2021 New York Mets Week 6 In Review 5/10-5/16
Tuesday
To start the week, the 2021 New York Mets had a two-game series against the Baltimore Orioles. In the first game, Marcus Stroman took on John Means, who was making his first start since his no-hitter. It was a pitcher’s duel for the first six innings, as neither pitcher gave up a run. In the top of the seventh with the bases loaded, Means was pinch-hit for and Mets manager Luis Rojas went to Aaron Loup in the bullpen.
Loup gave up a sacrifice fly hit by Pat Valaika for the first run of the game. In the top of the eighth, on a ball hit by Austin Hays, Albert Almora ran full speed into the center-field wall and came out of the game. Luckily, he only has a shoulder contusion. Hays would end up with a triple. In that same inning, Freddy Galvis bunted to single in Hays from third to give the Orioles a two-run lead.
The tide started to turn in the bottom of the eighth though when Tanner Scott faced Michael Conforto with two men on base. Conforto singled, bringing in Tomas Nido to make it a 2-1 ballgame. An inning later, the Mets had their last shot to win the game against veteran relief pitcher Cesar Valdez. After Kevin Pillar and Jonathan Villar got on base, Dominic Smith singled to center field to tie the game at two.
Next up was the hero from last week, Patrick Mazeika. Mazeika replicated his last at-bat with another fielder’s choice walk-off. He doesn’t have a hit in the big leagues yet and has still helped the team win two games. The final score was 3-2. One other thing to note is Jeff McNeil was taken out of the game in the bottom of the third with “full-body cramps“.
Wednesday
On Wednesday, it was Matt Harvey Day in Queens. But this time, Harvey was the opposing pitcher. Matt Harvey returned to the Citi Field mound for the first time since 2018 when he was still a Met. He received a warm welcome from the fans. Taijuan Walker took the mound for the Mets and pitched great, going seven innings allowing one earned run. Walker has been great for the team so far, posting a 2.20 ERA in his seven starts. Harvey struggled, going just four and one-third innings allowing seven earned runs. He gave up runs in nearly every inning he pitched. Wednesday’s game showed how important this Mets bench is once again, with Jose Peraza and Kevin Pillar both driving in two runs. The final score was 7-1.
Friday
Looking to extend their winning streak, the Mets sent out southpaw David Peterson against Tampa Bay Rays ace Tyler Glasnow. In the bottom of the second, it looked like Peterson was going to replicate his last outing loading the bases with one out. However, this time he found his way out of trouble with a couple of strikeouts. Glasnow was cruising through the Mets lineup for the first few innings but in the top of the fifth Jonathan Villar drove in the first runs of the game with a two-run homer.
Peterson would go on to retire the next 17 batters until the bottom of the eighth. Mike Zunino took Peterson deep to make the score 2-1. Nobody was ready in the bullpen yet so Peterson was forced to face a few more batters, which was a mistake. Manuel Margot, who has a history of teeing off against the Mets, doubled in Kevin Padlo to tie the game at two.
Peterson was taken out of the game after Margot’s double and the inning ended without more damage. The Mets failed to score in the top of the ninth, so they brought in Miguel Castro to keep the game tied. Castro wouldn’t be able to do that though, as the bases became loaded and Luis Rojas had to bring in Aaron Loup to face the left-handed batter, Brett Phillips. Phillips hit a walk-off single to win the game for the Rays. The final score was 3-2.
Saturday
The Mets had to have a bullpen game this week since Jacob deGrom is still on the IL. Drew Smith got the start against Shane McClanahan. The Rays got on the board early due to an errant throw by Tomas Nido that got away from Jose Peraza. Yandy Diaz came home on that throw. The Mets would strike back quickly though, as in the next inning Jose Peraza gave the Mets the lead with a three-run home run. Then, in the top of the third, Pete Alonso extended the Mets lead with a solo home run to make it a 4-1 ballgame.
Joey Lucchesi was the next pitcher for the Mets in this bullpen game and had a clean inning in the bottom of the third. However, things really unraveled for Lucchesi in the bottom of the fourth. Everything started with a Manuel Margot infield single bringing in Yandy Diaz. Next, Willy Adames doubled scoring two runs and tying the game at four. That would be it for Lucchesi, as Sean Reid-Foley was brought into the game.
Reid-Foley hadn’t pitched for a while before Saturday’s appearance, and it showed. In his second pitch of the game, Austin Meadows doubled to give the Rays the lead. Just one batter later Randy Arozarena brought Meadows home to give the Rays a two-run lead. The Mets got their last run of the day in the top of the eighth off of a Francisco Lindor solo home run to cut the Rays lead to one. It wouldn’t matter though, as in the bottom half of that inning the Rays put up four more runs. The final score was 12-5.
Sunday
Trying to avoid the sweep, the 2021 New York Mets sent Marcus Stroman to the mound against Josh Fleming. The Mets quickly had another injury in the top of the first, after Michael Conforto ran to first base. After Conforto made contact with the base, he grabbed his hamstring. The latest report is that he has “right hamstring tightness” and will receive an MRI. Later on in the game, Jeff McNeil was also taken out with a hamstring issue. His injury is described as “left hamstring tightness“. He will also receive an MRI. Jake Hager replaced Conforto in right field and Patrick Mazeika replaced McNeil at DH.
As for the game itself, it was pretty ugly for the Mets. They got just two hits, one of them being the only run they scored with a Patrick Mazeika home run. As for the pitching, Marcus Stroman had his worst start of the year going six innings allowing five earned runs. Robert Gsellman was the only pitcher that didn’t allow a run pitching one scoreless inning. Edwin Diaz also pitched and gave up two runs in his one inning of work. The final score was 7-1.
Wrap Up
The 2021 New York Mets came into this week as the hottest team in baseball and left it as one of the coldest teams in baseball. While this is bad, the injuries are much more important. As of right now, Michael Conforto, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, Jacob deGrom, J.D. Davis, Seth Lugo, Carlos Carrasco, and Noah Syndergaard are all dealing with injuries. All of these players are extremely important to the team, yet the Mets are still in first place. While that’s positive, you have to wonder how long the Mets are going to keep this up. Sunday’s game showed what it was like with almost all of the bench being on the field and having key players unavailable.
The Mets start an important series against the division rival Atlanta Braves on Monday, and it will be interesting to see how the team bounces back from these injuries. As always, be sure to look out for the 2021 New York Mets week in review next week for all the info you need on Mets baseball.
Main Image
Embed from Getty Images
Players Mentioned
Marcus Stroman, John Means, Luis Rojas, Aaron Loup, Pat Valaika, Albert Almora, Freddy Galvis, Tanner Scott, Michael Conforto, Tomas Nido, Cesar Valdez, Kevin Pillar, Jonathan Villar, Kevin Pillar, Dominic Smith, Patrick Mazeika, Jeff McNeil, Matt Harvey, Taijuan Walker, Jose Peraza, David Peterson, Tyler Glasnow, Jonathan Villar, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot, Kevin Padlo, Miguel Castro, Luis Rojas, Aaron Loup, Brett Phillips, Jacob deGrom, Drew Smith, Shane McClanahan, Tomas Nido, Jose Peraza, Yandy Diaz, Pete Alonso, Joey Lucchesi, Willy Adames, Sean Reid-Foley, Austin Meadows, Randy Arozarena, Francisco Lindor, Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis, Seth Lugo, Carlos Carrasco, Noah Syndergaard, Josh Fleming, Jake Hager, Robert Gsellman, and Edwin Diaz.
