On a night when one of the Mets third basemen helped blow a lead by quite literally letting a ball go through his glove, their other third baseman — trying to claw his way back into the lineup by playing a variety of positions — picked him up the next frame with a decisive homer.
Jared Triolo’s grounder bounced through a hole in Mark Vientos’ glove with two outs in the sixth inning, causing Carlos Mendoza’s decision to leave Kodai Senga in for one final hitter to backfire and eventually leading to the Pirates tying the game.
But in the seventh, Brett Baty, dumped to the minors last month before orchestrating a tear in his six games since returning, crushed a ball over the left field fence to lift the Mets to a 2-1 win over the Pirates on Tuesday at Citi Field.
Baty’s homer marked his fourth since getting called back up from Triple-A Syracuse and returning to the Mets lineup on May 7.
The optics weren’t promising when he was sent down with a .204 average despite a strong spring training.
But after the Mets could barely muster anything against Pirates starter Mitch Keller through six-plus frames, Baty connected on a changeup and sent it over the fence.
Until that point, though, all the Mets managed against Keller was a run in the first, when Juan Soto singled and came around to score on Brandon Nimmo’s two-out double.
Keller struck out eight Mets and limited them to just five hits through seven frames.
Still, because of their early hitting, the Mets gave their ace a lead to work with, and until a bizarre sixth inning, that was enough.
the Mets’ win over the Pirates. Getty Images
After walking five batters during his previous start, Senga issued just two Tuesday while striking out seven.
Pittsburgh had a runner in scoring position during the final five frames Senga opened, but he used his forkball to help escape jams — including in the fourth, when Senga struck out three consecutive Pirates with two runners on to avoid any damage.
The sixth, though, unraveled after Mendoza stuck with his ace.
He went out for a mound visit after Alexander Canario singled with two outs, but he opted to leave Senga in.
Senga’s 100th pitch soared by Triolo for a strike.
His 102nd one went through Vientos’ glove for a double to end his outing.
Reed Garrett then entered the game and allowed the tying run to score by walking a pair of batters.
It all cobbled to give the Mets another ugly win against a team that has already fired its manager and seems destined for 100 losses.
Senga didn’t have his cleanest outing.
Vientos bizarrely had the hole in his mitt.
A powerful lineup couldn’t create much offense, either.
The Pirates even had two runners on with one out in the ninth after Edwin Díaz walked a hitter and Francisco Lindor committed an error.
But Baty, trying to stick this time, had delivered when the Mets needed it.
Credit: Source link
