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CINCINNATI — In the first two nights of the Mets' series against the Reds, they could have fielded both sides of a football team with the number of runners left on base
Despite stranding 23 runners and going 3-for-23 runners in scoring position, Carlos Mendoza continued to have faith that if the Mets put them on, they would eventually break through.
That moment came in the final game of the series on Wednesday afternoon as the Mets cashed in on more than half their opportunities with runners in scoring position (7-for-13) and rolled to a 9-1 victory over the Reds in front of 27,207 fans at Great American Ball Park.
"I keep saying it, those guys are going to come through and today that's the perfect example of it," Carlos Mendoza said. "It's a long, long season, man, and more times than not, we'll get the big hit."
After being outscored 17-3 in the opening two games of the series, including a 12-0 loss, the Mets managed to flip the script in the final game to improve to 33-41. Nolan McLean also held up his end of the bargain with a stellar outing, holding the Reds to one unearned run on three hits and one walk in seven innings.
The Mets now head into their first three-game series against the Phillies, beginning at 6:40 p.m. on
"I don't know about satisfying, but it felt good," Bichette said. "We need to come out here and win a game, so look forward to tomorrow."
The Mets were steadfast in their belief in Bichette's offensive prowess, even following a torturous start at the plate in the first two full months of the season.
Now, Bichette is showing why. The Mets infielder led the team's offensive surge on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with three runs, an RBI and a walk. He has multi-hit performances in each of his last six games, going 13-for-27 with eight runs and eight RBI over the last two series.
"I think there's a lot of at-bats right now that I could still have better at-bats. It's not perfect. I'm making good adjustments at-bat to at-bat. I think I can make adjustments better pitch to pitch, but I'm not gonna complain too much."
With his breakout performance in June, with Bichette slashing .387/.394/.645, he has elevated his average from .219 to .254 and his OPS from .583 to .677.
Suffice to say, it helps when the Mets' top two hitters are clicking at the same time. Soto finished 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBI in the win.
"It's exciting. He's a great hitter, I'm a great hitter, so yeah, that's what I envisioned," Bichette said "It's just fun scoring runs."
It was not an "emphasis" for McLean to lean on his four-seam fastball heading into his start against the Reds, but he had a feel for it early and it opened up the rest of his arsenal.
The results are what Mets have come to expect from McLean, who struck out nine and completed seven innings for the third time this season.
"I think the game was just calling for it today," McLean said of his four-seam fastball, which he unfurled 27 percent of the time, nine percent above his season average. "I felt like I had it pretty early so we leaned on it a little bit more than usual and then just mixing and matching that with the sinker played a pretty big role."
Half of McLean's 10 whiffs came on his fastball, which topped out at 97.8 mph. He had at least two strikeouts with four different pitches.
McLean received a little help in the third inning to keep the Reds down when A.J. Ewing made a slick diving catch to his left with the bases loaded to hold JJ Bleday to a sacrifice fly and their lone run of the day.
The lengthy quality start was a major boon for the Mets, which have been shuffling through starters as they try to fill the voids left by Clay Holmes and more recently Christian Scott, who was placed on the 15-day IL with a right hip impingement on Monday.
"I wouldn't say I put any more pressure or responsibility on myself,' McLean said. "Every time I go out there, I'm trying to win a baseball game. I think if everybody's trying to do that and we're all puling the same rope that good things will happen."
One night earlier on Tuesday, the Mets drew criticism for deploying two ABS challenges unsuccessfully in the opening two innings against the Reds.
Francisco Alvarez tried to help Kodai Senga on a 2-1 pitch that slipped below the inside corner of the zone. Then, Marcus Semien added on with an ill-fated inquiry on a second-inning strikeout. That left the Mets without any challenges for the rest of the game and Mendoza ultimately ejected for a comment from the bench in the seventh inning.
"You talk to them all the time as a group, individually, but in the heat of the moment, they're competing," Mendoza said.
That made another failed challenge from Semien in opening at-bat of the second inning all the more perplexing. But it ultimately did not cost the Mets on Wednesday.
"He's a player that wants every pitch," Mendoza said. "You talk about low leverage and all that, but they want to compete and they want to win every pitch."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets, Nolan McLean power past Reds to avoid three-game sweep
Continue reading...
Despite stranding 23 runners and going 3-for-23 runners in scoring position, Carlos Mendoza continued to have faith that if the Mets put them on, they would eventually break through.
That moment came in the final game of the series on Wednesday afternoon as the Mets cashed in on more than half their opportunities with runners in scoring position (7-for-13) and rolled to a 9-1 victory over the Reds in front of 27,207 fans at Great American Ball Park.
"I keep saying it, those guys are going to come through and today that's the perfect example of it," Carlos Mendoza said. "It's a long, long season, man, and more times than not, we'll get the big hit."
After being outscored 17-3 in the opening two games of the series, including a 12-0 loss, the Mets managed to flip the script in the final game to improve to 33-41. Nolan McLean also held up his end of the bargain with a stellar outing, holding the Reds to one unearned run on three hits and one walk in seven innings.
The Mets now head into their first three-game series against the Phillies, beginning at 6:40 p.m. on
"I don't know about satisfying, but it felt good," Bichette said. "We need to come out here and win a game, so look forward to tomorrow."
Bo Bichette catching fire
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The Mets were steadfast in their belief in Bichette's offensive prowess, even following a torturous start at the plate in the first two full months of the season.
Now, Bichette is showing why. The Mets infielder led the team's offensive surge on Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with three runs, an RBI and a walk. He has multi-hit performances in each of his last six games, going 13-for-27 with eight runs and eight RBI over the last two series.
"I think there's a lot of at-bats right now that I could still have better at-bats. It's not perfect. I'm making good adjustments at-bat to at-bat. I think I can make adjustments better pitch to pitch, but I'm not gonna complain too much."
With his breakout performance in June, with Bichette slashing .387/.394/.645, he has elevated his average from .219 to .254 and his OPS from .583 to .677.
Suffice to say, it helps when the Mets' top two hitters are clicking at the same time. Soto finished 3-for-5 with a double, two runs and two RBI in the win.
"It's exciting. He's a great hitter, I'm a great hitter, so yeah, that's what I envisioned," Bichette said "It's just fun scoring runs."
Nolan McLean rides fastball to stellar start
You must be registered for see images
It was not an "emphasis" for McLean to lean on his four-seam fastball heading into his start against the Reds, but he had a feel for it early and it opened up the rest of his arsenal.
The results are what Mets have come to expect from McLean, who struck out nine and completed seven innings for the third time this season.
"I think the game was just calling for it today," McLean said of his four-seam fastball, which he unfurled 27 percent of the time, nine percent above his season average. "I felt like I had it pretty early so we leaned on it a little bit more than usual and then just mixing and matching that with the sinker played a pretty big role."
Half of McLean's 10 whiffs came on his fastball, which topped out at 97.8 mph. He had at least two strikeouts with four different pitches.
McLean received a little help in the third inning to keep the Reds down when A.J. Ewing made a slick diving catch to his left with the bases loaded to hold JJ Bleday to a sacrifice fly and their lone run of the day.
The lengthy quality start was a major boon for the Mets, which have been shuffling through starters as they try to fill the voids left by Clay Holmes and more recently Christian Scott, who was placed on the 15-day IL with a right hip impingement on Monday.
"I wouldn't say I put any more pressure or responsibility on myself,' McLean said. "Every time I go out there, I'm trying to win a baseball game. I think if everybody's trying to do that and we're all puling the same rope that good things will happen."
ABS is a challenge for Mets
One night earlier on Tuesday, the Mets drew criticism for deploying two ABS challenges unsuccessfully in the opening two innings against the Reds.
Francisco Alvarez tried to help Kodai Senga on a 2-1 pitch that slipped below the inside corner of the zone. Then, Marcus Semien added on with an ill-fated inquiry on a second-inning strikeout. That left the Mets without any challenges for the rest of the game and Mendoza ultimately ejected for a comment from the bench in the seventh inning.
"You talk to them all the time as a group, individually, but in the heat of the moment, they're competing," Mendoza said.
That made another failed challenge from Semien in opening at-bat of the second inning all the more perplexing. But it ultimately did not cost the Mets on Wednesday.
"He's a player that wants every pitch," Mendoza said. "You talk about low leverage and all that, but they want to compete and they want to win every pitch."
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NY Mets, Nolan McLean power past Reds to avoid three-game sweep
Continue reading...
