The New York Mets bounced back and defeated the Miami Marlins by a score of 7-0 tonight at Marlins Park. The win puts them back at 15 games over .500.
Pitching:
Bartolo Colon got the start for the Mets riding a sixteen inning scoreless streak, and all he did on Saturday night was toss another nine scoreless innings to shutout the Marlins and extend his streak to 25. This guy is unbelievable.
Colon walked none and scattered nine hits, eight of them singles, while striking out two. The veteran right-hander earned his team-leading 13th win of the season. It was such a fun game to watch.
I can’t even imagine where this team would be right now without Bartolo. Not only for what he has done on the mound, but for what he has meant to a young rotation with pitchers who all look up to him.
The highlight of the night for me was when Bartolo Colon fielded a grounder by Justin Bour in the bottom of the sixth and then flipped it to Eric Campbell at first base from behind his back for the final out of the inning. I swear there is nothing this man can’t do.
Offense:
The Mets struck early when after a single by David Wright and a walk by Yoenis Cespedes, catcher Travis d’Arnaud blasted a three-run homer to deep center field to put the Mets up 3-0 in the first. Then on the very next pitch, boom… shortly Wilmer Flores deposited another home run over the wall to make it 4-0.
In the second inning, after Eric Young Jr. was hit by a pitch, Juan Lagares hit a two-run homer and just like that the Mets were now leading 6-0.
A single by Cespedes and a four pitch walk to Juan Uribe and that was it for Marlins starter Brad Hand. But the hit parade continued as red-hot d’Arnaud greeted new pitcher Andre Rienzo with an RBI single. So after two innings the Mets led 7-0 and that’s how it would end for the Amazins. Juan Lagares, David Wright and Travis d’Arnaud each had a pair of hits.
Thoughts:
All of my regular recap guys were off tonight, so unfortunately you guys were stuck with me. My apologies if this recap was out of sync, it’s been a while.
On a night when the team received the bombshell news about Matt Harvey, I give these guys not a ton of credit, but a hundred tons of credit for how they went out there and played their hearts out tonight.
The team was sharp, focused and determined to put the somber news behind them as well as bouncing back from a disheartening loss on Friday night.
As I’ve said numerous times this season, this is one of the most resilient teams I’ve ever seen. The way they bounce back from adversity time and time again is to be commended.
I love this team. I love their make up. I love their chemistry. And I love the entire composition of the clubhouse. What a great group of guys.
This was a pretty significant win even against a poor team like the Marlins. They needed this. Unfortunately, the Washington Nationals won as well tonight so everything remains the same in the standings with the Mets maintaining their five game lead.
Onward and upward…
On Deck:
On Sunday the Mets and Marlins will play the rubber match of their three-game series with rookie Steven Matz (2-0, 1.32) going up against Jarred Cosart (1-4, 5.36) in a 1:10 PM matinee at Marlins Park.
