Mets Tally 15 Hits in 8-4 Victory Over Miami

The New York Mets (7-6) took on the Miami Marlins (7-6) in the team’s 13th game of spring training. Chris Bassitt took the mound for New York and Pablo López for the Marlins. Led by a strong offensive performance, headlined by Robinson Canó and Starling Marte, the Mets won their seventh game of the spring, 8-4.

The scoring started early as new Marlin Jorge Soler took Bassitt deep to lead-off the game. The home run appeared to be heavily influenced by the wind as it only had an xBA of .190. Bassitt settled in nicely to get the next three Marlin hitters. In the bottom half of the inning, Marte continued his strong spring with a single and a steal of third base. He then came home on a 101.2 MPH ground out that had an xBA of .510 courtesy of Francisco Lindor. Mets and Marlins were tied at one after the first inning.

The Mets jumped to the lead courtesy of Eduardo Escobar‘s third home run of spring to lead-off the second frame. It was a 100 MPH shot out to right field. Like Marte, Escobar has also had a very strong spring. After the bases were loaded courtesy of Canó and Jeff McNeil singles, as well as Brandon Nimmo‘s second walk of the game, Marte ripped a ball that bounced off the third baseman’s glove. It resulted in a two-run double to extend the Mets’ lead to 4-1.

In the third, Canó tallied his second hit of the game. In doing so, he drove in Pete Alonso who doubled to begin the inning. This coming after a 10-pitch half-inning by Bassitt. The top of the fourth went much differently than the previous three innings for the Mets’ starter. Bassitt gave up a two-run shot to Jesús Aguilar. Then three consecutive base hits led to the Marlins getting another run. They cut the Mets’ lead to 5-4 before Bassitt got a strike out and picked off Miguel Rojas from second to end the inning.

The Mets got a run back in the bottom half of the fourth. Tomás Nido led off with a base hit, then chaos ensured. Nimmo hit a dribbler out in front of the plate and Lopez made an errant throw. Jazz Chisholm made it worse by throwing the ball away again which led to Nido coming home all the way from first base. Mets led 6-4 going to the fifth inning.

Bassitt responded in the fifth with two strikeouts. This was his final half inning of work and he finished the day at 90 pitches. His final line read five innings pitched, six hits, four earned runs, two walks, and six strikeouts. He gave up two long balls. He has now pitched 9 2/3 innings this spring and has allowed 10 hits and four runs while striking out nine.

The Mets got another run in the fifth. Canó doubled down the left field line for his third hit in as many at-bats. Nido then drove him home with two outs. Another run came home in the sixth as Canó picked up his fourth hit of the day. After a double earlier in the inning, Alonso came home during the play thanks to another Marlins’ error trying to field the Canó dribbler. The Mets were held scoreless the final two half innings.

Chasen Shreve (1 IP, 0 H, 1 BB, 2 SO) pitched an extremely effective sixth inning. His spring hitless streak has extended to four innings where he has struck out five hitters. Trevor Williams (3 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO) then pitched the final three innings, not allowing a run despite quite a bit of traffic on the base paths.

In all, the Mets totaled 15 hits en route to eight runs. Cano, Nido, Alonso, and Marte each had multiple hits. Another strong offensive performance for the Mets.

Player of the Game: Robinson Cano

Canó had by far his best game of spring. He went a perfect 4-for-4 with a double. He drove in a run and scored two of his own. The most important aspect of all this is he was hitting the ball hard. Three of his four hits were struck at 92.4 MPH or harder. A very encouraging game for the 39 year old.

On Deck

After today, the Mets only have two spring training games remaining. That schedule continues tomorrow against the Houston Astros. The contest will be in West Palm Beach, FL and is scheduled for a 12:05 PM ET first pitch. Carlos Carrasco is currently slated make his second spring start.