The Mets lost two of three in Los Angeles against the Angels, starting their road trip with a thud. After the series, the Mets record stands at 58-53, which is out of the NL Wild Card spots and eight games behind the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies. The Mets head out of LA to travel to St. Louis for a makeup game against the Cardinals on Monday before heading to Colorado for three against the Rockies.
Before diving into the Angels series, the Mets are gearing up for a pennant race through the remainder of August and September. One key piece of that run is going to be the bullpen. The pen has been a focus area for David Stearns and the front office, with many of the trade deadline moves focused on arms to backup the starters.
In addition to the trades, one revelation out of the bullpen this season has been Jose Butto. Butto began the year as a starter and was injured earlier in the year. Upon returning and rehabbing in the minors, Butto started to get lost in the numbers game within the major league rotation.
In working with the team and Manager Carlos Mendoza, Butto made it very clear that he would rather help his major league teammates in any way possible, even if that meant going to the bullpen. The team gave it a shot and it could not have gone any better.
On the season, he is 4-3 with an ERA of 2.38. Butto has struck out 60 and walked 27 in 56.2 innings of work. From the pen he has also earned two saves. Also of interest, his WHIP is 0.99 with a WAR of 1.7. Over his past five appearances, Butto has thrown 11 innings, giving up two earned runs on five hits with three walks and 14 strikeouts.
Butto has worked hard, been a great teammate, and carved himself a very important niche in the Mets bullpen.
Here are the rundowns from the games against the Angels.
Game 1: Mets 5, Angels 1
The Mets got off to a good start in LA by beating the Angels in game one of the series. Paul Blackburn was solid in his Mets debut. Pete Alonso hit a home run, and Brandon Nimmo had three hits for New York.
Each batter in the starting lineup for the Mets had at least one hit. Nimmo had his three, in five at-bats. The other Mets players with multiple hits were Tyrone Taylor (two) and Harrison Bader (two). In Alonso’s four at-bat’s, three ended in strikeouts but he made the other count with a two-run line drive home run, his 23rd homer of the year. Francisco Alvarez and J.D. Martinez each had an RBI.
Blackburn’s first start with the Mets was a success, as he went six innings and gave up one run on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Bullpen extraordinaire Jose Butto followed with two innings of hitless ball, striking out three. Phil Maton pitched a hitless ninth to finish it off.
For the Angels, their only run came courtesy of a Jo Adell single in the third that scored Mickey Moniak. Moniak and Nolan Schanuel each had two hits. Adell and Taylor Ward had the other LA hits.
Tyler Anderson got the start for the Angels. Over five innings he surrendered three runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts. The loss moved Anderson’s record to 8-10 with a season ERA of 3.05. Mike Baumann followed and was charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits in one inning. Roansy Contreras was next with two shutout innings before Jose Marte had a shutout inning.
Game 2: Angels 5, Mets 4
A grand slam from Martinez was not enough for the Mets, as they fall to the Angels. For LA, Zach Neto had a career-high four RBIs, and Ben Joyce ended the game with the fastest pitch of this major league season. He struck out Martinez on a 104.7 mph heater.
Martinez had his second grand slam in eight games, and had two hits for the game. Francisco Lindor also had two hits. Nimmo, Alonso, Mark Vientos, and Jeff McNeil each delivered a hit each. For Nimmo and Vientos, those hits were doubles.
David Peterson started for New York. He went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits with a walk and four strikeouts. Newcomer Huascar Brazoban relieved Peterson to start the seventh, and ran into trouble that culminated with a three run home run from Neto. Alex Young came on for 0.1 inning to finish the seventh before Adam Ottavino (0.2 innings) and Danny Young (0.1 inning) combined for a scoreless eighth.
Neto’s heroics came on a day where he had two hits, two runs and four RBIs to pace the Angels. Former Met Kevin Pillar added an RBI single in the bottom of the first to start the scoring (scoring Neto) to put LA up 1-0. Pillar also made a highlight reel catch in center field to rob Lindor of extra bases. Michael Stefanie also had two hits.
Getting the start for the Angels was Jose Soriano. He went six shutout innings, allowing five hits with two walks and six strikeouts. Hans Crouse (0.1 innings) and Hunter Strickland (0.2 innings) combined for the seventh inning, each getting charged with half of Martinez’s grand slam. Matt Moore went the first 0.2 innings in the eighth and picked up the win before Joyce went the final 1.1 innings to earn his first career save.
Game 3: Angels 3, Mets 2
The Angels took the rubber match of the series, behind two sacrifice flies, a Mets wild pitch, and a good start by Griffin Canning.
Bader and Lindor each had RBI singles for the Mets. Lindor narrowly missed tying the game up in the seventh, as a potential home run hooked just foul. New York was two for ten with runners in scoring position. Lindor also picked up his 23rd steal of the season.
Jose Quintana took the mound for the Mets. It took him 96 pitches to cover five innings, and he allowed three runs on three hits with four walks and four strikeouts. With the loss, his season record stands at 6-7 with a 3.95 ERA. The bullpen was strong, throwing three scoreless, one-hit innings. Adam Ottavino, Danny Young, and Phil Maton did the honors with one scoreless inning each.
For LA, the lineup was very efficient, scoring three runs on just four hits. The Angels were hitless in five at-bats with runners in scoring position. Pillar and Matt Thaiss each had a sacrifice fly and Ward scored on a Quintana wild pitch.
Canning threw 97 pitches over his five innings for his fourth win of the year, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with four walks and eight strikeouts. The Angels bullpen was strong as well, going four scoreless innings. Marte, Baumann, and Contreras went one scoreless inning each, with Contreras picking up his second save of the year.
By J. Krom
Photos courtesy of SNY
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