The New York Mets (43-51) beat the Minnesota Twins (58-35) by a final of 3-2 on Tuesday night to kick off the first half of a two-game series, stretching their current winning streak to three games – their highest mark dating back to a four-game sweep of the Nationals in late May. (Box Score)
Offense
The Mets came out swinging early and often against Michael Pineda, as Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto each singled before advancing on a wild pitch. McNeil promptly scored on a sacrifice fly to center field off the bat of Robinson Cano, with Conforto crossing the plate three pitches later thanks to a two-out error at second base by Jonathan Schoop.
Conforto singled again in the third before laying on another RBI knock in the fifth, this time plating Amed Rosario to extend the Mets’ lead to three.
Another single from Conforto in the eighth would be the Mets’ only hit from the sixth inning on. A Pete Alonso walk and subsequent passed ball put men in scoring position with one out against Blake Parker, but the Mets ran themselves into a 1-5-2-5 double play on a fielder’s choice grounder by Cano.
Against Twins’ pitching on the night, the Mets put together just five opportunities to score with men in scoring position, with Conforto accounting for four of the team’s seven hits. Since the start of the second half, Alonso, Dominic Smith, Todd Frazier, and Wilson Ramos have combined for just eight hits in 55 at-bats.
Pitching
Steven Matz made an adequate return to the starting rotation, tossing four innings while allowing two earned runs on five hits across 68 pitches (38 strikes). Having gone nearly a month since his last outing of more than two frames, the lefty was handled with a 75-pitch limit.
The Twins’ first spot on Matz came in the bottom of the third, when Schoop lifted a changeup over the right field wall for a leadoff home run. Matz has now allowed a longball in 13 of his 17 starts this year, a significant uptick from his position in 2018 (nine homers through his first 17 appearances).
Minnesota again threatened in the fourth after Eddie Rosario singled and C.J. Cron doubled him over to third. The former scored on a Max Kepler groundout to make it a one-run game, but a botched double steal after Schoop was intentionally walked stranded Cron at third to end the inning and keep Matz ahead.
Mickey Callaway turned to Robert Gsellman to kick off a five-inning relief effort, but was quickly pressed to make a change after Gsellman walked Jason Castro and hit Jorge Polanco with a loose slider. The righty was briefly spared after Marwin Gonzalez lined into an unassisted double play (courtesy of Pete Alonso), but exited shortly thereafter with a walk to Nelson Cruz.
In his stead, lefty Luis Avilan pitched to a white-hot Rosario, inducing a weak groundout to second on four pitches to escape the threat. He recorded the first two outs in the sixth as well, but was lifted in favor of Jeurys Familia following a walk to Miguel Sano. Familia worked a groundout from Schoop to again contain Minnesota.
Justin Wilson worked a spotless seventh on the back of three groundouts. Just one of the 11 batters he’s faced since returning from the injured list has reached base.
Seth Lugo stifled the Twins in a scoreless eighth, striking out two while allowing only one hit (the only Twins hit after the fourth) on 13 pitches.
Edwin Diaz walked a tightrope in the bottom of the ninth, walking pinch-hitter Luis Arraez on 11 pitches and allowing a scorch hit from Mitch Garver to put the tying run in scoring position with one out. Diaz knuckled down to induce a lazy flyout to center off the bat of Polanco before Gonzalez tapped an infield hit in front of Frazier to load the bases.
In a do-or-die at-bat against Cruz, Diaz ran the count full before working a foul popout between third and home plate to cap off a 33-pitch inning and seal his 21st save of the season.
On Deck
The Mets will go back for another matchup with the Twins tomorrow afternoon on SNY. Veteran lefty Jason Vargas will make the start against Martin Perez. First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 PM EST.
