OH, THANK Games after losing cool in Pittsburgh
7 HRs save Diaz, Mets in wild 11-inning win over Reds
CINCINNATI — The Mets this season have had no shortage of wild and frenzied games, and on Monday night they added their craziest one to the growing pile.
After Edwin Diaz blew his third consecutive save, a first for the closer in his six-year career, the Mets rallied to beat the Reds, 15-11, in a four-hour and 45-minute, extra-innings marathon at the
Great American Ballpark.
The Mets (49-42) took the lead for the fourth and final time in the 11th inning after Kevin Pillar mashed a three-run home run and Michael Conforto went back-to-back with a solo shot. The Amazin’s combined for a season-high seven home runs on Monday.
Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Conforto (twice), Dominic Smith, James McCann and Pillar all homered in the hitter-friendly stadium that Mets broadcaster Gary Cohen perfectly described as “The Great American Bandbox.” Which is why it was all the more impressive that seven Mets pitchers combined to keep the Reds away from the long ball all night.
Anthony Banda, making his Mets debut, received the win for his terrific 1.1-inning effort in a tough spot, right after Diaz, who is having a nightmare month, wiped all the momentum away in the ninth.
The closer was called on for what would have been final three outs with a one-run lead in the ninth, and Diaz couldn’t complete the job in a dreadful trend that dates back to July 11 in the Mets’ final game before the All-Star break. He was 19-for-20 in save opportunities before a trio of disastrous outings, shades of his 5.59 ERA debut season with the Mets in 2019.
No matter for the Mets, a club that has faced its share of adversity in a wild 2021 season. McCann was prepared to dig his team out of yet another hole. In the eighth inning, he came off the bench and mashed a pinch-hit, go-ahead, two-run home run to give the Mets a one-run lead. After Diaz’s botched ninth inning, McCann came up to the plate in the top of the 10th and again drove in the go-ahead run, this time on an RBI single.
The Mets’ eventual victory on Monday was hardly a sure thing after a back-and-forth game with four error committed by their defenders, including three from Luis Guillorme alone. They trailed Cincinnati by four runs after the second inning before chipping away with dinger after dinger to complete their 18th come-from-behind win this year.
A week ago, Mets bench coach Dave Jauss was throwing to two-time Home Run Derby champion Pete Alonso at Coors Field. And in the last 36 hours, Jauss has managed two Mets games to victories – including yanking a fired up Luis Rojas away from umpire Jeremy Riggs in the first inning Sunday – after the skipper was ejected and then suspended through Tuesday.
15 11
appeal the suspension. He mentioned that this is his first suspension at any level of his managerial career and he wasn’t planning on fighting it anyway, but he assumed he’d have a chance to appeal if he wanted it. He said he is not allowed in the clubhouse during the game but can do his normal pre-game routines and preparations, including throwing batting practice.
“It is what it is at this point,” a slightly dejected Rojas let on. “Let’s get started with the suspension and get it over with. I just can’t wait to be back in the dugout.”
After the game on Sunday, Walker said seeing the skipper’s fiery side “got the whole team fired up, to see him have our backs out there.” Rojas added that his memory of the event may have been clouded by rage, and on Monday clearly stated that he thinks a play like that should be reviewable.
“There’s some things they say to me I did that I don’t remember doing. I know I was very hot at the moment. I was upset.”
Hopefully watching the Mets’ next two games from a television set won’t make Rojas any more upset.
LOUP! THERE IT IS
Aaron Loup has been one of the best left-handed relievers in the world this season.
By FanGraphs’ Wins Above
Replacement, only Milwaukee’s Josh Hader and Minnesota’s Taylor Rogers have been more valuable lefties out of the pen. After giving the Mets two enormous innings on Sunday to stop the bleeding following the Pirates’ six-run first, Loup’s ERA is down to 1.48. He’s yet to allow a home run this year, and in his last 19 innings, the unorthodox lefty has struck out 24 hitters, walked four and allowed only one earned run over 18 appearances.
PHIGHT IN THOSE PHILS
Don’t look now, but thanks to a 10-4 record in July, the Philadelphia Phillies are only two games behind the Mets in the National League East.
Before this past weekend, Philadelphia had not been within two games of the division lead since May 26. The Phillies have won each of their July series, taking two of three from the Padres, three of four from the Marlins and Cubs, and also earning two massive road wins in a three-gamer at Fenway Park.
The Phillies and Mets don’t meet again until the first weekend of August, but Rojas doesn’t think the second-place creepers in the standings will get his team off course.
“The group is special,” Rojas began. “They know how to take things that may be distracting. Whether it’s the rain, the COVID situation, injuries, whether it’s this, they don’t get distracted. Whatever’s tough that comes their way, they turn that into an opportunity to keep going or learn from.”
COOKIE’S 2ND START
Carlos Carrasco (torn right hamstring) will pitch three innings for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday in his second rehab start. His 45-50 pitch outing can potentially be his final start before he joins the Mets to finish the rest of his progression with the big-league club. In other words, it’s possible Carrasco can make his Mets debut five days after his Tuesday outing, which would line him up for Sunday against the Blue Jays at Citi Field.