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The Mets won the rubber game of their series with the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1, as they head home .500 on their 10-game west coast swing.
Here are the takeaways...
- A leadoff double by Brandon Marsh put Taijuan Walker and the Mets in immediate trouble, considering Mike Trout came up next. He singled in Marsh to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. Walker put two more Angels on base, but came away unscathed. From then on, he settled down quite nicely. After that scary first inning, the Angels didn’t bring in another run off the tall righty, and he allowed only two more hits in his final five frames.
He totaled six innings of six-hit, one-run ball while walking one and striking out 10, by far his most on the year (he had six on May 22). The 10 strikeouts are a great sign, as entering the night, he struck out just 4.8 batters per nine innings.
- The Mets got on the board in the third inning after Brandon Nimmo led off the inning with a single. He would score all the way from first on a game-tying double from Starling Marte, who played in his first game since a quad injury kept him out a few days.
- In the fourth, in the middle of an in-game interview with Trout, J.D. Davis took Patrick Sandoval deep to left field for a solo shot to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. It was his first homer since April 24.
- In the seventh, Nimmo and Marte both reached base to lead off the inning. However, Nimmo committed a big no-no, as he was picked off by former Met Aaron Loup on an inside move. But a couple batters later, Pete Alonso hit a single up the middle off Archie Bradley – second baseman Matt Duffy dove and saved the ball from going into the outfield, but Marte didn’t stop running and scored because of an errant throw home that made it a 3-1 game.
- Seth Lugo relieved Walker in the seventh inning, and retired the first four batters he faced. However, after walking Marsh, Buck Showalter turned to Edwin Diaz, who had to face Trout to kick off his quest for the five-out save.
But it was no issue. He got Trout to strike out on a 100-mph heater, but walked Anthony Rendon to put the lead run at the plate in Jared Walsh, who hit for the cycle on Saturday. But Diaz hit 102 on the radar gun to strike him out and send the game to the ninth. After Alonso's insurance solo homer gave the Mets a 4-1 lead, Diaz completed the five-out save, striking out the side in order. Every out he recorded was via strikeout, and he now has a 17.1 K/9, which would be his best mark in a full season (he had a 17.5 K/9 in the shortened 2020 season).
- In his first game back, Marte went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and a walk. Prior to his injury, he was hitting .313 with a .554 slugging percentage in his previous 19 games, so he picked up right where he left off. The 1-2 punch of Nimmo and Marte reached base five times.
- After his two-hit effort, Davis is hitting .367 (18-for-49) in his last 14 games.
- Alonso’s two RBI gave him 57 of the year. He still sits in second place, though, as Guardians' Jose Ramirez drove in three runs to up his total to 59 on Sunday.
- McNeil has five multi-hit games in his last 10 contests. This was his 22nd multi-hit game of the season.