Mark Vientos, Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized
The New York Mets took a short drive down to Jupiter, FL. on Saturday afternoon for a matchup against the Miami Marlins. Right-handed pitcher Justin Verlander was on the mound for the visiting Mets for the first time, going up against left-handed pitcher Jesus Luzardo for the Marlins.
Luzardo started off well for the Marlins, allowing just one hit to Mark Vientos in the top of the first and retiring the other three batters he faced on a pop out and two strikeouts.
Verlander battled through the bottom half of the first. He allowed a quick lead-off single to Luis Arraez. He retired the next two batters he faced, but then gave up an RBI double to Jean Segura that scored the speedy Arraez from first to give the Marlins a 1-0 lead in the first. Segura was tagged out attempting to leg-out a triple.
The Mets answered right back and put themselves on the board in the second. Abraham Almonte kept his hot-streak alive with a lead-off single to left field. Two batters later, Jaylin Davis singled and moved Almonte to second. With just one out and two runners on, Lorenzo Cedrola sent the ball deep out of Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium for a three-run home run to give the Mets a 3-1 lead over the Marlins in the top of the second.
Luzardo retired the next two he faced to retire the side, but not before the good guys struck first and the Mets took a lead. Verlander settled in in the second, retiring the Marlins in order on a fly-out, pop-out, and his second strikeout of the afternoon.
The Mets went down quiet in the third as Luzardo retired the first two batters before being relieved on the mound for the Marlins by George Soriano. Soriano grounded out Pete Alonso to end the inning. Verlander looked much more comfortable and showed his true abilities in the third, retiring the Marlins in order and collecting his third strikeout of the afternoon.
The Mets revved up their scoring at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in the fourth inning, driving in six runs on the inning. After the first two runners reached, a throwing error by Soriano allowed Almonte and Jose Peraza to score to extend the Mets’ lead to 5-1 over the Marlins. Davis then walked to continue the inning. After the next two batters were retired, the Marlins went back to their bullpen and brought in Justin Evans to replace Soriano on the mound.
The Mets continued to tee off as Tim Locastro hit an RBI double to left field to score Cedrola and make it a 7-1 game. Vientos then followed with a rocket two-run home run to center field that scored Locastro and extended the Mets’ lead to 8-1. He was followed by Francisco Lindor who doubled to keep the inning alive and Pete Alonso who hit hit an RBI single to bring Lindor across and make it a 9-1 game.
The home run by Vientos went 427 feet at 108.7 mph off the bat. That was his second hit of the afternoon.
The Mets had then batted around as Almonte came back to the plate. For the second time in the inning, he was hit by a pitch. Peraza was then also hit by a pitch to make it four hitters hit by pitches in the inning to load the bases. Davis represented the 12th Met to come to the plate in the fourth. He struck out to end the inning, but the Mets did plenty of damage and made it a 9-1 game through four innings.
Verlander’s day was done after three innings pitched. His final line read: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K, 0 BB.
David Peterson came in to relieve Verlander on the mound for the Mets in the fourth. After walking his lead-off batter, he retired the next two batters he faced to retire the side.
The Mets continued to make their offensive performance look like batting practice in the fifth off of Dylan Floro, who replaced Evans on the mound for the Marlins. Cedrola singled to lead-off the inning for his second hit of the afternoon. Three batters later, with two on, Vientos came up and continued to hit like it was the home run derby. He sent a long three-run home run out of the stadium for his second home run of the day and extended the Mets’ lead to 12-1 over the Marlins.
Vientos’ second home run was a monster. He sent it 469 feet at 111 mph. That home run also gave him three hits and five RBIs on the day as he had quite the day in Jupiter and continued to look strong and ready for the regular season.
Peterson came back out to pitch the fifth for the Mets. He continued to pitch well, allowing just one walk and retiring the other three batters he faced to keep it a 12-1 game.
As the game headed into the sixth, many of the Marlins’ regular starters exited the game as per usual for a spring training game-volume. That included Eury Perez replacing Floro on the mound for the Marlins.
Floro retired three of the four batters he faced. He allowed a ground-rule double to Davis, but did not allow any other damage to be done by the Mets. Following suit, most of the Mets’ starters exited the game after five innings played. Jeff Brigham also came in to replace Peterson on the mound for the Mets in the sixth. He retired the Marlins in order to send the game to the seventh.
Floro came back out to pitch the seventh for the Marlins. He retired Brett Baty and Locastro before allowing a single to Ronny Mauricio who was continuing to put the bat on the ball well. Michael Perez flew out to end the inning.
Zach Greene replaced Brigham on the mound for the Mets in the bottom of the seventh. Greene struggled a bit in the inning. He allowed a lead-off double to Bryan De La Cruz, followed by a back-to-back double by Alex De Goti that scored pinch-runner Peyton Burdick to make it a 12-2 game. Two batters later he walked Santiago Chavez followed by a sacrifice fly by Jerar Encarnacion to make it a 12-3 game. He walked Jordan Groshans to put two on and then struck out Jacob Amaya to end the inning.
The Mets continued their home run derby afternoon in the eighth. Matt Winaker opened the inning with a line drive home run to right center field to make it 13-3 Mets. Three batters later Carlos Cortes hit a ground-rule double. He was followed by Cedrola’s second home run of the day, a two-run home run to make it a 15-3 game in the eighth inning. That also gave Cedrola five RBIs as Cedrola and Vientos combined for 10 of the Mets’ 15 runs today.
Alex Ramirez struck out to end the inning and the Mets led it 15-3 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. T.J. McFarland came in to pitch the eighth for the Mets. He gave up two singles to Xavier Edwards and Peyton Burdick, but retired the other three batters he faced. He did throw one wild pitch that made it a 15-4 game, but the Mets still led it large.
Jefry Yan replaced Perez on the mound for the Marlins in the ninth. He retired the Mets in order. In the bottom of the ninth, Jimmy Yacabonis came in to replace McFarland on the Mets. He retired the Marlins in order to close it out and complete the win for the Mets.
The Mets teed-off offensively on Saturday. Cedrola had two home runs, Vientos had two home runs, and Winaker homered as well to lead the Mets to the victory.
Player Of The Game
Spring training is all about young players making a good impression on the front office, and that’s been the general theme for the Mets so far this spring with a number of prospects impressing. It was Mark Vientos’ turn on Saturday as he led an offensive explosion with an impressive day at the plate.
He went a brilliant 3-for-4 with five RBIs, and he also blasted two incredible home runs. His second homer of the day was an absolute moonshot, travelling 469 feet at 111 mph. The Mets have been getting big-time contributions from their top prospects through the opening couple of weeks of spring training, and Vientos delivered a real statement game against the Marlins.
On Deck
The Mets will return to Jupiter tomorrow to take on the St. Louis Cardinals at 1:05pm. Kodai Senga will get the ball for the Mets in his first spring appearance against Jordan Montgomery for the Cardinals, also making his first spring appearance.
