Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Mets (6-3) dropped the second game of their series against the Arizona Diamondbacks (3-5) by a score of 3-2 Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. The Mets held a pre-game ceremony in honor of Gil Hodges, the iconic manager that coached the Mets to the 1969 World Series. He was also elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame back in December on the Golden Days Era ballot. However, it was the Diamondbacks that came out on top, snapping the Mets’ modest three-game winning streak. It was Arizona’s first win at Citi Field over their last 12 games in Queens.

The story in this one was all about the pitching, as Carlos Carrasco (0-0, 0.84 ERA) spun a gem for his second consecutive strong outing to start the season. Carrasco’s struggles in the first inning during the 2021 season are well-documented, but his pitches looked lively early on, as he struck out four of the first five batters he faced. He worked his way out of a massive jam in the fourth inning, striking out Christian Walker and Pavin Smith with runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs. He then got Carson Kelly to fly out to end the threat.

Carrasco finished the day with a line of five scoreless innings and eight strikeouts, the most he has collected in a start in a Mets’ uniform. Mets’ starters have combined for a 1.17 ERA through the first nine games of the season, a massive reason why the team has gotten off to such a fast start.

Photo by Ed Delany of MMO

Joely Rodriguez came on in relief in the sixth inning and retired the Diamondbacks hitters in order with two strikeouts. However, he allowed the batter he faced in the seventh to reach before being pulled for Seth Lugo. Lugo was unable to get out of his early season funk, as he served up a two-run home run to Sergio Alcantara to break the scoreless deadlock. Later in the inning, he gave up a run-scoring double to Ketel Marte to give the Diamondbacks a 3-0 lead. Lugo has now allowed four earned runs in just four innings of work this year.

Trevor May pitched the eighth in his first game action since April 11th, and he delivered with his first scoreless outing of the season. He allowed just a lone base hit to Seth Beer, who reached base in all four of his plate appearances.

Adam Ottavino came on for the ninth inning and found himself in a bit of trouble, allowing two of the first three batters to reach base. However, he struck out Marte with runners on second and third with one out. Additionally, after intentionally walking David Peralta to load the bases, he struck out Christian Walker looking to end the threat. Ottavino has yet to allow a run to score in any of his four appearances as a Met.

The Mets had their bats stifled by Zac Gallen, who spun four scoreless innings in his first start of the season for the Diamondbacks. Robinson Cano and Jeff McNeil notched singles against Gallen. However, the Mets were unable to get any runners into scoring position and never threatened to score.

The Mets mustered just one hit in their first three innings facing Diamondbacks’ relievers. However, McNeil looped a single into center field off Ian Kennedy in the eighth inning, and Starling Marte finally got the Mets on the board with a two-run shot to cut the deficit to 3-2. His his second home run in as many days. Francisco Lindor walked on four pitches to follow up, but the rally ended when Pete Alonso grounded into an inning-ending double play.

McNeil reached base in three of his four plate appearances and has collected four hits in two games as the team’s lead-off hitter in the absence of Brandon Nimmo. In doing so, his batting average is .367 in the process. Francisco Lindor followed up his two home run performance on Friday afternoon with an 0-for-3 today, while Alonso and Eduardo Escobar both finished with identical 0-for-4 lines. Matt Reynolds came into the game as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning for his first game in a Mets uniform since 2017.

Player of the Game: Carlos Carrasco

Carrasco’s ability as a back end of the rotation starter was certainly in question following a lackluster 2021 season. However, he appears to be fully healthy for the first time in years, and the early returns have shown flashes of the dominance he showed in Cleveland. He may have factored into the decision for the second consecutive start, but he did everything he needed to to keep the Mets in this one. The final line for Carrasco: 5 IP (82 pitches), 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K.

Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

On Deck:

The Mets wrap up their three-game series against the Diamondbacks on Sunday at Citi Field. First pitch is set for 1:40PM ET with the game being broadcast on PIX11. David Peterson is on the bump for the Mets for his first start of the season, while the Diamondbacks are set to counter with Humberto Castellanos.