Richard Hidalgo
It was supposed to be a doubleheader, but with the rain the best laid plans were washed out. With MLB not looking to schedule a triple-header for the Marlins last series at Citi Field, we waited over five hours for Mets baseball.
Zack Wheeler was worth the wait.
He needed just 35 pitches to get through the first four. With his dominance, he had a chance at The Maddux.
He was in that position partially because he induced Lewis Brinson to hit into an inning ending double play. With that 5-4-3 double play, Wheeler escaped a bases loaded jam.
Astonishingly, with Wheeler only throwing 89 pitches over eight innings, he didn’t get a chance to get the complete game. Paul Sewald would close this one out.
Wheeler’s incredible final line was 8.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K.
Wheeler got the win because the Mets offense exploded.
Dominic Smith started a second inning rally with a leadoff double off Marlins starter Trevor Richards. He’d score on a double by the worst player in the National League.
Brian Anderson made an error on a Tomas Nido grounder to make it 2-0. Nido scored on a Jeff McNeil triple.
.@JeffMcNeil805 can fly.
Not literally. But almost. ??? pic.twitter.com/zxjZaFSlgz
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 13, 2018
It was another big game for McNeil. For the third time over the past week, he had a three hit game. Overall, he was 3-for-4 with a run, triple, and three RBI.
Speaking of hot hitters, Amed Rosario absolutely launched a three run homer in the fourth:
.@Amed_Rosario clearly hit the weight room during today's rain delay.
Off the second deck! ??? pic.twitter.com/bPkEgWrhlw
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 13, 2018
Up 6-0, things would get completely out of hand on the sixth. The Marlins played terrible defense (no errors charged), and the Mets sent 11 batters to the plate.
The two big blows of the inning was a Jay Bruce grand slam and a Dom two run homer. All said and done, it was a seven run inning turning this into a 13-0 route.
It was just a brilliant performance by the Mets all around. It was the kind of performances we saw in April. We’re seeing them again now, and on nights like this, we can believe it’ll happen in 2019.
Game Notes: Michael Conforto‘s streak of three straight games with a homer was snapped leaving Richard Delgado‘s franchise best five game streak in tact.