Ronny Maurcio’s big day at the plate helps sweep away the Giants.
The Mets finished off a sweep of the Giants 5-3 behind a big day by Ronny Mauricio. Mauricio went 4-for4 with two RBIs, but his big blow in the seventh into McCovey Cove tied the game at three apiece. Juan Soto followed with a solo shot of his own two batters later for the go-ahead run.
The Mets did manage to take an early 1-0 lead but after Matt Chapman’s first home run of the day tied it up, Mauricio got the lead right back when he doubled in Francisco Alvarez who led off the inning with a double. The two Baby Mets at the bottom of the lineup picked up most of the slack from the top of the lineup who continued to struggle. Alvarez and Mauricio went a combined 6-for-8 with three runs scored and two RBIs. On the flip side Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso went 0-for-10 with one RBI and four strikeouts.
The team combined went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and it seemed not capitalizing on their chances would come back to haunt them when Matt Chapman hit his second home run of the day to give the Giants the lead. Mauricio’s game-tying home run changed all that and gave his team the chance they needed to seize the victory.
They did manage to tack on an insurance run in the ninth led again by Mauricio. He led off the inning with a double and came home with the team’s fifth run when Brandon Nimmo doubled behind him.
That allowed some breathing room for Edwin Díaz who somehow nailed down the save. He loaded the bases with one out but got back-to-back strikeouts of Willy Adames and Matt Chapman to finish off the win.
All the arms that entered behind Kodai Senga were phenomenal. José Buttó, Gregory Soto, Reed Garrett, Brooks Raley, and Díaz did not give up any runs and they allowed just two hits between them. For Soto it was his debut in a Mets uniform and he pitched a clean inning with one strikeout for his new team.
As for Senga he was mostly ok on the mound. He did a good job limiting the damage despite alot of traffic on the basepaths. Unfortunately, Matt Chapman took him deep twice which accounted for all of the San Francisco runs. By the time his night was over he pitched five innings, allowed three runs, walked five, and struck out three. His ERA rose 2.00 for the season.
The Baby Mets stepped up when the team needed them and it will be interesting to see what the team does with their young players as the trade deadline approaches. Mauricio certainly made a statement and handed the Mets a needed win with the Phillies losing earlier in the day. The team is a game and a half up in the standings as they head to San Diego to take on the Padres.
SB Nation GameThreads
Amazin’ Avenue
McCovey Chronicles
Box scores
Win Probability Added
Fangraphs.com
Big Mets winner: Ronny Mauricio +44.0% WPA
Big Mets loser: Kodai Senga -19.5% WPA
Mets pitchers: +17.6% WPA
Mets hitters: 32.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto home run in seventh
Teh sux0rest play: Matt Chapman home run in fifth