Mets takeaways from Friday’s 10-9 win over Guardians, including Pete Alonso’s grand slam and Francisco Lindor’s walk-off

0
47
May 19, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets first baseman Pete Alonso (20) reacts as he rounds the bases after hitting a game tying grand slam home run against the Cleveland Guardians during the seventh inning at Citi Field. / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Pete Alonso‘s grand slam tied the game in the seventh, and Francisco Lindor‘s walk-off single lifted the Mets to a 10-9 win over the Cleveland Guardians in 10 innings on Friday night.

Here are the takeaways…

– Carlos Carrasco, making his first start since April, lacked control in the first inning. After getting the first out, Amed Rosario singled and Jose Ramirez walked on four pitches. After getting behind Josh Naylor, 2-0, the slugger would launch a three-run shot on a 3-1 sinker to put Cleveland up 3-0.

This is the 13th straight game the opponent has scored first against the Mets. They have now been outscored 41-10 in the first inning this season.

Carrasco was better the rest of the way but allowed two more runs before getting through five innings. His slider wasn’t sharp as it often hung, which led to hard contact. His final line against the Guardians: 5 IP (80 pitches/49 strikes), five hits, five runs, two walks and three strikeouts. His ERA went up from 8.56 to 8.68 after his outing.

– A big storyline going into this series was revisiting the Lindor trade that brought the shortstop and Carrasco to Queens. The players who went to Cleveland in the deal were Rosario and Andres Gimenez. Rosario got the better of his former team, going 2-for-5 with an RBI single. Gimenez went 0-for-5 with a strikeout.

Lindor, facing his former team for the first time, hit a double off the top of the left-center wall. He was plated by a two-out Jeff McNeil single to get the Mets within 5-2 in the fifth inning.

Lindor went 3-for-6 with a double, two runs scored and a massive RBI in extra innings.

– The game changed in the seventh inning. After Dominic Leone worked in and out of trouble in the sixth, he could not duplicate it an inning later. With the Guardians up just 5-3, Leone gave up back-to-back singles to lead off the seventh, and then walked the bases loaded. Buck Showalter brought in Stephen Nogosek to try and get out of the inning. Rosario smoked a 3-2 fastball to Brandon Nimmo for the first out, but Will Brennan, who was on third, attempted to go for home but turned around, allowing Alvarez and Brett Baty to double him up. After a walk to Jose Ramirez to load the bases again, Naylor hit a two-run single to put the Guardians up 7-3. Nogosek walked Josh Bell to re-load the bases and forced Showalter to make a change. Tommy Hunter came in to mercifully get out of the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, Nimmo drew a leadoff walk before Lindor picked up a single and McNeil walked the bases loaded with no outs and Alonso at the plate. Alonso launched a 3-1 fastball over the right-center wall to tie the game at 7-7. That was Alonso’s fourth homer in four games, and his 71st career home run at Citi Field, tying Lucas Duda for most in the stadium’s history.

– Adam Ottavino came in for the eighth inning — it was his third appearance in four days — and got the Guardians out. David Robertson came on in the ninth, his third straight day working and the first time he’s done that with the Mets. He got the Guardians out, 1-2-3, thanks in large part by two great defensive plays from McNeil and Alonso. Drew Smith started the 10th by getting Naylor to fly out, but Gabriel Arias — who pinch-ran in for Bell earlier in the game — took Smith deep on a 1-0 fastball down the middle that went over the right-field wall and put the Guardians up 9-7. It’s the first home run Smith allowed this year.

In the bottom half of the 10th, Starling Marte — who finished 0-for-4 with two strikeouts — flew out. Vientos drove a first-pitch slider up the middle for a single that scored Baty, who was the ghost-runner. Daniel Vogelbach came up to pinch-hit for Mark Canha when Eduardo Escobar — who pinch-ran for Mark Vientos — stole second. Vogelbach struck out swinging to bring up Francisco Alvarez with two outs. On an 0-2 pitch, Alvarez pulled a slider through the hole between short and third base to score Escobar. Nimmo hit an infield single, which was followed by a Lindor single on the first pitch to score Alvarez and lift the Mets to a 10-9 win.

– Baty, Vientos and Alvarez were in the same lineup for the first time in their careers. Baty hit a double in the second inning, which was the only Mets hit until the fifth inning when Alvarez launched a solo shot to put the Mets on the board. Baty picked up a solo home run, his fourth long ball of the season, in the sixth inning to cut the Mets’ deficit to 5-3. It was an opposite-field blast, the first of his career, and went 368 feet.

Baty finished the day 2-for-5, while Alvarez went 2-for-4 with two RBI and two runs. Vientos went 1-for-4 with a walk and RBI.

Highlights

What’s next

The Mets continue their three-game series against the Guardians on Saturday afternoon at 4:10 p.m.

Max Scherzer is scheduled to go up against rookie Tanner Bibee.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here