The Mets Get Back to Winning and Drop Seven Bombs on Philly

The Mets finally busted their seven-game losing streak on Saturday night with a triumphant 11-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. With President Trump announcing a military strike in the middle of the game, it reminded me of the Mets playing in Philadelphia on May 1, 2011 when Osama Bin Laden was killed. The Mets won that night as well, but they didn’t hit seven home runs like they did in the present day. Brandon Nimmo led the charge with a solo shot in the first, and he added another two innings later as part of back-to-back-to-back home runs with Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto. The third-inning barrage was supplemented by Soto adding his second home run in the fifth inning, and the massive blast allowed the Mets to keep the lead for the rest of the night.

Griffin Canning got off to a slow start by allowing three hits in the first inning, including an RBI double by Nick Castellanos, that led to two runs. The Phillies added another run in the second inning when Otto Kemp doubled and came around to score on Brandon Marsh’s soft ground ball and a wild pitch that Francisco Alvarez failed to get his body in front of. That gave Philly a 3-1 lead, but the Mets answered with three straight home runs as well as Soto’s second bomb to go ahead 5-3 in the fifth. Canning failed the shutdown inning after Jeff McNeil and Brandon Nimmo nearly collided on a fly ball hit by Trea Turner. He would score on Alec Bohm’s RBI single to bring the Phillies within one, but Lindor answered with a two-out RBI double in the sixth that Castellanos overran badly in the right field corner.

That sixth inning may have been more impressive than the three home runs in the third because in the sixth, the Mets got singles from both Francisco Alvarez and Ronny Mauricio to set the table. That seems like a very rare feat based on how those guys are playing. As for McNeil, it’s nice having him play center field because he gives the Mets some offense at the position, but it is asking so much for him to communicate with Nimmo properly? They’ve only played together for six years!

That Lindor double was very important because of how shaky New York’s bullpen has been lately, but it turns out that Huascar Brazoban would pitch two scoreless innings before Ryne Stanek and Chris Devenski shut the door in the eight and the ninth, respectively. The solid relief work didn’t stop the Mets from adding on, though. Jared Young joined the home run part to make the score 8-4 and Juan Soto followed with a two-RBI single to blow the game open. Alvarez crushed a solo shot in the ninth to cap the scoring.

I have an issue with people saying that the Mets’ seven-game skid was inevitable because even good teams lose games. There are plenty of good teams that go through a season without losing seven games in a row. Instead of moping about how “you can’t win ’em all,” the Mets had to start smashing opponents’ pitching, and that finally happened on Saturday.

In college ball, LSU defeated Coastal Carolina in Game 1 of the College World Series Championship with a 1-0 score thanks to Kade Anderson’s complete game shutout. With 10 strikeouts and five walks, it took Anderson 130 pitches to finish the job. That made me think if a major league starter would ever be allowed to throw 130 pitches, even in a World Series game. I think the babying of pitchers has less to do about avoiding injuries and more to do about pro coaches and front office people not wanting to lose their jobs in case a pitcher does get injured.

We should be in for a thrilling sports Sunday with LSU trying to clinch a national title at 2:30 PM and the NBA Finals wrapping up with Game 7 at 8:00 PM. There’s also the Mets trying to regain first place and the USMNT looking to go undefeated in Gold Cup group play at 7:00 PM.

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