When the Mets acquired Devin Mesoraco, the trade was viewed by many as “just getting anything” for Matt Harvey.
Mesoraco has been proven to be much more valuable than that.
After a 44 minute rain delay, our new catcher was behind the plate for the second game of the series, giving signs to lefty Steven Matz.
Matz has been effective lately, offering some semblance of stability from the backend of the rotation.
Steven worked around a double in the top of the first, but Arizona was able to strike in the second.
After a double by Deven Marrero, backup catcher J.R Murphy singled, giving the Diamondbacks a 1-0 lead. J.R Murphy…remember that name.
Remember in April when the Mets used to answer scores by the opposing team immediately? Michael Conforto does.
After Devin Mesoraco was hit by a pitch, the suddenly red-hot Michael Conforto took the second pitch he saw over the right field wall for a homerun. 2-1 Mets.
Steven Matz had a 1-2-3 third inning, but unraveled in the 4th.
The ice-cold Paul Goldschmidt led off with a homerun which tied the game 2-2. Ketel Marte followed with a single, but was erased on a double play. Jarrod Dyson drew a walk and Steven Matz did not like the call on the pitch that sent Dyson to first. He really didn’t like what happened next.
Everyone in the ballpark was waiting for Dyson to steal. Matz stepped off and had Dyson caught in between first and second. The speedy runner beat the throw into second, and Dyson had an unconventional steal. Replays seemed to show that Rosario tagged him out and Mickey Callaway asked for a challenge.
After a lengthy delay, Manhattan still got the call wrong and the inning would continue. Dyson promptly stole third base. The batter was J.R Murphy, and the backup catcher hit a 2 run homerun which made the score 4-2.
Matz was dealt some bad luck in the inning but these things happen. It’s concerning that Callaway sounds like he’s Steven’s therapist lately as opposed to his manager.
Matz got out of the inning without allowing further damage, but that was the end of the night. 4 earned runs over 4 innings of work. 6 hits and a walk and he struck out 2.
Credit to the bullpen, because they came in and completely stifled the Arizona offense.
Seth Lugo was the first man out of the pen and he kept the Diamondbacks quiet for 2 innings. Paul Sewald had a perfect 7th inning and AJ Ramos worked around a single in the 8th to keep Arizona off the scoreboard.
That set the stage for Devin Mesoraco.
Jay Bruce led off the bottom of the 8th with a single and Devin Mesoraco stepped to the plate as the tying run. He tied the game.
If you want to say that was the biggest hit of the season so far, I’m not going to argue with you. The Mets needed that desperately. Also, it was pretty cool to see that ball sail through the fog. 4-4.
Jeurys Familia came in for the top of the 9th and pitched a perfect inning. He even struck out that pesky J.R Murphy. With Citi Field buzzing, the Mets would try and win it in the bottom of the 9th.
Brandon Nimmo led off with a double and Asdrubal Cabrera reached on a bunt single. Nimmo advanced to third. That brought up a guy who is no stranger to these situations, Wilmer Flores.
On an 0-2 count, Flores hit a deep fly ball to left. David Peralta tracked it down but Nimmo scored easily and the Mets won the ballgame. That was Wilmer Flores’ eighth career walk-off which is pretty remarkable.
What a win! The Mets finally win consecutive games for the first time in a month. You still wonder where the offense is going to come from, but the hits have been timely so far this series.
Just like that, we can sweep the Diamondbacks with Syndergaard on the mound in the finale. After that, we welcome in the Miami Marlins. Let’s see if we can go on a run.
