The Mets struggled again today against the Red Sox, ultimately being shut out for the ninth time this season and losing 4-0. The offense could not get anything going, even as the pitching and defense made a good effort to strand most Red Sox runners.
Freddy Peralta looked good initially, throwing his fastball for the majority of the first inning and striking out the batters in order. In the second inning, he struggled more, and the results were not as impressive. Caleb Durbin threaded one between
Francisco Lindor and Brett Baty for a single. In the next at bat, Peralta challenged ball 4, but the call was confirmed, resulting in a walk for Masataka Yoshida. A sacrifice bunt from Andruw Monasterio moved the runners to second and third with one out. Peralta walked Carlos Narváez to load the bases with two outs; however, he worked out of it by striking out Tsung-Che Cheng. Unfortunately, by the end of the second inning, his pitch count was already 43.
After a quiet first inning, the Mets offense walked a batter in each of the second and third innings, but could not capitalize or create any momentum. Carson Benge walked in the second inning and stole second base one pitch later, but the three batters went down in order after him to end the inning. Brett Baty walked in the third inning, but after Zack Short struck out, A.J. Ewing grounded into a force out behind him, and Juan Soto popped out to end the third inning.
Peralta walked Durbin to lead off the fourth inning, and Durbin slid into second when Yoshida flied out to Soto. After an injury delay due to a ricochet off the face masks of both Francisco Alvarez and the home plate umpire, Brock Ballou, Monasterio smacked a two-run home run into left field. At the bottom of the fourth with two outs, Jorge Polanco fouled a ball off the inside of his knee, resulting in another injury delay, but he got back up and dropped a line drive into center field, just out of reach of Ceddanne Rafaela, for a single. Unfortunately, this prompted the Red Sox to change pitchers to Greg Weissert, who struck out Wagaman to end the fourth: Red Sox 2, Mets 0.
Peralta started with a walk to Cheng in the fifth. However, Seigler grounded into a force out when Short robbed him by laying out to block the base hit. Ultimately, this move saved a run for Peralta when the next two hitters gave him trouble. Rafaela popped one over Wagaman’s head that rolled slowly down the baseline for a double, moving Seigler to third. Peralta walked Abreu to load the bases and bring his pitch count to 91, prompting a pitching change. Huascar Brazobán replaced a clearly unhappy Peralta for the last two outs of the fifth. Durbin was called out on strikes thanks to a well-placed challenge from Alvarez that overturned ball three to strike three. Yoshida grounded out to first for the third out, leaving the bases loaded and ending the scoring threat.
When Alvarez allegedly grounded out to lead off at the bottom of the fifth, despite clearly beating the tag to first base, the Mets challenged and won. Baty then struck out, technically on a foul tip, as the ball wedged itself under Narváez’s right arm and stayed there. A passed ball allowed Alvarez to move to second base, but Ewing flied out to end the inning, strand Alvarez, and keep the score Red Sox 2, Mets 0.
A.J. Minter came in for the top of the sixth inning and gave up a lead-off triple to Monasterio, but retired everyone else in order. Brooks Raley replaced him to work a 1-2-3 seventh inning. At the bottom of the seventh, Wagaman worked a walk, and Alvarez tapped a line drive into right field for his second single of the day. With two outs, Bo Bichette came in to pinch-hit for Short. Bichette did not play yesterday and had been available off the bench today due to soreness and bruises on his right leg and foot. He worked a walk to load the bases for Ewing and immediately came out for pinch runner Tyrone Taylor. Ewing, however, was called out on strikes, using the last Mets challenge to challenge the (obvious) third strike. It was the Mets’ turn to leave the bases loaded with no runs scored.
In the eighth inning, Ewing moved to second base, playing the position for the third day in a row. Tobias Myers replaced Raley and allowed a lead-off single to Durbin, again a home run beneficiary. This time, Yoshida belted a two-run dinger to right field to extend the Red Sox’ lead to 4-0. Soto and Lindor walked to start the bottom of the eighth, the first time either had reached base all day. Benge flied out to Abreu in right field, but Soto was able to make it to third base. Unfortunately, Polanco grounded into a double play that ended the eighth inning with no Mets runs scored again.
Myers came back out and worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning. At the bottom of the ninth, Alvarez walked but fell victim when Baty grounded into a force out for the second out. Taylor flied out to end the game as the Mets were shut out and the Red Sox picked up the second game of the series.
The Mets will try to salvage a win tomorrow, which is also the last game before the All-Star break. First pitch is at 1:40 PM ET, with Payton Tolle taking the mound for the Red Sox and facing off against TBD for the Mets.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winner: Huascar Brazobán/Francisco Alvarez, tied at +11% WPA
Big Mets loser: A.J. Ewing, -23% WPA
Mets pitchers: -4% WPA
Mets hitters: -46% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Francisco Alvarez 7th inning single, +6.8% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Andruw Monasterio 2-run HR, -20.0% WPA
