To start off the week, the New York Mets faced the Washington Nationals for a makeup game. Jerad Eickhoff made his second start as a Met vs. Paolo Espino. Washington got to Eickhoff early, with the red hot Kyle Schwarber hitting a solo home run in the bottom of the first. Trea Turner also hit a home run in the same inning. Over the next few innings, the Nats would add on two more runs with a pair of home runs hit by Gerardo Parra and the aforementioned Schwarber. In Eickhoff’s final inning, Washington added on another run on a Starlin Castro single. The Mets would tack on a few runs late in the game, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Nationals came out on top with an 8-4 final score.
Tuesday
The New York Mets started a three-game series against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday with Tylor Megill taking the hill against Charlie Morton. Megill cruised through the first four innings, and much like his last start, tired a bit in the fifth inning. His only mistake of the night came against Ozzie Albies, who hit a three-run homer. The Mets bats woke up in the seventh inning with James McCann tieing the game with a three-run homer. Francisco Lindor gave the Mets the lead in the same inning, with a single to make it a 4-3 ballgame. This proved to be the winning run as Edwin Diaz shut the door to secure the win. The final score was 4-3.
Wednesday
David Peterson faced off against Max Fried. The Braves teed off against Peterson who lasted just three innings while giving up six earned runs. Peterson exited the game with what turned out to be a strained oblique. He will miss the next eight weeks. This is a huge blow to a rotation that has already had injury issues this year. The only other notable thing that happened was Thomas Szapucki’s debut. It didn’t go well for Szapucki, who gave up six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings. The final score was 20-2.
Thursday
Ace Jacob deGrom took the hill against Ian Anderson. The Mets quickly gave Jake some run support with Michael Conforto singling in a run. In a shocking turn of events, deGrom gave up a few runs. Ozzie Albies drove in a run and Austin Riley drove in two more with a two-run homer. Jake then went on to retire the final 18 batters he faced, including eight in a row at one point. The Mets came back with a couple of Dominic Smith homers, tieing the game at three. It wouldn’t matter though, because in the bottom of the ninth the Braves won the game on a Freddie Freeman walk-off single that deflected off of Seth Lugo. The final score was 4-3.
New York Mets Weekend
The Mets started a three-game series against the cross-town rival New York Yankees on Saturday. Taijuan Walker faced off against Jordan Montgomery. The Mets offense broke out in the fifth inning with Dominic Smith and James McCann making it a 2-0 ballgame on a pair of singles. Their final run of the inning came off of a wild pitch that brought Smith home. Taijuan lasted 5 2/3 innings allowing two hits and two earned runs. Before allowing those runs, the Mets had a six-run sixth inning to make it an 8-0 ballgame, so those runs didn’t have much of an impact. The final score was 8-3.
Sunday
Game 1: The Mets sent Marcus Stroman to the mound to face off against Yankees ace Gerrit Cole. Dominic Smith quickly got the Mets on the board with a solo home run in the top of the first. The score would go back and forth over the next few innings, with the Yankees leading 4-1 after three innings and the Mets tieing it up in the fourth. Stroman lasted five innings, giving up six hits and three earned runs. Cole lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing four earned runs. The Yankees regained the lead in the fifth, but it wouldn’t matter as the Mets offense exploded in the seventh and ninth to make the score 10-5. Seth Lugo shut the door and the Mets took the first game of the doubleheader.
Game 2: Corey Oswalt made a spot start for the Mets against Nestor Cortes. The Yankees struck first in the bottom of the second with a three-run homer hit by Gio Urshela. These were the only runs Oswalt allowed over his four innings. The Mets offense was nonexistent except for a Pete Alonso home run in the top of the fourth. Miguel Castro had a rough inning, throwing a wild pitch that brought home the Yankees’ fourth and final run. The final score was 4-2.
New York Mets State of Mind
With David Peterson going down this week, the Mets found themselves bitten by the injury bug once again. They’re still in first place by a fairly wide margin, but the trade deadline will be very important for this team. Nearly all of the pitching depth has gone down and the Mets will need some help since there’s a lot of baseball to be played. Through it all, the team has persevered. If they can keep it up, they will run away with the NL East and into the playoffs for the first time since 2016. As always, be sure to keep an eye out for the next New York Mets week in review article as they will come out every week of the 2021 season.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned:
Jerad Eickhoff, Paolo Espino, Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, Gerardo Parra, Starlin Castro, Tylor Megill, Charlie Morton, Ozzie Albies, James McCann, Francisco Lindor, Edwin Diaz, David Peterson, Max Fried, Thomas Szapucki, Jacob deGrom, Ian Anderson, Michael Conforto, Austin Riley, Dominic Smith, Freddie Freeman, Seth Lugo, Taijuan Walker, Jordan Montgomery, Marcus Stroman, Gerrit Cole, Corey Oswalt, Nestor Cortes, Gio Urshela, Pete Alonso, Miguel Castro
