The Mets made some history as they defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-2 in the series opener of a three-game set at Citi Field on Monday night.
Here are some takeaways…
– Carlos Carrasco took the ball for New York in this one and he struggled mightily. Despite picking up five strikeouts, the veteran right-hander lacked his putaway pitch and it led to a short exit. After pitching well his last time out, Carrasco fell behind early, allowing a run in the top of the first on a walk and two hits.
He put up a zero in the second but struggled again in the third. Pitching with a lead, Carrasco allowed a leadoff double to Connor Joe and two batters later he came in to score and even things up on a Ke’Bryan Hayes double.
Pittsburgh loaded the bases on a walk and error, but the righty battled to get out of the inning with just the one run against. With 88 pitches thrown through three innings, though, Carrasco’s night came to an end. He allowed two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out five in the no decision.
– Thankfully for him and the Mets though, the offense came to play tonight, scoring in each of the first six innings in a home game for the first time since 1987. In the first, Pete Alonso lined a double down the left-field line to bring home Brandon Nimmo and even things up.
An inning later, Daniel Vogelbach gave Cookie his first lead to work with, cracking an opposite field solo homer leading off the bottom of the second. After Pittsburgh evened things up again, Jeff McNeil stayed red hot with an RBI single, scoring Francisco Lindor and putting New York back in front. That extended the 2022 batting champ’s hitting streak to eight games.
Second baseman Jonathan Arrauz, who enjoyed himself a great night at the plate and in the field, cracked his first home run as a Met to make it 5-2 New York in the fourth. Then in the fifth, McNeil drove in Lindor again with a sacrifice fly. Lindor, who doubled and stole third, become the first Met since Carlos Beltran to put together a 20/20 season.
Just when it looked like the Mets finally weren’t going to score, Brandon Nimmo cracked an opposite field solo home run of his own, making it a sixth straight inning with a run. It was the outfielder’s 16th home run of the season, now just one shy of tying his career-high.
– Behind Carrasco, the Mets bullpen put together five straight scoreless innings and allowed just one hit. Tyson Miller earned the win as he worked around two walks in his Mets debut. Sam Coonrod, who was recently activated from the IL, also made his Mets debut and struck out a pair. Phil Bickford, Trevor Gott, and Adam Ottavino got the seventh, eighth, and ninth to close out the Mets’ second straight win.
Highlights
Upcoming schedule
The Mets conclude their long homestand with two more games against the Pirates, Tuesday’s contest will start at 7:10 p.m. on SNY.
New York will start left-hander David Peterson (3-7, 5.61 ERA) and Pittsburgh will counter with a lefty of their own, Bailey Falter (0-7, 5.21 ERA).
