The Mets (38-32) defeated the Royals (38-33) by a score of 4-3 Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field.
Pitching:
Noah Syndergaard started for the Mets, and despite not having his normal dominant stuff, kept the Mets in a position to win. He went 6 innings, allowing 3 ER on 8 hits and no walks, striking out 4. His season ERA now sits at 2.08.
The 3rd inning was eventful, as Jarrod Dyson, in the lineup for his speed, led off the inning with an infield single. With the pitcher up showing bunt, he swiped second base easily. Danny Duffy, the Royals pitcher, got the bunt down right in front of home plate, and Rene Rivera scooped it up and gunned it over to third. The initial call on the field was that Dyson was out on the tag, but the Royals challenged. Honestly, the replays convinced me that Wilmer Flores missed the initial tag and Dyson was safe, but there was not enough clear and convincing evidence to overturn it and the call stood.
The 5th inning was rough for Syndergaard, as Cheslor Cuthbert turned on an inside changeup and put it over the left field wall for a solo home run. On the next pitch, Jarrod Dyson singled to left, and after Danny Duffy bunted him over to second, Whitley Merrifield singled to right to score Dyson, giving the Royals a 2-1 lead.
With two outs in the 6th inning, Salvador Perez doubled to left. A wild pitch moved him to third, and Paulo Orlando hit a ball up the middle to score him. Neil Walker would have had a play on it, unfortunately it deflected off the second base bag, allowing Orlando to reach base. After a wild pitch moved Orlando to second, Noah induced a groundout back to him to end the inning, the game tied 3-3.
Jerry Blevins came in to pitch the 7th and tossed a 1-2-3 inning with the help of a stellar play by Neil Walker to keep Jarrod Dyson off the bases. This now marks 21 consecutive scoreless outings (13 innings) for Jerry.
Addison Reed worked around a base hit to work a scoreless 8th inning.
Jeurys Familia came in to close it out, and got off on the right foot by striking out the first batter he faced with a filthy 98 mph sinker. A couple ground balls later and the Mets had won, as Familia notched his 24th save of the year.
Offense:
The Mets got something going in the 4th inning, as Asdrubal Cabrera led off with a walk. Yoenis Cespedes followed that up with a line drive base hit to center field, his second hit of the game (double in the first inning). Neil Walker then popped out to the catcher for the first out, and Wilmer Flores struck out. James Loney then singled to left field, scoring Cabrera from second. Dyson’s throw was just offline, and Cabrera made a brilliant slide to evade the tag from Perez. The Mets now led 1-0 after 4.
After losing the lead in the top of the 5th inning, the Mets got the runs back in the bottom half. After Duffy struck out the first two batters to face him, he walked Curtis Granderson before Asdrubal Cabrera turned on an inside fastball and lined it over the left-center field fence, giving the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Yoenis Cespedes then worked a 9-pitch walk, knocking Duffy out of the game. Joakim Soria came in to face Neil Walker, and induced a groundout to end the inning.
With two outs in the 6th inning, Matt Reynolds socked his first major league home run, an opposite field solo shot to give the Mets a 4-3 lead.
Notes:
Verizon Trivia Question: What two players had 75+ stolen bases as both a Met and Royal?
Matt Reynolds started in left field today. He had never played a professional game in left, only one game in the Cape Cod League. Facing a lefty, Terry sat Michael Conforto and wanted Reynolds in there because of his prowess against left-handed pitching.
After his 5th inning at bat, Yoenis Cespedes left the game. In the last swing of his at bat, in which he got jammed and fouled a ball off the handle, he winced and dropped the bat. He left the game with “left wrist discomfort.”
Bartolo Colon was wearing a FitBit in the dugout.
The Mets are now 15-9 in one run games this season.
Verizon Trivia Answer: Carlos Beltran & Vince Coleman
On Deck:
The Dark Knight Returns to the mound tomorrow night as Matt Harvey (4-9, 4.76 ERA) faces off against Matt Wisler (3-7, 4.23 ERA) at Turner Field in Atlanta at 7:10 PM ET.
