The New York Mets (80-69) defeated the Minnesota Twins (55-95) by a score of 3-2 at Citi Field Sunday afternoon. The Mets temporarily have sole possession of the first wild-card.
Pitching:
Gabriel Ynoa was on the mound for the Mets today making his first ever career start in place of Jacob deGrom. The Mets received sobering news that deGrom will undergo surgery and will be lost for the season over the weekend. Ynoa did a great job filling in but Terry Collins had a quick hook removing him in the fifth inning. Ynoa went 4.2 innings giving up one run while walking one, and striking out eight.
In the top of the fifth inning, Ynoa quickly retired John Ryan Murphy and Kyle Gibson to start off the inning. Brian Dozier singled to left field and Collins decided to bring in a lefty to face Logan Schafer. Josh Edgin came in and did not get the job done. Logan Schafer smacked the ball into left field quickly ending Edgin’s day. Terry then went to Erik Goeddel who loaded the bases before finally getting out of the inning.
In the top of the sixth inning, Erik Goeddel would come out again and pitch a scoreless inning. Josh Smoker would do the same in the seventh.
In the top of the eighth, Fernando Salas would give up a solo home run to Kenny Vargas. Jerry Blevins would come in to close out the inning.
Jerry Blevins came back out for the ninth inning and was able to shut the door, recording his second save in six days.
Offense:
In the bottom of the first inning, The Mets got things started right away with a Alejandro de Aza leadoff walk. T.J. Rivera followed with a single to left field to keep things going. After Yoenis Cespedes was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Michael Conforto cashed in by hitting a single to center field that brought in two runs giving the Mets the early 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third inning, T.J. Rivera lead off the inning by crushing his third home run of the season giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. T.J Rivera just keeps coming up with hits during his short stint with the big league club so far.
Notes:
The Mets have now won 20 of their last 27 games.
Jerry Blevins went four years without recording a save and now has two in the last six days.
Jacob deGrom is expected to have season-ending ulnar nerve surgery.
Lucas Duda made his return to the Mets lineup today.
Wilmer Flores is still not able to swing a bat after injuring his wrist on a collision sliding into home plate.
JZ Player of the game: Gabriel Ynoa. In light of the deGrom news, the Mets needed a boost today and they got one. Ynoa did a terrific job considering the circumstances limiting the Twins to only one run.
On Deck:
The Mets will play their first game of a three-game set with the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field tomorrow evening. The game has a start time of 7:10 PM. Noah Syndergaard (13-8, 2.43 ERA), will look to keep the Mets rolling against Aaron Blair (0-6, 8.23 ERA).
