The Mets appeared to be on the verge of dropping their third straight game to the Texas Rangers on Wednesday night after falling behind 5-3 in the eighth inning. Then DJ Stewart came to the plate. After already hitting a home run in the second inning, Stewart launched a two-run shot to bring the Mets back even.
With the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth, Stewart came to the plate again with a chance to win the game against Aroldis Chapman. Chapman’s first pitch fastball hit Stewart in the elbow to give the Mets a dramatic 6-5 victory.
![](https://metsmerizedonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/USATSI_21309587-scaled.jpg)
Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports
It was another terrific night at the plate for Stewart, who is making his case for a spot on the 2024 roster. He hit his eighth home run of the season in the second inning before connecting on his second homer of the night in the eighth. He also made a terrific catch on a ball at the wall in the top of the ninth inning to rob Marcus Semien of what could have been at least an RBI double to give Texas the lead right back.
DJ Stewart is doing it all for the Mets. After tying the game with his second homer of the day, he makes a tremendous catch to rob Marcus Semien at the wall!
pic.twitter.com/IJSmARDLMD— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) August 31, 2023
“I feel really good about the work that I’m putting in in the cage,” Stewart told SNY’s Steve Gelbs following the win. “I’m confident that it’s working … When you’re confident and you go into the box, it slows down for you.”
Denyi Reyes, who was making just his third MLB start, had what was easily the best game of his career. The right-hander went 5 1/3 innings allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out three against a Rangers offense that trails just the Atlanta Braves in team batting average. Despite the bullpen letting the lead get away to cost Reyes his first MLB win, the start was still an encouraging outing for the Dominican pitcher.
Sean Reid-Foley, who was celebrating his 28th birthday, came into the game in the sixth inning with a runner on base. The first three batters he faced all drew walks on 3-2 pitches to bring in the Rangers’ second run of the night and close the book on Reyes, but he struck out Mitch Garver and Jonah Heim to strand the bases loaded with the lead intact.
Brooks Raley came into the game in the eighth with the Mets leading by a run, but allowed all three batters he faced to reach base before departing for Adam Ottavino. Ottavino nearly got out of the inning with the game tied after a 1-2-3 double play, but a base hit from Heim put the Rangers ahead 5-3.
After the bullpen struggled following Reyes’ departure, Jeff Brigham pitched two scoreless innings in the ninth and tenth to earn his first win as a Met. The Rangers loaded the bases in the tenth, but the recently recalled right-hander got out of the jam thanks to a lineout and a 3-2-4 double play got the Mets out of the inning unscathed.
Alonso starts a brilliant double play to keep Texas off the board in the 10th!
pic.twitter.com/F7tthHx1A3— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) August 31, 2023
The Mets got the scoring started with three runs in the bottom of the second inning thanks to their two hottest power hitters of late. Daniel Vogelbach and Stewart connected for back-to-back home runs before Brandon Nimmo added a third run with an RBI ground-rule double. Vogelbach’s homer was his 13th of the season, and his eighth in his past 28 games. It appeared the Mets were in for a big offensive night against Dane Dunning, but they would not score again until Stewart’s eighth-inning blast.
Twice in the game, the Mets lost a run due to a ground-rule double. Nimmo’s double would have been a two-run triple had it not bounced over the wall, but the ball just cleared, and the Mets were unable to cash in those two runners. In the fifth inning, Jeff McNeil ripped a ball down the right field line that would have scored Francisco Lindor, but it also hopped over the wall to stop Lindor at third base. Just like in the second inning, the Mets failed to get those runners in. It seemed those runs would come back to haunt the Mets before Stewart’s late game heroics.
With the win, the Mets moved to 61-73. They finished the month of August with an 11-18 record.
Player of the Game: DJ Stewart
What more can be said about DJ Stewart at this point? He added two more home runs, including a game-tying homer in the eighth inning, made a potential game-saving catch in the ninth, and took a fastball to the elbow from Chapman in the tenth to win the game.
“I’ve faced him a lot with Baltimore and not much success, so if he’s going to give it to me, I’m going to take it,” Stewart said of the walk-off hit-by-pitch.
Stewart became the first Met to hit eight home runs in 13 games since Neil Walker in 2016. He is hitting .279/.364/.651 on the season with nine home runs in just 86 at-bats.
Players in Mets history to have at least 8 HR in a 13-game span:
DJ Stewart
Neil Walker
Yoenis Céspedes
Lucas Duda
Carlos Delgado
David Wright
Mike Cameron
Mike Piazza
Robin Ventura
Todd Hundley
Jeff Kent
Howard Johnson
Darryl Strawberry
Gary Carter
Dave Kingman
Lee…— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) August 31, 2023
On Deck
The Mets return to action on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. ET when they take on the Seattle Mariners. Kodai Senga (10-7, 3.17 ERA) will make the start for the Mets. The Mariners do not have a starting pitcher listed, but Rye, NY native George Kirby (10-8, 3.28 ERA) is a possible starter after being scratched from his Tuesday start due to illness.
Senga, whose start was pushed back one game to get extra rest, struck out 10 Angels over 6 2/3 innings in his last start. Senga has thrown quality starts in five of his last six starts and fell one out short of recording a quality start in the lone non-quality start.
The Mets reportedly will be calling up Ronny Mauricio for the game on Friday according to Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase. Mauricio hit .303/.373/.586 in August with eight stolen bases and 11 walks with Triple-A Syracuse.
The Mariners, who are tied with the Houston Astros for first place in the AL West and one game ahead of the Rangers, won 21 games in August, the most in a single month in franchise history. They trailed the Rangers by 10 games in the AL West race, but have moved into first place with their historic month.
The game can be streamed on Apple TV+, and the radio call will be on WCBS 880.