Intro/Krom’s Korner
The Mets returned from London and, following some jet lag, took the series against the Marlins by winning the last two games.
It is always fun seeing a walk-off victory. J.D. Martinez provided the walk-off heroics in the rubber match of the series, delivering the first walk-off homer of his career. The aforementioned career of Martinez is an illustrious one, covering 1,563 games and 6,539 plate appearances. With all those opportunities, his first walk-off home run came on June 13, 2024. Congratulations to Martinez on checking off another item on the baseball bucket list.
The exuberance of a walk-off home run, whether in Little League or the Majors, is a sight and feeling to behold. In this instance, Martinez was given a Gatorade bath by both Pete Alonso and D.J. Stewart. It would be great to have momentum carry forward into the next series against the San Diego Padres, but in baseball momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher.
Also of note, the Mets have another new mascot/good luck charm. Grimace, the purple blob of McDonald’s fame, threw out the first pitch before the second game of this series. The Mets are now 2-0 in the Grimace Era.
Mark Vientos continues to impress after being named the starting third baseman. He has hit in 14 of his last 18 games, and his season average stands at .309 with an OPS of .929.
Game 1: Marlins 4, Mets 2
The Mets returned from London and despite having a day off the day before, seemed fairly jet lagged in this one. Despite the return of a franchise building block behind the plate, symptoms that have plagued the Mets all season (bad fielding and short stints from starting pitching) showed up again at Citi Field.
The Mets offense was far from impressive. Only three batters contributed to a four-hit output. Starling Marte continued his recent strong set of games, going 2-4 with a run. The other hits were provided by Vientos(1-4 with 2 RBIs on a 2-run double that gave the Mets a temporary 2-1 lead in the bottom of the 2nd) and Jose Iglesias.
Getting the start for the Mets was Tylor Megill. Par for the course with Mets starting pitching this season, Megill only went 4.2 innings while giving up three runs on five hits and two walks to go along with eight strikeouts. With the loss, his record moved to 1-3 with an ERA of 3.51 on the season. Danny Young, Sean Reid-Foley, and Drew Smith contributed 3.1 innings of scoreless relief, before Adam Ottavino surrendered an unearned run in the ninth (following a throwing error by Francisco Alvarez in his first game off the injured list).
Despite striking out 13 times, Miami did enough to plate four runs. For the Marlins, Tim Anderson was 2-4 with an RBI that got the scoring started in the top of the 2nd. Bryan de la Cruz, Jake Burger, Jesus Sanchez, and Otto Lopez also contributed hits.
Jesus Luzardo started for the Marlins and picked up the win to move to 3-5 on the year. After giving up two runs on four hits and a walk with a strikeout in 5.2 innings, his season ERA was lowered to 5.11. The Mets were held hitless by the bullpen combination of Anthony Bender, Andrew Nardi, and Tanner Scott.
Game 2: Mets 10, Marlins 4
The power of the Mets bats were on display and a strong day from Tyrone Taylor helped the Mets beat the Marlins soundly. More importantly, Grimace threw out the first pitch and could have changed the trajectory of this Mets season.
The Mets offense produced three home runs that drove in four of the 10 runs. Going deep were Harrison Bader (two-run shot in the bottom of the 1st), Starling Marte (solo homer in the 5th), and Francisco Lindor (solo shot in the 8th; also contributed a double). Every member of the starting lineup had at least one hit, with the exception of Jeff McNeil. Taylor contributed four hits in his first four at bats and finished four for five.
Getting the start for the Mets was David Peterson, and he did not go very deep in the game. Over 84 pitches he only completed five innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout. With the win he is now 2-0 with a 4.32 ERA. Mets relievers had a strong game, going the final four shutout innings while allowing only one hit. Dedniel Nunez, Jake Diekman, and Reed Garrett did the honors.
The Marlins offense produced nine hits with Jazz Chisholm and Tim Anderson contributing two hits each. Josh Bell and Nick Fortes were the only Marlins starters to not have a hit, with each going 0 for 3.
Braxton Garrett got the start for the Marlins, and had a rough one. Over 4.2 innings he surrendered six runs (four earned) on seven hits (no walks) and four strikeouts. Marlins relievers surrendered four more runs over the final 3.1 innings.
Game 3: Mets 3, Marlins 2
In the return of another foundational building block for the Mets, the bats were mostly silent until the walk-off home run by Martinez, his sixth homer of the year.
The Mets lineup produced only three hits on the game. Martinez had two of them, including his walk-off and his ninth double of the year, and Bader had the other.
Luis Severino made the start for the Mets, and it was a quality one. He went six innings and gave up only one run on seven hits and three walks to go along with two strikeouts. With the no decision his record stayed at 4-2 with his ERA lowering to 3.12. The bullpen was bolstered by the return of Edwin Diaz, and while he did not get a save situation he still had a positive outcome as he picked up the win.
Similar to the prior game, two hits from Chisholm and Anderson each were the main pieces of the offense for the Marlins. Jake Burger homered off Severino and Chisholm had a solo shot off Smith.
Taking the mound for the Marlins, Roddery Munoz had his best start of the year. The Mets only produced one hit through the six innings he pitched. Tanner Scott surrendered the walk-off to Martinez.
With the series win over the Marlins, the Mets stand at 30-37 which is 15.5 games behind the first-place Phillies. However, they are only 3.5 games out of the final NL Wild Card spot. The Mets are right back at it, with the 37-35 San Diego Padres coming to Citi Field for a three-game weekend series. This will be the first time these two teams face off in 2024.
Written by: Jason Krom
Stats by espn.com and baseball-reference.com
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