The Mets blew a multitude of opportunities, going 1-13 with runners in scoring position, and Edwin Diaz blew another save. However, Noah Syndergaard dominated with trade rumors swirling around him, and the Mets ultimately prevailed as Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto provided back-to-back home runs in the 11th inning to fuel the Mets over the White Sox by a score of 5-2.
Offense
The Mets got a threat going almost immediately against Reynaldo Lopez as after McNeil lined out to center field, Conforto singled, and Pete Alonso walked to put two runners on with one out. Unfortunately, Robinson Cano and Wilson Ramos were unable to reach base and the threat ended.
The Mets would be able to score in the second inning, however, as back-to-back singles by Todd Frazier and Amed Rosario put runners on first and third with one out. Rosario then stole second base, and it’s a good thing he did, as Tomas Nido hit what could have been a double play ball. Instead, it was an RBI groundout and the Mets took a 1-0 lead.
After a baserunner here and there in the third and fourth innings, Conforto led off the fifth with a walk. Alonso then ripped a single the opposite way to put runners on first and third for Cano, who hit a high chopper to second base. Yolmer Sanchez had to make a great snag to his left, fielding the ball above his head, to prevent the ball from going into the outfield, but it was not hit hard enough to turn a double play. Conforto scored to make it 2-0 Mets.
After Ramos grounded out, moving Alonso to third, J.D. Davis was hit by a pitch and Frazier walked to load the bases with two outs. That brought Rosario to the plate, who already had two 0-2 count opposite-field singles on the day. Amed bounced one near the pitcher’s mound and almost had an RBI infield single, but was thrown out by half a step to end the threat and the inning.
Lopez was done for the White Sox after 5.1 innings, having allowed two earned runs on six hits and four walks, striking out six. He featured great stuff but lackluster command, leading to those four walks and 103 pitches in just those 5.1 innings.
He was lifted for lefty Jace Fry to face McNeil and Conforto and got the job done, as while McNeil slapped a two-strike hit to left field (his first hit since getting a puppy), he got his former college teammate Conforto to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.
After a roller-coaster bottom of the eighth inning to keep the 2-1 lead, the Mets looked to get an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning.
McNeil led off with a bullet to deep center field that was run down for the first out. Conforto then grounded out for the second out of the inning but Alonso slapped his first pitch past a diving shortstop for his second hit of the day. Cano then grounded out to first base, making him 0-for-his-last-20 — the longest hitless streak of his career.
After Edwin Diaz blew the save in the bottom of the ninth inning, the Mets had to face elite and underrated closer Alex Colome in the top of the tenth. They couldn’t get anything off him though, going down one-two-three on 15 pitches.
Rosario led off the top of the 11th with a single, and advanced to second on a sac bunt by Nido. The White Sox then brought in lefty Josh Osich to to try and retire McNeil and Conforto, but he promptly gave up back-to-back home runs, giving the Mets a 5-2 lead.
Pitching
Despite the countless trade rumors surrounding him, Syndergaard was unfazed, carrying a no-hitter into the fifth inning. Ryan Goins broke up the bid with a leadoff double in the fifth but he would retire the next three hitters, two of them via strikeouts on impossible pitches — Eloy Jimenez looking at an 89 mph curveball on the outside corner (which would have been called a ball if not for a brilliant Tomas Nido frame job) and Tim Anderson swinging at a 99.8 mph fastball.
Syndergaard ran into trouble in the sixth inning as a single, stolen base, another single and another stolen base put runners on second and third with one out.
Trying to preserve the shutout, Thor struck out Jon Jay on four pitches, bringing the White Sox’s best hitter Jose Abreu to the plate. Syndergaard got Abreu to hit a routine chopper to third which would have ended the inning if it hadn’t been botched by Frazier, allowing a run to score. Syndergaard got the next batter to ground out to a surer-handed Pete Alonso to end the inning.
Having thrown only 83 pitches entering the 8th inning, Syndergaard was going strong when he was ambushed to start the 8th by Yolmer Sanchez who ripped a single, his second hit of the day.
After a long battle with Adam Engel, Engel prevailed with a base hit to left field. Sanchez was running on the pitch and was able to advance to third, but the throw in from McNeil hit Sanchez in the back, allowing Engel to advance to second. McNeil received a tough-luck error and Frazier took a spike to the knee, ripping his pants and exposing a cut. Everyone stayed in the game.
With runners on second and third and nobody out, and both Seth Lugo and Justin Wilson ready in the bullpen, Callaway decided to keep Thor in the game. Leury Garcia struck out on a masterful slider down and in for the first out of the inning, bringing lefty Jay to the plate. Having thrown 97 pitches, Syndergaard was removed at this point in favor of a lefty-lefty matchup.
Jay bunted the first pitch up in the air but still perfectly placed, so while Alonso pounced on the ball quickly enough to keep the lead runner at third, Jay was able to hustle down to first to load the bases with out a throw.
Lugo came in to face Abreu with the bases loaded and one out, Syndergaard responsible for the lead two runners and Wilson for the runner on first. After throwing five straight fastballs, on a 2-2 count, he got Abreu to check swing and miss at a devastating curveball in the dirt — or at least he would have but third base umpire Mark Wegner said Abreu didn’t go. Now with a full count and the tying run on third with the bases loaded, it was crunch time for Lugo.
After a foul ball, Lugo jammed Abreu with a fastball, inducing a ground ball to Frazier who threw it to Cano for one and over to Alonso, who made a great pick in the dirt to save the inning, for two. Inning over.
Noah Syndergaard’s final line: 7.1 innings, five hits, one unearned run, one walk, 11 strikeouts. He lowered his season ERA to 4.10 and his FIP to 3.48.
Diaz came in for the save chance and walked the first batter on five pitches before coming back to strike out Jimenez on three fastballs, the last of which on the outside corner at 100 mph. It’s worth noting the first two fastballs were not close to the strike zone but Jimenez swung anyways. Now with one out, James McCann watched a 99 mph fastball sail high over Tomas Nido to the backstop, sending the tying run to second.
Later in the at-bat, Diaz went up and in on McCann and hit him in the shoulder (and grazed his nose but he was fine) to put runners on first and second with one out. The clutch Anderson came up and before he could swing at anything, a 92 mph slider trickled past Nido allowing both runners to advance. That hurt because Anderson flew the next pitch out to center field, where Aaron Altherr (not Juan Lagares, who easily has a better arm) caught it and threw wide to home plate, allowing the tying run to score but the winning run stayed at second.
An intentional walk brought Engel to the plate with two on and two out, and after working the count full, he swung and missed at a fastball up and out of the strike zone to end the inning. For Diaz, it was another blown save in a game during which he seemed completely and utterly lost, having no idea where the ball would go or what it would do.
Robert Gsellman was the unsung hero of this game, coming in in the 10th inning and retiring all six batters he faced, easily securing the 5-2 win.
On Deck
The Mets will send reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Jacob deGrom (6-7, 2.86 ERA) to the mound to face off against Lucas Giolito (11-5, 3.52 ERA) and the White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 PM ET at Guaranteed Rate Field.
