The Mets were stifled by Shota Imanaga and victims of a highly-questionable call to end the game as they lost, 1-0, to the Chicago Cubs on Wednesday night at Citi Field.
Here are the takeaways…
- Down 1-0 in the ninth inning, Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch and J.D. Martinez drilled a double to the wall in center field to put the tying and winning runs on base. Jeff McNeil followed by slicing a fly ball to left field, with Alonso tagging up at third.
When Alonso slid at home plate, his hand bounced up, leading to it getting down right as the tag was applied. He was called out on the field, and the play was reviewed.
On the replay, Alonso appeared to be safe -- with his hand touching down as he was tagged -- but the call on the field was upheld, ending the game.
The main issue, though, was that Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya appeared to be illegally blocking the plate -- which set Carlos Mendoza off when Amaya's positioning was ruled by the replay officials to be legal. The Replay Center also released a statement explaining the call.
"That's bullsh-t, man," Carlos Mendoza told the umpires as he left the field.
Speaking after the game, Mendoza said he thought the call was wrong, and cited a memo that was sent out in spring training that showed what catchers can't do on plays at the plate. Amaya seemed to be in violation.
- Former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, who was traded to the Cubs in the Javier Baez deal at the 2021 deadline, accounted for all of the scoring -- lifting a sacrifice fly to right field with one out in the first inning to give Chicago a 1-0 lead.
The run scored after a leadoff double by Matt Mervis and a wild pitch, which Tomas Nido stabbed at without making an effort to backhand or block.
- The Mets mounted a one-out threat in the eighth inning, with Brett Baty ripping a single and D.J. Stewart drawing a walk. But they came up empty as Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte were fanned by Yency Almonte.
- Shota Imanaga has been one of the best pitchers in baseball this season, and it's not a fluke -- as the Mets found out on Wednesday night.
The 30-year-old, who is in the midst of his first season in the majors after coming over from Japan, had the Mets off-balance all night as his splitter tied them up in knots.
He retired 12 of the last 13 batters he faced and was removed at 87 pitches after the seventh inning.
Overall, Imanaga fired seven shutout innings while allowing three hits, walking one, and striking out seven. His ERA for the season dipped to 0.78.
- Jose Butto was very good -- again.
He gave up a double and issued a walk to open the game, but settled in very nicely after.
In six innings, the only run Butto allowed came on Crow-Armstrong's sac fly in the fifth. He gave up just four hits, walked two, and struck out six while tossing 96 pitches -- lowering his ERA for the season to 2.57.
In Butto's five starts this year, he has allowed more than two runs just once.
- Jeff McNeil entered the contest with hits in his last three games and five of his last seven. He continued to play well, notching two more knocks -- a line drive single to right field in the second and a bloop single to right in the fourth.
- Adam Ottavino continued to be nails, striking out two while working around a walk in a scoreless eighth. Ottavino has not allowed a hit to the last 34 batters he's faced (h/t MLB.com's Anthony DiComo). Sean Reid-Foley struck out the side in the ninth.
- Francisco Lindor exited the game due to flu-like symptoms ahead of the top of the third inning. He popped out to shortstop in the first inning in his only at-bat of the night. Lindor exiting further weakened a lineup that was already without Brandon Nimmo, who had the night off. Nimmo eventually entered in the eighth.