Mandatory Credit: Kam Nedd-USA TODAY Sports
The Mets sent Marcus Stroman to the mound Tuesday night in San Francisco and gave up a leadoff single to LaMonte Wade Jr. to begin the ballgame. Tommy La Stella followed up with a two-run home run, and Buster Posey ended up striking out for the first out of the inning. Brandon Belt flew out on the first pitch he saw for the second out of the inning, which was followed by a Brandon Crawford grounded out. Crawford was retired for the first time this series.
Evan Longoria was able to stretch out a leadoff single to begin the second inning. Mike Yastrzemski walked, for Stroman’s first walk of the night. Alex Dickerson grounded into a double play, for the first two out of the inning. Logan Webb stranded Longoria on third with a strikeout, for Stroman’s second of the night. After two rocky innings, Stroman was able to make a few good pitches to get three needed outs.
Wade Jr. and La Stella both flew out to begin the third inning. Posey struck out to end the inning and was Stroman’s first 1-2-3 inning of the night. Through three innings Stroman had given up: three hits, two earned runs, one walk, and three strikeouts off of 58 pitches.
Stroman made an electric play to get Belt out off of a groundout, for the first out of the fourth inning. Crawford flew out for the second out of the inning. J.D. Davis wasn’t able to get to a ground ball, causing Longoria to reach first base. Yastrzemski struck out to end the fourth inning, for Stroman’s fourth strikeout of the game.
Dickerson began the fifth inning by grounding out to Pete Alonso for the first out. Webb and Wade Jr. followed up by striking out for Stroman’s fifth and sixth strikeouts of the game. Which was also Stroman’s second 1-2-3 inning of the night.
La Stella began the sixth inning by striking out. Posey struck out for the third time tonight and Stroman’s eighth strikeout and his fourth in a row, as well as his sixth straight batter, retired. The eight strikeouts matched his season high as well. Belt followed up with a walk, only Stroman’s second of the night. Crawford struck out for Stroman’s ninth strikeout, new season high, and also set a new season high in pitches with 100.
“That’s my goal, to always go deep into games. Even if I don’t make it there, it’s always my mindset to help give my bullpen a rest,” Stroman said following the game.
Stroman was brought back out for the seventh inning and gave up a leadoff home run to Longoria to make it a 3-0 ballgame. Yastrzemski flew out for the first out of the seventh inning, and Dickerson grounded out for the second out of the inning. Webb grounded out to end the inning, and it ended Stroman’s night. His 114 pitches were the most by a Mets starter this season.
Stroman ended up going seven innings, gave up five hits, three earned runs, two walks, and struck out a season-high nine batters.
The Mets wasted another strong outing by Stroman who, while he has a top ten ERA in the majors this year, falls to 8-12 on the year. Stroman is having the best season of his career, with a 1.12 WHIP, which is a career-best. If the Mets want to have any hope of making the playoffs, they’re going to need to feed off of starts like this and start scoring some runs.
