The New York Mets had a winning road trip for games from August
27 through September 5th. They got off to a slow start by losing two out of
three to the Chicago Cubs. They then won four out of six games as they first
took two out of three games from the San Francisco Giants and then took two out
of three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers.
In the first game of the series Jon Lester worked six
innings allowing three runs and five hits. He drove in two runs with a single
and showed his athletic ability by making two fine plays in the field to help the
Chicago Cubs to a 7-4 victory over the Mets. Steve Cishek got the win. Noah Syndergaard
went six innings allowing four runs and nine hits and struck out six. Jerry
Blevins took the loss. Former Met Daniel Murphy who will be a free agent at the
end of the season reached base several times against the Mets.
The next game of
the series featured a good pitching matchup between Jacob deGrom and Cole
Hamels. deGrom went eight innings and allowed a run and eight hits, struck out
ten and walked one. Hamels pitched five scoreless innings and allowed four
hits, struck out eight and walked three. In the sixth Todd Frazier led off with
a single followed by a walk to Jay Bruce. Kevin Plawecki grounded out to
advance both runners. Brandon Nimmo popped out to short. deGrom hit a grounder
to Javier Baez, but he could not make a play and the run scored. Chicago tied
it in the seventh when Kyle Schwarber singled, then went to second on a force
out. Pinch- hitter Ben Zobrist hit a grounder that went under the glove of Jay
Bruce into right field. David Bote hit a sacrifice fly to tie it. The game was
suspended with the score tied at one at the top of the tenth inning following a
rain delay.
On the next day both teams resumed where they left off and in the
eleventh inning Ben Zobrist hit a bases loaded single to win the game. In the
series finale Todd Frazier hit a grand slam and drove in five runs as Jason Vargas
and the Mets defeated Alec Mills and the Cubs 10-3
The Giants beat the Mets in the first game of the series 7-0
as rookie Andrew Suarez out pitched Zack Wheeler as he allowed two hits in
seven innings striking out five with no walks. Wheeler pitched well as he
struck out nine with no walks as he allowed four hits and one run over seven
innings. Wheeler had been on a good winning streak recently before this loss. Two
Giants players making their Major League debuts helped the Giants win the game.
Chris Shaw broke a scoreless tie and drove in the first run with a sacrifice
fly in the seventh inning. Aramis Garcia homered off Robert Gsellman in the
eighth for the Giants second run and then added an RBI single to end the
inning.
In the next game Steven Matz
pitched a fine game and struck out eleven batters as the Mets defeated the
Giants 2-1 in eleven innings. Evan Longoria homered in the fourth to give the
Giants a 1-0 lead. The Mets tied it in the fifth on a Tomas Nido RBI double. In
the eleventh Wilmer Flores hit a double to left off Hunter Strickland. He went
to third on a ground out. He scored on Todd Frazier’s sacrifice fly to left as
Jerry Blevins got the win.
In the finale Syndergaard pitched a two-hitter for
his first career complete game by striking out eleven. Conforto helped Noah win
by hitting a two-run homer off of Chris Stratton who took the loss as the Mets
won 4-1
In the first game of the Dodger series Jacob deGrom pitched
six innings allowing one- run and drove in a run. Nimmo hit a three-run homer
in the ninth as Smith got the win over Maeda as the Mets won 4-2. In the next
game the Dodgers came back from a four-run deficit as Barnes and Freese
homered. The Dodgers scored six runs in the seventh with Machado, Freese and
Hernandez driving in runs and Grandal added a two-run double as the Dodgers won
11-4 as Hill defeated Vargas.
In the last game Wheeler despite being hit in the
chest by a grounder which led to an X-ray and CT scan went seven innings and
gave up three runs and nine strikeouts and led the Mets over Ryu 7-3. Flores,
Jackson and Rosario had RBI singles as the Mets completed their road trip in a
positive way. The starting pitching has been fantastic as the Mets continue to
play for pride.
5 comments:
On the upswing.
Rain, rain, go away.
I am witnessing the return to being a contender because of two players...
McNeil and Wheeler
Matz is my third, who has been a really hard luck pitcher this year. Drop a few of his bad outings and he has done quite well, but bad bats and a bad pen have hurt him. Just pitching well, despite not winning, helps give the team momentum.
I just hope Wheeler wins Comeback Player of the Year.
Let's hear some kudos for the recent resurgence of Michael Conforto, the steady hitting of Wulmer Flores and the emergence of Amed Rosario.
Nice write up, Tony.
They are definitely playing better.....let's hope it is a harbinger of things to come for 2019.
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