Baseball is so weird. A team that could barely hit the ball a couple weeks ago is now killing the ball in a very strange home stadium. Some caveats apply of course. The Mets pitching staff isn’t the best in the league, but they do a decent job of keeping the ball in the ballpark. The D-backs pitching staff is about the same, giving up 1.15 HR/9. Tonight was different.
It all started in the first, with Matt Koch making his 11th start of the season and still hanging on. He got two groundouts to start, from Michael Conforto and Todd Frazier before Brandon Nimmo started the homer frenzy, crushing a 1-1 pitch just over the outstretched glove of Jon Jay for a quick 1-0 Mets lead. The D-backs didn’t respond. Yet.
2 strikeouts and a line out got Koch out of the 2nd after 17 pitches and the D-backs responded. John Ryan Murphy walked, with a David Peralta HBP to put a runner in scoring position. Ketel Marte singled to left, scoring JRM. That was all the team would get, with Lamb, Owings, and Koch failing to get the runners in. 1-1.
Another quiet inning from Koch in the 3rd, allowing a 2-out walk before Owings made a nice play in CF to end the inning. Nick Ahmed hit a double play ball, erasing a Jon Jay single (expect more of that). And Paul Goldschmidt dumped a long fly ball into the outstretched hands of flailing fans, 2-1 D-backs.
1-2-3 went the Mets in the top half of the 4th. The D-backs paid no mind, with David Peralta homering above the yellow line in CF, 3-1 D-backs. That’s all they would do.
Koch again pitched another harmless inning, stranding a leadoff single at 1st. Ahmed was bad again, hitting into a double play.
Koch finally saw danger, as Conforto smashed a homer to center field bringing the Mets within one run, 3-2 D-backs. That was Koch’s last inning. He pitched decently enough, abusing the fact he has an excellent defense at his disposal. Owings in particular was great in CF, making some fabulous plays to rob the Mets base hits. His final line was, 6IP with 3H and 2ER (2 homers). He struck out 5 and only walked 1.
Yoshihisa Hirano came on as per usual in the 7th, sandwiching strike outs with a ground out. The offense sparked a two out rally, with none other than Daniel Descalso behind it. Marte walked to leadoff and Lamb/Owings were bad. Descalso singled against Jerry Blevins, lining the first pitch he saw to left to put runners on the corners. Jon Jay was hit by a pitch and Ahmed finally did something good, or rather, did nothing at all watching 4 balls to score Marte 4-2 D-backs. Goldy struck out, but it’s okay, he’s on fire.
Nationally known D-backs killer Amed Rosario led off the 8th against Archie Bradley, and he did what he does best, homering to left to cut the lead 4-3. Archie walked someone named Luis Guillorme, but got a fly out of Conforto and a Frazier double play to get out of the inning.
The D-backs rallied, with David Peralta hitting his 2nd homer of the night and Jake Lamb joining the party with his 5th of the year. 6-3 D-backs.
Brad Boxberger came on to seal the deal and abused the shoddy strike zone, striking out Nimmo and making Asdrubal Cabrera swing at a tough inside pitch after taking two borderline pitches (they were balls). Jose Bautista (LOLOLOL) struck out to end the game. Good win!
Source: FanGraphs
☆☆☆ - David Peralta (2 for 3, 2HR) +22.5% WPA
☆☆ - Matt Koch (6IP, 2ER, 5K) +16.2% WPA
☆ - Chris Owings (0 for 4, 1K) -10.4% WPA
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Another game with the Mets tomorrow starting at 6:40pm. Zack Godley fights for his rotation spot against Seth Lugo, who has replaced Noah Syndergaard as well as one can hope. See ya tomorrow!