive onslaught felt great, especially the day after the Mets were blown out, some of the joy was taken out of it because it happened against Matt Harvey.
8. At this moment, David Peterson is not an MLB caliber starting pitcher, and it’s unfair to him to keep putting him in a position to fail.
9. No, the Mets don’t have a real answer in Triple-A, and it is going to be tough to navigate this next stretch, but when Peterson has given you 3.0 innings over the last two starts, he’s not going to help you.
10. The Mets desperately need Robert Gsellman to be good. As we saw, when he isn’t, games get way out of hand.
11. The best way for the Mets to navigate things going forward is to get starts like they did from Taijuan Walker.
12. There’s something to be said for Walker and McKinney, two once highly regarded prospects who haven’t lived to expectations, starting to look like the players we thought they would become under Luis Rojas.
13. This is getting way to ahead of ourselves, but McKinney just has this vibe right now where he’s just going to have a really big moment this postseason.
14. McKinney and Ty Kelly are doppelgängers.
15. It was hard to take Ron Darling seriously yesterday when he didn’t have Jacob deGrom atop his pitcher power rankings. In fact, it’s hard to take MLB Network seriously as Darling wasn’t the only one.
16. The baseball card shtick in blowouts works, and Darling and Gary Cohen trading an Andres Gimenez card for a Francisco Lindor was pretty clever.
17. It’s actually amusing the Mets had a game where Alonso and Dominic Smith were both in the lineup and neither played first base.
18. The replay system has become a complete and utter joke. They can’t even manage to get clearly blown calls overturned.
19. Nobody is talking about him, but Cedric Mullens is a phenomenal baseball player who put on a show against the Mets. The All-Star Game is at its best when it gives a player like him a stage to introduce himself to the world, and it’ll be great to see that next month.
20. MLB can keep the Mets down in the power rankings all they want. This is still a first place team.
Game Recaps
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.
5 ABs. 3 HRs. ?
Safe to say Pete is having a good time in Baltimore. pic.twitter.com/kaxmqEThkL
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 9, 2021
Mask off. pic.twitter.com/SiJBXklaEQ
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 10, 2021
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:
- Jonathan Villar 2-5, 2 R, 2 2B
- Francisco Lindor 1-3, R, BB
- Pete Alonso 3-5, 3 R, 2B, HR, 3 RBI
- Dominic Smith 0-5
- James McCann 2-4, 2 R, 2B, BB, RBI
- Billy McKinney 3-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI
- Kevin Pillar 3-4, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
- Mason Williams 2-4, R, HR, RBI
- 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.
The New York Mets couldn’t have gotten off to a better start against the Baltimore Orioles. Before David Peterson took the mound, the Mets had a 2-0 lead off a Pete Alonso two run homer:
?️ PEEEEEETE! pic.twitter.com/FxrT3KT9Pp
— New York Mets (@Mets) June 8, 2021
There were a number of problems from there. Up first was umpiring and replay. Again, the state of umpiring is poor, and the replay system needs to be scrapped.
Ryan Mountcastle hit what should’ve been an inning ending double play. Francisco Lindor‘s throw beat him. James McCann‘s foot was on the bag. Somehow, not only was Mountcastle called safe, but it was upheld on replay. Gary Cohen and Ron Darling justifiably blasted the whole thing:
https://twitter.com/snytv/status/1402408375112110084?s=21
Regardless of the horribly blown call, Peterson escaped the inning unscathed. That wouldn’t be the case in the second when the Orioles scored three or when he was knocked out in the third.
It’s the second straight start Peterson didn’t last three innings. He’s now the sixth time in his 11 starts he failed to go five. His ERA is now 6.32.
While Robert Gsellman stepped up the last time this happened to Peterson, he didn’t here. He allowed four over his 2.1 innings.
At that point, it was 8-2 entering the sixth, and it was all but over. Jacob Barnes and Drew Smith each allowed a run, and Alonso hit another homer in the ninth.
All told, this was a 10-3 loss where just about everything went wrong. That includes the replay. It’s probably just best to forget about it and move on to the next game.
Game Notes: Alonso was the DH with McCann back at first. The last Mets pitcher who failed to go three in consecutive starts was Steven Matz.