Marcus Stroman Dazzles in Mets’ Game 1 Win

After an inspiring 8-7 comeback in the resumed game on Wednesday, the Mets sent Marcus Stroman to the mound in Game 1 of Thursday’s single-admission doubleheader. Stroman, coming off of three consecutive losses, hoped to change the tough luck faced in his last start where he gave up two earned runs in five innings pitched against the Phillies on August 6.

Stroman started the seven-inning game by striking out Victor Robles on three pitches, with Alcides Escobar following with a line out to center fielder Brandon Nimmo for the second out. Stroman then proceeded to walk slugger Juan Soto, then struck out Josh Bell on a 3-2 cutter to end the inning.

Yadiel Hernandez led off the second inning by striking out looking for Stroman’s third strikeout of the day. But next at-bat Stroman surrendered his first hit of the day, a Carter Kieboom single to Brandon Nimmo. Kieboom was then erased on a force out with Luis Garcia batting with the help of some defense of the likes of Jeff McNeil. With catcher Riley Adams batting, Tomas Nido (from his knees) caught Garcia stealing second to end the inning.  

After getting the lead, Stroman dealt a 1-2-3 third inning by striking out Adams on a pitch in the dirt and then got pitcher Sean Nolin swinging for his fourth and fifth strikeouts of the day. Then to end the inning, Robles bunted back to Stroman who threw the ball to first baseman Pete Alonso to retire the side.

Stroman was cruising to start the fourth by striking out Alcides Escobar on a 1-2 slider. Then things looked a little weary when Stroman appeared to hurt himself after fielding a Juan Soto grounder off the first base side of the mound. After getting a visit from Mets manager Luis Rojas and water from pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, Stroman deemed himself to be okay. Bell then lined out to third baseman J.D. Davis to finish Stroman’s second 1-2-3 inning in a row. 

Retiring the last seven batters he’s faced, the fifth inning was no different for Stroman. Hernandez grounded out to the second baseman McNeil to start the inning. Kieboom followed up with the same but instead grounding out to shortstop, Jonathan Villar who threw to Pete Alonso for the out. Garcia was then called out on strikes to end the inning, giving Stroman his seventh strikeout of the day. 

Things started to fall apart for Stroman in the sixth after sitting down the last ten batters he faced. Adams started the inning by drawing a walk. Then pinch-hitter Andrew Stevenson singled to right fielder Michael Conforto, setting up two on and nobody out for Robles.

After a mound visit, Robles doubled in the first run of the game, scoring Adams from second. With the tying run at the plate, Stroman struck out Escobar for the second time for the eighth and final strikeout of his day. With Soto coming up, Luis Rojas calls to his bullpen to bring in trusted reliever Aaron Loup to complete the inning, thus ending Stroman’s day.

Loup walked Soto, but was able to Bell to hit into an inning-ending double play to keep the Mets 2-1 lead and strand the inherited runners.

Marcus Stroman’s final line: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K

The eight strikeouts tied Stroman’s high for the season. The impending free agent lowered his season ERA to 2.79, that’s good enough for ninth in Major League Baseball.

With every game down the stretch being a must-win for the Mets, Stroman did his part and more. The Mets offense also showed up with the help of Brandon Nimmo’s four RBI day which aided Stroman to a winning effort.

The Mets have the hardest part of their schedule coming up, playing the next 13 games against the Giants and the Dodgers. Stroman is penciled in to start two of those games and when asked what he looks towards in those next two starts, Stroman responds and says: “I live in the moment, I haven’t even looked at tomorrow, to be honest with you.” 

With Jacob DeGrom out and the unsureness of the rest of the starting rotation, it seems as though Marcus Stroman has and will be a key part of whether or not the Mets will succeed for the rest of 2021. Thursday’s outing is a sign that things are going in a positive direction for the New York Mets.