Mets Defeat Angels 4-1, Secure Respectable .500 Road Trip

The New York Mets (40-22) concluded their 10-game West Coast road trip with a rubber match against the Los Angeles Angels (29-33). At Angels Stadium on Sunday night, New York clinched a .500 West Coast road trip via a 4-1 victory. The Mets were fueled by six terrific inning from Taijuan Walker, an 11-hit offensive performance, and a terrific five-out save courtesy of Edwin Díaz.

The Angels got to Walker early. Brandon Marsh led off with a double, then Mike Trout muscled a single to left field to bring him home. New York trailed after the first inning, 1-0.

After a clean 1-2-3 second inning by Walker, the Mets responded in the top half of the third. Brandon Nimmo blooped a hit to center, then Starling Marte smashed a 100.2 MPH line drive that beat the center fielder and drove Nimmo home.

J.D. Davis then registered a run for the Mets in the fourth inning. He lined a 106.7 MPH home run just over the left-field wall. Davis once again flashed his ability to hit the ball hard. Something he has done all season long. New York led 2-1 after four innings.

Walker’s day came to an end after six very effective innings. After a rough first inning, Walker settled in tremendously. He only allowed three baserunners and and struck out a season-high 10 batters. He also induced a season-high 18 swings-and-misses. Everything, especially the splitter, was working for Walker Sunday night.

New York was able to add another run in the seventh inning. After getting two men on, Pete Alonso was able to bring Marte around from second via an infield single. The throw home, courtesy of the second baseman from the outfield grass, was off line and Marte scored standing. The Mets extended their lead to 3-1 after seven innings.

After Seth Lugo pitched a scoreless seventh inning, he got one out in the eighth before walking Marsh ahead of Trout. Buck Showalter called on his closer, Edwin Díaz, for a five-out save. Díaz struck out Trout and Jared Walsh on 100 MPH-plus pitches. The strikeout pitch to Walsh registered 102 MPH.

The Mets grabbed some insurance in the top of the ninth inning courtesy of Pete Alonso. For the second consecutive night, Alonso rocketed a solo-shot to left field. The ball was hit 112.5 MPH off the bat and went 414 feet. This was the second run Alonso drove in during the game.

Díaz picked up where he left off in the previous inning. He struck out the side and ended the game with four consecutive strikeouts. All the outs he recorded during his five-out save came via the punch out. An electric performance by the Mets’ closer. New York as a whole pitched terrific as the trio of Walker, Lugo, and Díaz held Los Angeles to only six hits. The Mets also struck out 16 Angels’ hitters.

Player of the Game: Taijuan Walker

Walker had a much-needed strong outing. Entering Sunday night, Walker allowed four runs in his last outing and the most he struck out in a game was six. He struck out 10 and held Trout and the Angels to only one run. His final line read: 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 SO. Walker threw 97 pitches and lowered his season ERA to 3.08. A very nice bounce back outing.

J.D. Davis also had himself a nice game. His resurgence and hard-hitting tendencies continued as he went 2-for-4 with a solo home run that gave New York the lead in the fourth inning. Also, as mentioned above, Edwin Díaz was elite, striking out five in 1 2/3rd innings of work.

On Deck

The Mets finally head home to the East Coast for a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers (34-28). It will be New York’s first home game since June 1st. The projected pitching matchup for game one is Adrian Houser (3.92 ERA) versus Chris Bassitt (4.35 ERA).