Mets Pitching Lab Shuts Down Marlins 2-0

The Mets Having advanced to a 7-3 record early in the season, including an impressive streak of five consecutive wins, despite facing sluggish batting performances and playing conditions unfit for baseball—credit goes primarily to their stellar pitching from both starting and relief pitchers.

Kodai Senga began the game on the mound and played adequately. Although he wasn’t at his peak performance, he managed to keep the Marlins scoreless through the first five innings, recording four strikeouts and distributing five hits along with two walks. Senga decidedly dislikes facing the top of the order (coming into this game, he had struggled particularly against the first inning). 4.65 ERA in the initial inning, and a 2.60 ERA following it. ), got into a jam in the first, allowing the first two runners on. A ground out, caught stealing, and strike out got him out of the inning, and really set the tone for his day.

Following a quick 1-2-3 second inning, he faced greater challenges in the third. Xavier Edwards (whom I believe could develop into a formidable opponent for the Mets based on his current trajectory) managed a base hit and quickly advanced to second with a steal. However, he then induced an out from another possible Mets nemesis, Otto Lopez, who flew out, thereby neutralizing the threat.

In the initial two frames, the Mets' batters experienced a similarly vexing performance as seen throughout their last ten games. This occurred even though they did not face Miami’s top pitcher, Sandy Alcantara, because he had left for personal reasons related to his newborn child. Instead, New York faced Valente Bellozo, who was only called up from Triple-A after pitching there on Friday. During the opening inning, the Mets managed to load the bases with two outs thanks to hits from Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso along with a base-on-balls issued to Mark Vientos. However, Jesse Winker grounded into an outfield flyout, quashing the rally attempt. In the subsequent frame, Tyrone Taylor started things off with another single but got immediately thrown out trying to steal second. Following this, both Luisangel Acuna and Hayden Senger failed to produce anything further before the side retired.

The bats came alive (at least a little bit) in the third due to their stars. Lindor laid down a beautiful bunt single up the third base line, and Juan Soto rewarded him by taking a 1-2 cutter into the left center field gap for an RBI double. A passed ball got him to third with just one away, but a Brandon Nimmo pop out and a 108 MPH line out by Vientos ended the inning 1-0.

That score remained intact for quite a number of innings. Despite allowing two baserunners in the fourth, Kodai Senga managed to escape trouble when Pete Alonso made an impressive catch similar to what Ike Davis might have made against the dugout railing, followed by turning a double play. In the fifth inning, Graham Pauley started things off with a single, however, another double play along with a strikeout from Xavier Edwards concluded Senga’s game.

Danny Young entered the game to take over from Senga and managed to handle a lead-off single effectively. In the subsequent innings, José Buttó took over pitching duties for both the seventh and eighth frames, also navigating through challenging situations with runners on base. During these appearances, he only permitted one baserunner in the seventh inning who was subsequently caught stealing, followed by successfully dealing with an issued walk to Xavier Edwards during his stint in the eighth.

In the middle innings, the Mets' batting struggled just as much. In the fifth, Lindor got a single and Soto earned a walk at the start of the inning; however, a double play by Pete Alonso and a groundout from Nimmo swiftly closed it down. During the sixth inning, Mark Vientos began with a base on balls, yet a fly out by Winker along with consecutive strikeouts of Tyler Naquin and Acuña concluded the half-inning.

The seventh inning was more of the same. After Senger and Lindor got out to start the frame, Soto got something going with a hard hit single. Alonso hit a double to make it second and third with two away, but a routine fly out by Nimmo ended the threat.

The eighth inning gave the Mets an important, and ultimately superfluous, insurance run. Vientos started it off with a walk (his third of the game, which is a great sign for the struggling third baseman), with Jose Siri coming in to pinch run for him. A stolen base put him in scoring position, and a hard hit single by Taylor chased him home, making it 2-0.

Ryne Stanek took over the ninth inning as Edwin Díaz had seen action both Saturday and Sunday. Stanek delivered a flawless ninth, rounding out a remarkable showing from the Mets' pitchers.