Mets Take Fifth Straight Series; Win 6-2 Over Sloppy Dbacks

The New York Mets (12-5) concluded their three game series in Arizona at Chase Field on Sunday afternoon with a 6-2 victory over the Diamondbacks (6-10). Tylor Megill was able to bounce back and outduel Madison Bumgarner in a strong performance. Offensively, New York totaled 10 hits and forced three Arizona errors en route to victory. The Mets finished up their season series against the Diamondbacks with a 4-2 record.

New York struck early as Mark Canha, hitting leadoff for the first time this season, began the game with an infield single. He was able to advance to second courtesy of a throwing error by Sergio Alcántara. Francisco Lindor then lined a single with a 3-2 count to drive Canha home. The Mets led 1-0 headed to the bottom of the first inning.

Megill cruised through the first two innings. He struck out four of the first six Diamondback hitters and did not allow a hit. Arizona finally registered a hit in the third and had two men on with two outs. Megill responded with his fifth strike out of the game. The Mets still led 1-0 after three innings.

Megill was not able to avoid trouble in the fourth inning. Christian Walker hit a 467 foot solo home run. It was clocked at 110.5 MPH off the bat. This left the Mets and Diamondbacks were tied at one after four innings.

The Mets took the lead back in the top of the sixth inning. Starling Marte hit a double then stole third for his 300th career stolen base. During this sequence, the throw got by Alcantara at third and went down the line. Marte came home and gave the Mets a 2-1 lead heading to the bottom of the sixth inning. Worth pointing out, this was the first half inning without Bumgarner in the game.

The Mets were able to generate some insurance in the seventh. After the bases were loaded courtesy of a walk, base hit, and hit by pitch, Travis Jankowski drove in his first run as a Met. He did so without even swinging the bat, as he was walked on four pitches. The Mets got one more run before the inning ended as Marte was plunked. The second hit batsman of the inning led to a 4-1 lead for the Mets going to the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Diamondbacks got a run back in the bottom half of the seventh. A Geraldo Perdomo double, followed by a Nick Ahmed base hit cut the Mets’ lead to 4-2. This also spelled the end to Megill’s bounce back appearance. After some struggles against San Francisco, he pitched 6 2/3 innings and only gave up five hits and two runs. He also struck out seven while only walking one.

The Mets added two more runs in the eighth inning. One courtesy of a 391 foot solo home run from J.D. Davis and the second via another Diamondback error. After a Luis Guillorme double, a ground ball off the bat of James McCann bounced off Alcantara’s glove and went into the outfield. This brought Guillorme home for the sixth and final Mets’ run of the game.

Seth Lugo and Joely Rodríguez finished off the game for New York. Lugo pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings while Rodríguez pitched a scoreless ninth inning where he struck out two.

Player of the Game: Starling Marte

Marte hit a career milestone with his 300th stolen base of his career in the sixth inning. In doing so, he also manufactured the Mets’ second run of the game. His speed is already paying off for the Mets immensely this season. Marte also ended up driving in a run after getting hit by a pitch. He finished the game 1-for-4 with a run driven in a run of his own and a stolen base.

On Deck:

The New York Mets will travel to St. Louis to start a three game series tomorrow night against the Cardinals (9-5). The pitching matchup of game one of the series is scheduled to be Max Scherzer (2.50 ERA) versus Miles Mikolas (1.76 ERA). The Mets are expected to see former pitcher Steven Matz on Wednesday afternoon.