The Mets scored plenty of runs and improved to 8-3 on the season.
On a cold afternoon at Citi Field, the Mets beat the Marlins with ease, extending their winning streak to six games in the process. After falling behind in the top of the first, they evened things up one run at a time before taking the lead and breaking the game open in the middle innings, winning 10-5 in the end.
Clay Holmes put the Mets in an early hole as he struggled to find the strike zone in the top of the first. With two outs and a runner on first, Holmes walked back-to-back batters to load the bases and served up a two-run single to Liam Hicks. He settled in from there, though, and got out of the inning without further damage before putting up zeroes through the top of the fifth. And he racked up strikeouts along the way.
Francisco Lindor wasted no time in getting the Mets on the board in the bottom of the first, as he hit a shot into the Coca-Cola Corner to lead off the inning. And in the bottom of the third, Pete Alonso hit a wind-assisted double on a pop fly to shallow right field that drifted away from all of the fielders trying to track it down before landing in fair territory and bouncing up against the netting behind first base.
If you hadn’t realized that a ball could hit the netting but remain in play before then, well, you weren’t alone. But Juan Soto, who was on first base on Alonso hit the double, scored on the play, as the rules apparently say that the ball didn’t go out of play. Soto would have scored by any reasonable measure on the play, but it was nice that he actually did.
The Mets finally took the lead in resounding fashion in the bottom of the fifth, as they loaded the bases on a single, an error, and a walk. With one out and the bases loaded, Brandon Nimmo ripped a double to left field, plating two runs. Later in the inning, Starling Marte drove in two more on a bloop single, and the Mets had a fairly comfortable 6-2 lead.
Holmes took the mound for the sixth, though, and got into some trouble. A one-out walk was followed by a double to right-center field, a ball that Soto arguably should’ve caught but didn’t, leaving runners on second and third. Carlos Mendoza turned to Huascar Brazobán out of the bullpen, and for seemingly the first time this season, a Mets reliever looked human. The Marlins scored a run on a ground to cut the Mets’ lead to 6-3, which was no big deal. But Derek Hill follow that up with a two-run home run to right-center, cutting the Mets’ lead to one.
In the end, Holmes was charged with four runs, all earned, in five-and-one-third innings of work. He struck out ten, walked three, and gave up five hits, and he’s sitting on a 4.30 ERA with a far lower 2.39 FIP through his first three starts.
In the bottom of the sixth, with runners on first and third and one out, the Marlins opted to intentionally walk Soto to loaded the bases, which brought the red hot Pete Alonso up to the plate instead. Alonso made them pay for it as he drilled a double to left field, clearing the bases and putting the Mets up 9-5. And after the Mets reloaded the bases, an outstanding catch by Derek Hill on a long fly ball off the bat Tyrone Taylor ended the inning on what would’ve been another bases-clearing double.
The Mets tacked on a run on a sac fly by Lindor in the bottom of the seventh, and the combination of Brazobán, A.J. Minter, Danny Young, and Reed Garrett finished the game without issue.
With that, the Mets have the opportunity to complete a sweep as they try to win the seventh game in a row in the series finale against the Marlins tomorrow afternoon in Queens.
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Big Mets winner: Pete Alonso, +28.8% WPA
Big Mets loser: Huascar Brazobán, -12.0% WPA
Mets pitchers: -9.3% WPA
Mets hitters: +59.3% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Brandon Nimmo hits a two-run double in the fifth, +18.7% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Liam Hicks hits a two-run single in the first, -17.0% WPA