SOMETHING EXTRA
Mets top Phils in 8, then see Stro come through in nightcap
METS 4 PHILLIES 3 METS 4 PHILLIES 0
Marcus Stroman, with no mud sloshing against his cleats and no rain affecting his grip, stole the show in Game 2 and helped deliver a doubleheader sweep for the Mets.
Stroman pitched six scoreless innings as the Mets backed him up in a gripping fourth-inning rally for a 4-0 victory over the Phillies in the nightcap of Tuesday’s doubleheader at Citi Field. Stroman lowered his ERA to 0.75 in the young season after three strikeouts and only four hits allowed over 86 pitches in his second start of the year.
“I take care of my body to the fullest,” Stroman said. “I got into my hyperbaric chamber this morning. I did a bunch of soft tissue this morning to put my body in a position to be able to dominate, and I’m just happy it worked out that way.”
In the first game, the Mets topped the Phillies, 4-3, in eight innings.
On Sunday, Stroman took the mound and threw just nine pitches before the game against the Marlins was suspended. He informed manager Luis Rojas on Monday that he felt good enough to pitch again on Tuesday – and it showed. Stroman was dominant, facing the minimum through four innings and even drew a walk in the sixth. He intended to pitch a complete game, but once the bottom of the sixth inning went long, Stroman alerted the Mets to get a reliever ready.
The Mets put up three runs in the fourth inning after Jeff McNeil hustled down the line for an infield single that sparked the rally. Jonathan Villar, who was also Game 1’s walk-off hero, drove in McNeil with a double. Brandon Nimmo, who’s batting .435 with a 1.146 OPS for a fantastic start to the season, delivered a two-run single to complete the rally.
“I just try not to waste any at-bats because there are going to be at-bats throughout the season that I don’t come through, that I don’t do well,” Nimmo said. “My goal is to go up there for every single at-bat and not give one away, mentally, that way it will hopefully even out.”
Back-to-back rainouts on Sunday and Monday had the Mets itching to play, compounded by their late start to the season after the Nationals series was postponed.
“The guys are shouting from the dugout,” Rojas said. “They enjoy the good takes, they enjoy the good at-bats, they enjoy the hustle. I think that energy is being passed from one another. We were missing that.”
Game 2 was a solid, all-around win after Game 1’s theatrics.
Thanks to MLB’s rules that limit doubleheader games to seven innings and place a runner on second base to start extra innings, Francisco Lindor took the bag with no outs and represented the tying run in the bottom of the eighth in Game 1. Pete Alonso scored Lindor with a single to center, flipping the script from an impending loss and setting up the walk-off win.
Four batters later, Villar ripped a one-out single to left-center with the bases loaded as the Mets beat the Phillies, 4-3. Lindor chased
Villar around the bases before the rest of the team piled on top and celebrated in the center of the diamond.
“That at-bat by Villar, who’s known to be a free-swinger, that wasn’t an easy at-bat,” Rojas said. “That’s good to see. It was a big win.”
Dominic Smith crushed a tworun home run against Chase Anderson in the first inning of Game 1. Through seven innings, Smith was one of only three Mets batters to get a hit against the Phillies and the only one to drive in runs until the game went to extras.
Game 1 became hostile for a moment in the sixth after Phillies left-hander Jose Alvarado threw a 100-mph fastball by
Michael Conforto’s head. On the next pitch, Alvarado hit Conforto with another triple-digit heater on the back of his right hand. The Mets dugout jawed at Alvarado and the Phillies. Smith pointed at his head and chirped at Alvarado from the bench, while the pitcher waved him off. Conforto gave Alvarado a long look and shook his head before he took first base.
“I came out to talk to (homeplate umpire) Joe (West) to see if I can tone it down in the moment,” Rojas said. “That’s when things can progress into something else, because nobody can hear what’s being yelled. … We just wanted to control the game and make sure everything was OK.”