This time a year ago, the Mets were eagerly anticipating Brandon Sproat’s major league debut in the hopes that he would soon become a stalwart in the team’s rotation for years to come. Meanwhile, Zac Thornton (at the time carrying an extra H in his name) was not a name on the radar on anyone but the most diehard of Mets fans. Tonight, Sproat took the mound facing his former team following the trade that sent him to Milwaukee this offseason, and Thornton went up against him in his fourth major league start.
And it was the crafty soft-tossing lefty who emerged victorious over the former top 100 prospect flamethrower, with the Mets evening up the series against the Brewers with a 4-0 victory.
The scoring started in the top of the second, when Jared Young came to the plate with one out and deposited a 2-1 pitch from Sproat into the bullpen in right field for a solo homer. And while that would prove to be the only run the Mets would score against their former farmhand for a while, they did an effective job at making him work all night, as they got at least one runner on base in every inning in which he pitched and utilized a patient approach to work four walks against him and balloon his pitch count.
The last walk Sproat issued was a two-out free pass to Bo Bichette in the top of the fifth, and that proved to be the final batter he would face this evening. Chad Patrick came on from the bullpen to replace him, and the Mets picked this moment to strike—with the help of some uncharacteristically shoddy defense from the Brewers. Francisco Lindor greeted Patrick by hitting a sharp grounder to second that bounced off Brice Turang and into center field; Turang then neglected to run after the ball, forcing center fielder Garrett Mitchell run in a long ways to field it and allowing Lindor to hustle into second. Carson Benge followed that by hitting a ground ball into the second base hole, and Turang paused while moving to field the ball, allowing it to sneak by him into right field and bringing two runs home (to make matters worse, Benge should have been thrown out trying to advance to second when the throw from right field was cut off by Andrew Vaughn at first base, but the throw to second sailed into the outfield). Patrick struck out Luis Robert Jr. to end the inning, but the defensive miscues put another earned run on Sproat’s ledger, giving him a fairly unremarkable final line (4.2 innings, 4 hits, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts, 2 earned runs).
Meanwhile, Thornton continued his impressive run with another strong start. As is usually the case with him, he was far from dominant with his stuff, as he recorded just two strikeouts on the night. But he also largely kept the Brewers off the basepaths—thanks in part to some help from his defense. With one out in the third inning, Joey Ortiz hit a soft liner to left field, and A.J. Ewing (playing his first game at the position with Robert in center) sprinted for it and made an impressive diving catch. Later, with two outs in the fifth inning, Luis Lara hit a sharp grounder towards the third base line, and Bichette was able to field it and make a strong throw to record the final out of the frame. Yes, you’re reading this right: the Mets’ defense came through tonight while the Brewers’ defense did not. We are as shocked as you are.
Thornton retired thirteen straight Milwaukee batters at one point before back-to-back leadoff singles from Cooper Pratt and Ortiz in the bottom of the sixth ended that stretch. The tying run was thus at the plate, and the young rookie lefty had to bear down with the top of the order coming up. He started by striking out Jackson Chourio for out number one, and then benefitted from yet another mental lapse on the part of the Brewers. A 1-2 pitch trickled past Luis Torrens behind the plate, and the runner at first base tried to advance while the runner at second stayed put before realizing his mistake and breaking for third late. Torrens recovered the ball and the Mets were able to retire Pratt at third base for the second out. Turang then followed that by hitting a long fly ball towards the left field warning track that Ewing took a wobbly route on before catching the ball to end the inning.
That also ended Thornton’s night after six scoreless innings (giving him eighteen straight scoreless innings over his past three outings) in which he allowed just three singles and one walk on 81 pitches. Again, there was a lot of decent contact against him, so he almost certainly benefited from some luck tonight. Still, we’re not looking at three straight quality starts for Thornton, and while there will continue to be concerns about whether his pitching profile can attain long-term success in the modern game, the Mets will happily continue to send him out there and see what he can do.
After Thornton’s exit, it was time for some trade deadline candidates to increase their value. Luke Weaver started by coming on for the seventh and tossing a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Then in the top of the eighth, Robert Jr. led off the frame by having his first memorable moment since returning from the injured list, hitting an absolutely towering (to the tune of a 112.2 MPH exit velocity and 451 feet) home run to left field to make it 4-0 Mets. Brooks Raley then continued the trade value express by throwing his own perfect inning with a strikeout. Get those offers in now, other teams.
After a scoreless top of the ninth for the Mets bats, Devin Williams took the mound at American Family Field for the first time since October 3, 2024, when he gave up the most devastating home run of his career against the team that’s now signing his paychecks. This outing was much less dramatic than that one, as he issued a leadoff single but nothing else and closed out the game for the Mets. The victory gave Zac Thornton the first win of his major league pitching career and even up the series for the Amazins. They’ll now go for the series victory tomorrow afternoon.
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Big Mets winner: Zac Thornton, +33% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -7% WPA
Mets pitchers: +43% WPA
Mets hitters: +7% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Carson Benge two-run double in the fifth, +18.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Joey Ortiz single in the sixth, -7.8% WPA
