Amazin’s rally to beat Washington with a big 6th inning & rodent fun
WASHINGTON – Most of the Mets offensMost of the Mets offense may be cold after a wacky schedule that saw them play on just two of the past five days. But Jeff McNeil is at least one hitter who hasn’t lost his mojo.
McNeil, the Amazin’s best hitter and the only regular starter batting above .300, erased the lineup’s goose egg and tied the game in the sixth inning with a bases-loaded tworun double that skipped just past Nationals third baseman Josh Bell. McNeil’s penchant for getting on base helped the Mets beat the Nationals, 4-2, in the series opener on Tuesday at Nationals Park.
“I’m just trying not to do too much,” McNeil said of his approach at the plate. “The main goal there is to put the barrel on the ball, get one run in for sure, and anything after that is just a bonus.”
Maybe the Mets got some good luck in the sixth inning, when a rat ran on the field during James McCann’s at-bat, which ended with him hitting a sacrifice fly that pushed across the go-ahead run.
But the Mets don’t need luck to win games this season; they’re just playing hard and finding ways to come out on top. The Amazin’s won the series opener on Tuesday for the eighth time out of 10 games. And their squirrely second baseman, who has also seamlessly played 12 games in left field this year, has a lot to do with the team’s success.
Anyone who’s been paying attention to the Mets (21-10) this season knows that McNeil’s performance on Tuesday night was par for the course for the 2022 version of the second baseman. McNeil has 12 multi-hit games, which ranks top 3 in MLB, has the best OPS (.865) on the Mets, and is 11th in the majors in batting average (.333).
McNeil’s one-out two-run double in the sixth inning moved Eduardo Escobar, who was on first, to third base and set up the go-ahead opportunity for the next batter, McCann. The Mets catcher cranked a sacrifice fly to right field as Escobar scooted home for the lead. Mets manager Buck Showalter likes McNeil batting eighth – he’s hit in that bottom spot in the order in 13 out of the 29 games he’s played – but it’s becoming wiser for the skipper to slot him higher and, in that way, ensure McNeil receives more atbats and opportunities to boost the offense.
“It’s like a pitcher with a lot of weapons,” Showalter said of McNeil. “He’s got a lot of weapons at the plate. He’s got a great feel for the barrel of the bat and he can hit ‘em where it’s pitched. He can maneuver the bat.”
The Mets offense had plenty of opportunities to score – they left 12 runners on base and went 2-for-14 with runners in scoring position. But when McNeil dug into the box with the bases loaded, he wasn’t sweating it. The second baseman has a .370 average and .989 OPS in 27 at-bats with runners in scoring position this season. He came through again in the series opener on Tuesday, proving that the Mets can still make offensive magic happen even when, as a group, they’re not producing.
Carlos Carrasco again excelled in his sixth start of the year.
The veteran right-hander hurled 6.2 quality innings, allowing two runs and striking out five while walking none across 83 efficient pitches. Carrasco has eaten innings and kept the bullpen fresh in three of his last four outings.