Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports
The pressure is off at Citi Field, and as the mathematically eliminated Mets finish off their season, the tension of a playoff race has left the air.
As unfortunate as that is, it has relieved the weight from an offense that has struggled all year. That very same offense came out striking during game one of the Mets final homestand of 2021, as they took on the Marlins in a seven-inning contest. When all was said and done, New York ended their five-game losing streak and defeated the Marlins, 5-2, as Marcus Stroman picked up his tenth win of the season.
Leading off the first, Brandon Nimmo turned on the third pitch that Zach Thompson threw him and ripped it down the right field line, where it was bobbled in the corner, allowing Nimmo to slide in safely at third base with a triple. Two pitches later, he was driven home by a Francisco Lindor liner up the middle, and the Mets had a lead in the opening minutes of the game.
On the other side of things, Stroman settled in quickly, and, despite allowing two hits in the first two innings, made it through them unscathed. He was helped in the first by Tomas Nido, who gunned down Jesus Sanchez trying to swipe second base.
With two outs in the home half of the second, Stroman came to the plate and grounded a soft dribbler to third base. With Stroman barely jogging down the line, third baseman Eddy Alvarez overthrew first base, allowing Stroman to reach base safely. With Nimmo now at the plate, Stroman took off for second, and advanced to third as the throw from catcher Nick Fortes went sailing into center field. His marathon around the bases finally came to a finish as Nimmo flew out, ending any scoring threat.
Michael Conforto worked a one-out walk in the third, and advanced to second with two outs after Javier Baez singled to center. Baez’s base hit extended his hit streak to 11 games, and his on-base streak moved to 20. With runners on first and second, Jonathan Villar looped a base hit into right field, scoring Conforto to make it 2-0.
Kevin Pillar then routinely grounded to third, but reached safely as Alvarez bobbled the ball, continuing his tough night on the diamond. The error allowed another run to score, and the Marlins found themselves down by three.
Lewin Diaz closed the gap in the fourth, as he smashed a two-run bomb into the Coca Cola Corner to cut the lead to just one. Stroman recovered, however, and made it through the rest of the frame unscathed.
The right-hander continued into the fifth, and worked his first 1-2-3 inning of the night. The perfect frame was capitalized by a diving play at first by Alonso, who tossed the ball to Stroman covering the bag to rob Chisholm of a hit. Chisholm responded to the fantastic play by hitching a piggy-back ride from Stroman as he walked back towards the mound.
Alonso and Baez both slotted their second hits of the game in the home fifth, and Jeff McNeil worked a walk in a two-out pinch hitting opportunity to load the bases for Nido. Unfortunately, the Mets’ catcher couldn’t come through, and he struck out swinging to end the inning.
The top of the sixth marked the end of Stroman’s day; the right-hander went five innings, allowed five hits and two earned runs, walked two, and struck out four. He was replaced by Seth Lugo, tasked with preserving a one-run lead with Stroman lined up for the win.
Lugo did his job, and retired the Marlins in order, striking out two along the way.
With Edwin Diaz working in the bullpen, the Mets looked to add some insurance in the bottom half of the sixth. Francisco Lindor decided to take this mission upon himself, as he smashed the ball 399 feet into the left field stands to give the Mets a 5-2 lead.
With much needed insurance acquired, Diaz jogged in with trumpets sounding to try and ice the cake—and ice he did. Diaz needed just ten pitches to send the Marlins packing, striking out two to secure the Mets win and end their five-game skid.
Noah Syndergaard will start game two of the doubleheader, making his first in-game appearance in almost two years. He’ll match up against Trevor Rogers as the Mets look for the doubleheader sweep.
Player of the Game: Francisco Lindor
Lindor knocked in the Mets first run of the game with a base hit in the opening frame, and then capped the game off with some much needed insurance runs in the sixth.
