On Wednesday night in Boston, the Mets managed to bounce back into the win column, ending their season’s first three-game losing streak.
New York’s struggling offense finally managed to produce some timely hits with runners in scoring position to pull off a 5-1 victory over star lefty Garrett Crochet, one of the best pitchers in the league.
First, because to his defensive effort, Brett Baty was kept in the lineup against the strong southpaw. However, in the second inning, he delivered with his bat, starting the scoring with a two-out RBI single.
Despite Tylor Megill’s outstanding comeback performance, which included striking out 10 hitters in 4.2 innings pitched, the Red Sox managed to score the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning thanks to some poor infield play.
However, Baty would deliver for the Mets once again a few innings later. With the bases loaded, he lined a two-run opposite-field double off another hardy lefty, Brennan Bernardino, to put New York up for good.
In the top of the ninth inning, Francisco Lindor crushed the Mets’ first home run since last Tuesday, adding the cherry on top of the victory.
“When you’re going through stretches like this, guys want to come through so bad,” Carlos Mendoza said. “At times it takes a little longer than we’d like it to, but it was good to see the guys today not panicking — not that we have been.
“We were able to succeed because you just kept playing your game and keeping up your execution. Lindor with the homer, the first one in a while which is really unusual. Overall a nice team win, and now we have to go home and play another good squad.”
That strong squad? The Dodgers, the reigning champions.
The Mets had upset them in Game 5 of the NLCS to prolong their season, so there was much more on the line the previous time LA was in town. However, a few nights later, that incredible run came to an end with a 10-5 loss in Chavez Ravine.
The Dodgers then won the seventh World Series in the team’s history after defeating the Yankees in five games.
Since then, a lot has changed for both organizations, but one thing hasn’t altered.
These two teams are among the top contenders in the National League this season, despite the Mets going through a difficult time and the Dodgers dealing with a number of injuries. Mendoza anticipates an exciting three-game series at Citi Field this weekend.
The captain declared, “They’re a good team, and we’re a good team too.” “We’ll be ready for them. They obviously defeated us in the NLCS the previous year, and they got a lot more players in the summer, but we did the same. I believe this battle will be entertaining.
On Friday night, Griffin Canning will take the mound against Clayton Kershaw to begin the series.
