[ad_1]
The New York Mets entered the home game against the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday after losing the opener of the series, dropping nine-of-13 for it during a stretch that saw them play the Tigers, Rockies, Reds and Nationals. The Rays, meanwhile, were an MLB best 32-11.
Despite recent trends and an opponent that was much better thus far, the Mets pulled off a thrilling 8-7 victory in extras, much to owner Steve Cohen’s delight/relief:
For much of the evening, it looked like expectations would be met. The Rays took an 1-0 lead in the fourth inning off Kodai Senga, who struckout 12 batters in six innings. They went 2-0 in the seventh on Jose Siri’s solo homer, giving the Mets only an 18.2% chance of winning the game, according to the baseline win expectation. But then, in the bottom of the seventh inning, power-hitting infield prospect Mark Vientos hit, who had been summoned from Triple-A Syracuse just hours earliercame up big with a man against Ryan Thompson:
As you might have guessed, that is career No. 1 home run for the 23-year-old Vientos.
Undeterred, the Rays broke the new tie in the eighth and scored a pair of extra runs in the top of the ninth to take a 5-2 lead. Then, in the bottom half, exuberant rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez came to the plate with two up and two out:
The moment before Alvarez parked that hanging Rays breaking ball closer to Jason Adam, the Mets had a 3.8% chance of winning the game. After it landed some 400 feet away, the Mets had a 53.1% chance of winning.
In the 10th, the Rays got a pair of RBI singles to retake the lead, this time going 7-5 on aggregate. However, in the home half, Jeff McNeil’s single plus the automatic runner put tough slugger Pete Alonso out with one and represented the winning run. Here’s Pete Fairbanks’ 0-1 fastball:
That 416-footer is Alonso’s MLB-leading 15th of the season. When he came in, the Mets had a 19.5% chance of winning the game, and Alonso quickly raised that figure to, yes, 100%.
Even after the heart-stopping victory, the Mets are two games under .500 in this season with high hopes, but it was much needed. As far as momentum even exists in a sport like baseball, the Mets may have a little bit of it for the first time in a while.
[ad_2]
Source link