The Mets made a wild comeback to take the series in Miami.
There’s no such thing as a must-win game in April. Five games is not enough to make any judgments about a team. That said, there were moments in this game where the Mets seemed lost and the game seemed miserable.
Then, Pete Alonso, Luis Torrens, and Huascar Brazobán had their say, and the Mets won a slobberknocker of a game in Miami, beating the Marlins 6-5.
The Mets got on the board early against Connor Gillispie, with a Juan Soto single followed up by a Pete Alonso double, leading to the first run when Soto chugged home from first, avoiding a tag with the relay throw going up the line. The Mets would strand Alonso on second base, in what would be an emerging theme of the game.
Clay Holmes started for the Mets and struggled at times, but most especially in the second inning. After loading the bases with no outs, the Marlins scored their first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt Mervis, with Kyle Stowers advancing to third. Otto Lopez was up next, and grounded down to third and Mark Vientos fired an errant throw, allowing Stowers to score.
The Mets would get more early chances to score, but could not cash in. Alonso would lead off the third with another sharp double and, after advancing to third on a sacrifice fly, was stranded when both Jesse Winker and Vientos struck out. In the fourth, Hayden Senger collected his first big league hit with a double, but Francisco Lindor swung at a nasty inside pitch to end the threat.
Holmes would be pulled with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, making this his second consecutive start where he did not complete the fifth inning. Reed Garrett would get the last out of the fifth and three in the sixth, working around some baserunners to get a clean inning.
The Mets’ defense would continue to sting them in the seventh inning. A.J. Minter started the inning and was greeted by a Griffin Conine ground-rule double. While facing the next batter, Minter fell while delivering a pitch, which was called a balk (despite Minter releasing the ball), putting Conine on third. Otto Lopez hit a ball to Vientos that it appeared the third baseman thought was foul, but was caught in fair territory, and he landed in poor position to throw home, and so threw a high toss to Alonso at first, allowing Conine to score. A groundout and a Nick Fortes single off new pitcher Ryne Stanek led to their fourth run of the game. While Lopez was likely going to score anyway, Soto bobbled the ball in right, making it an easy run.
Luis Torrens, hitting for Senger, got the Mets’ fifth hit of the game with a one-out single. Lindor then struck a single to right, allowing Torrens to go first to third with one out. Soto then dribbled a ball down the first base line that led to Torrens being tagged out at home. After a nine-pitch battle with Calvin Faucher, Alonso contributed his third extra base hit of the game with a three-run home run to dead center.
As he was already up to get an inning of work, Edwin Díaz entered the game to pitch the bottom of the ninth. An infield single by Xavier Edwards led to a stolen base on the first pitch to Stowers. A wild pitch then put Edwards on third, but Díaz was able to strike out Stowers. Conine hit a grounder to second and Brett Baty fielded it but made a poor throw to Torrens, who had to lean back to make the tag. Initially, the call was that Edwards was safe and the Marlins went up 5-4. However, a challenge overturned the call and the game remained tied. A Conine steal attempt was nullified by an excellent throw by Torrens, aided by a good Baty tag.
The Mets couldn’t score a run in the top of the ninth, and José Buttó kept the Fish off the board in the bottom of the inning, so the game went to extras. With Luisangel Acuña subbing for Baty and acting as the Manfred Man on second base, Tyrone Taylor dunked a single into right to put men on first and second with no outs. However, Torrens, Lindor, and Soto couldn’t deliver, and the Mets didn’t add a single run.
The first pitch thrown by Buttó was bunted by Fortes put free runner Dane Myers to third. A weak ground ball by Eric Wagaman led to a tag at the plate and the second out. A foul pop up from Javier Sanoja ended the tenth with, shockingly, no runs scored.
Xzavion Curry pitched the eleventh for the Marlins, and Alonso led off the inning with a hard-fought walk. A Brandon Nimmo single loaded the bases for Jesse Winker. Winker walked on four straight pitches to bring Soto – the free runner – home with the go-ahead run.
Mark Vientos was next up and hit into what looked to be a clear double play, but Edwards muffed the ball and Alonso scored, putting the Mets up 6-4. Acuña grounded into a 5-2-3 double play and Taylor flew out to end the inning.
The game was now in the hands of Danny Young, who looked rough in his last appearance on Monday against Miami. On the second pitch he three, Young gave up a single to Edwards, scoring free runner Sanoja to bring the Mets’ lead to one. Young walked Stowers, putting two on without an out. Young bucked up and struck out Conine, getting the first out and leaving the game for Huascar Brazobán. Brazobán’s induced a fly ball out that led to Edwards tagging up and going to third.
Lopez was the last hope for the Fish, but he watched a called third strike on the outer half of the plate for the third out. Brazobán got his first career save, the Mets took their first series of the year, and everyone can exhale.
The Mets welcome the Blue Jays on Friday for the home opener. Tylor Megill will start for New York.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Fangraphs.com
Big Mets winner: Pete Alonso, +53.8% WPA
Big Mets loser: Juan Soto, -23.4% WPA
Mets pitchers: +69.8% WPA
Mets hitters: -19.8% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso’s three-run dinger, +34.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Kyle Stower’s 11th inning walk, -18.4%