Mets Week In Review 4/12-4/18
Tuesday Review
Game 1:
This week in review of the 2021 New York Mets baseball began with a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies due to Monday’s game being postponed. Taijuan Walker started for the Mets and Chase Anderson started for the Phillies. Dominic Smith put the first runs on the board with a two-run home run in the bottom of the first. However, the Phillies struck back quickly with a sacrifice fly in the top of the second. Walker’s day ended in the top of the fifth. Miguel Castro was brought in and got the Mets out of the inning with a strikeout and a runner caught stealing at third. Castro was brought back out for the top of the sixth and ran into some trouble with two men on, and after an infield hit by Jean Segura, the game was tied at two. Castro finished the inning, keeping it a tie game.
Edwin Diaz came in for the top of the seventh and had a one-two-three inning. With the Mets unable to score in the bottom of the seventh, the game headed to extra innings. Trevor May pitched the top of the eighth and gave up the lead after an infield hit. Pete Alonso led off the bottom of the eighth and hit a single to bring in Francisco Lindor which tied the game at three. Jeff McNeil and Michael Conforto proceeded to get on base, which brought up James McCann. McCann hit a ball up the middle that was knocked down by Didi Gregorius but everyone was safe and the bases were loaded for Jonathan Villar. Villar singled against a drawn-in outfield to win the game. The final score was 4-3.
Game 2:
Marcus Stroman took on Aaron Nola in game two. Both pitchers were dominant through the first three innings. However, Nola found himself in a bit of trouble in the bottom of the fourth when Jonathan Villar hit a double to bring in Jeff McNeil for the first run of the game. With the bases loaded and two out, Brandon Nimmo continued his hot streak and drove in two runs with a single. For the final run of the night, Brandon Nimmo brought in Tomas Nido in the bottom of the sixth with his third hit of the game. Jeurys Familia came in for the top of the seventh and ended the game to complete the sweep of the doubleheader. The final score was 4-0.
Wednesday Review
David Peterson faced off against Zack Wheeler for the third game in the series. Peterson was looking to bounce back from a poor performance in his first start of the season, and he certainly accomplished that goal. Zack Wheeler did not have the same luck. He gave up the first run of the day when former teammate Dominic Smith singled scoring Brandon Nimmo. Pete Alonso then hit into a double play which brought in Francisco Lindor for the second run.
The only run the Phillies got was a Jean Segura home run hit off of Peterson in the top of the fifth. Jeurys Familia came out for the top of the seventh and did not make it through the inning. With two men on and one out, Aaron Loup came in to bail out Familia. In his second pitch of the inning, he got a double play to end the inning.
Pete Alonso brought in another run with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the seventh. Aaron Loup then came in again for the top of the eighth and shut the Phillies down with a one-two-three inning. In the bottom of the eighth, catcher James McCann added some insurance runs with a two-run homer. Those were the final runs of the day. Edwin Diaz ended the game in the top of the ninth, and the final score was 5-1.
Saturday Review
Game 1:
With a rainout against the Phillies on Thursday and a snow out against the Colorado Rockies on Friday, the Mets hoped to continue their winning streak vs the Rockies on Saturday and sweep another doubleheader. Mets ace Jacob deGrom took on Chi Chi Gonzalez. As per usual, deGrom was dominant. He nearly tied an MLB record of 10 consecutive strikeouts, which is currently held by Mets legend Tom Seaver.
Pete Alonso brought in the first run of the game with a single to give the Mets a one-run lead. In the bottom of the fifth, deGrom had a tough inning that wasn’t necessarily his fault. Dom Nunez hit a triple to score a run, but that runner was only on base because of an error by Jeff McNeil. With the game tied at one, Yonathan Daza hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Dom Nunez. In the final run of the inning, Raimel Tapia hit a home run to give the Rockies a two-run lead. All of the runs were unearned.
The Mets would start coming back from that lead in the next inning with a solo home run by Pete Alonso. The top of the seventh started out with a Jonathan Villar double to tie the game at three. Francisco Lindor then drove in Villar to give the Mets a one-run lead. Edwin Diaz got the save in the top of the seventh to give the Mets a 4-3 win.
Game 2:
Joey Lucchesi made his first start as a Met and he faced Rockies ace, German Marquez. This was a game to forget for the Mets. Lucchesi couldn’t get any outs and the Mets’ offense was practically nonexistent. The only runs the Mets could get were in the top of the fourth inning off of a Jeff McNeil double. Lucchesi’s first start only lasted three innings with three earned runs. The only pitchers that didn’t give up runs were Robert Gsellman and Trevor Hildenberger. Jacob Barnes’s inning was the inning that completely took the Mets out of the game, as he gave up four earned runs. Marquez ended up getting the seven-inning complete game and the Mets lost their first game in a week. The final score was 7-2.
Sunday Review
Marcus Stroman faced Antonio Senzatela in the rubber game of the series. Stroman was absolutely dominant, continuing his success from his previous start. The Mets offense didn’t do much, but what they got was enough to win. The first run of the game came off of a Jeff McNeil groundout which brought in Pete Alonso. The second and final run the Mets scored came from a J.D. Davis single in the top of the fourth to bring in Michael Conforto. The only run Stroman gave up came in his final inning of work with a Charlie Blackmon RBI single. Outside of that, he continued to get out after out to get the Mets the win. Edwin Diaz saved the game to give the Mets the 2-1 win.
Wrap Up
In short, this week of Mets baseball was very odd due to all the postponements but the Mets still did what they needed to do and won games. The hitting was there for most games and so was the pitching. The only negative thing from this week was Luis Rojas’s bullpen management in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Rojas had a fresh bullpen and proceeded to bring in Jacob Barnes in an important spot, which proved to be a big mistake. The Mets’ next game is on April 20th against the Chicago Cubs, and be sure to keep an eye out for a Mets Week in review article next Sunday to get all the info you need on the week in Mets baseball.
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Players Mentioned
Antonio Senzatela, J.D. Davis, Michael Conforto, Charlie Blackmon, Joey Lucchesi, German Marquez, Robert Gsellman, Trevor Hildenberger, Jacob Barnes, Jacob deGrom, Chi Chi Gonzalez, Tom Seaver, Dom Nunez, Yonathan Daza, Raimel Tapia, David Peterson, Zack Wheeler, Dominic Smith, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Jean Segura, Aaron Loup, James McCann, Edwin Diaz, Taijuan Walker, Chase Anderson, Dominic Smith, Miguel Castro, Jean Segura, Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, James McCann, Didi Gregorius, Jonathan Villar, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Nola, Jonathan Villar, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Tomas Nido, and Jeurys Familia.
