After certain losses, a team can take consolation in the fact that they couldn’t catch a break. Tonight, the Mets couldn’t catch the ball, falling by a 7-4 final in the first of a four-game set with the Miami Marlins.
It was a sloppy showing, with the Amazins appearing flat following a high-octane sweep of the first-place Phillies (who the Mets now once again trail by 5.0 games in the N.L. East). The team committed three errors for the first time this season, allowing seven runs on three walks, a hit
by pitch, and nine singles — three of which never left the infield.
The Marlins immediately worked their small-ball magic on starter Clay Holmes. With one out in the first, Jakob Marsee dribbled an infield single to Francisco Lindor’s left side. Liam Hicks followed, evading a likely double play when the ball bounced off Clay Holmes’ foot, advancing Marsee to third. Augustín Ramírez brought the run home on a sacrifice fly to Cedric Mullins in center. Welcome to the Miami brand of baseball.
Brandon Nimmo delivered a two-run double to briefly put the Mets ahead in the bottom of the inning, but the Fish stormed back, scavenging for three more runs on just one hit in the top of the third. Though two of Holmes’ runs went as unearned, he made the error which allowed them to score, failing to catch a throw from Pete Alonso at first base which should have ended the inning with the score tied.
The tide appeared to be turning in the bottom of the fifth. Just as Steve Gelbs delivered a segment explaining Alonso’s belief that you’re “dead” as a hitter if you’re looking for anything other than a fastball at the plate, the Polar Bear ripped a 1-2 heater over the left-center field fence for a game-tying two-run home run. The Mets wouldn’t score again for the rest of the night.
In the top of the seventh, the Mets suffered a complete defensive implosion. Alonso and Nimmo were each charged with an error, Hayden Senger was charged with a passed ball, and Jeff McNeil cost the team an out by trying to gun a runner down at the plate for the second time in the game. The Marlins’ bullpen befuddled the Mets, retiring nine of the last ten batters in a game where a late comeback felt inevitable given the home team’s recent offensive output.
It wasn’t all bad for New York. On the offensive side, Pete Alonso hit four bullets — three of which had a 105+ mph exit velocity — including yet another historic home run. The dinger was Alonso’s 30th of the season, making him one of just six players in MLB history to reach that mark in at least six of his first seven seasons (along with Albert Pujols, Mark Teixeira, Frank Robinson, Eddie Mathews, and Ralph Kiner). The lone season in which Alonso didn’t club 30 homers was the shortened 2020 campaign, when he was on pace to hit 45 over the course of a full year. It was also Alonso’s 30th career home run against the Marlins, meaning he joins David Wright and Darryl Strawberry as the only Mets to record 30 homers against a single opponent.
Lindor, meanwhile, turned in his sixth three-hit performance in the past fourteen games. Since batting .160 with a .484 OPS from July 13 to August 10, the clubhouse leader has flipped a switch, hitting .431 with a 1.185 OPS.
On the pitching side, the newly recalled Kevin Herget posted 2.2 innings of scoreless, two-hit ball. Herget continues to perform when sporadically given the opportunity, now flashing a season ERA of 1.13 in eight innings of work.
The Mets will look to play sharper against the Marlins tomorrow night with minor league sensation Jonah Tong set to make his highly anticipated MLB debut. While the series opener was an ugly glove affair, the Mets should have a major opportunity to reclaim momentum before an energized Citi Field crowd. And for any skeptics concerned about how much difference a day can make in baseball: the Phillies beat the Braves tonight 19-4.
SB Nation GameThreads
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Pete Alonso, +26.9% WPA
Big Mets loser: Gregory Soto, -37.4% WPA
Mets pitchers: -54.0% WPA
Mets hitters: +4.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso’s two-run homer in the fifth, +25.9% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Agustín Ramirez’s single in the top of the seventh/Brandon Nimmo’s one-run error, -14.6% WPA
