Mets move past Marlins in NL playoff chase
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
The slogan isn’t just about the city’s infamous nightlife. It can be attributed to pitching performances, too — at least for Seth Lugo.
A punching bag in Triple-A with a 6.50 ERA, the former 34th-round pick has been a revelation for the Mets, first as a reliable long reliever and now a key member of the starting rotation.
A few hours after the Mets announced Steven Matz would be temporarily shutdown after lingering discomfort in his left shoulder, Lugo gave the Mets six strong innings Tuesday night, as they passed the Marlins in the National League wild-card race with a 7-4 victory in front of 32,634 at Citi Field.
“I think it’s having a little bit of pressure. It’s a little easier when there’s something on the line,” Lugo said. “It helps you focus.
“I was falling behind a lot in Vegas. I’m making sure not to do that up here.”
The Mets’ offense gave Lugo all the support he needed with a three-spot in the first and went on to produce 13 hits. Jose Reyes had his second four-hit game in his second stint with the Mets, and Curtis Granderson, in- serted as a pinch hitter and remained as part of a double switch, homered twice to put away the Mets’ eighth win in 10 games. But the biggest hit came from Asdrubal Cabrera, who was back in the lineup after aggravating his left knee injury Sunday. Moving around gingerly, Cabrera homered in his first at-bat, erasing an early deficit and relaxing Lugo.
The victory kept the Mets 2 ¹/2 games behind the Cardinals for the second wild-card spot, and moved them into a secondplace tie with the Pirates.
Making his third start since entering the rotation, Lugo (2-2) was more hittable than he was against the Cardinals or Giants, but he never broke, making his best pitches in the game’s biggest moments, and winning his second straight decision. The 26-year-old righthander from Louisiana allowed five hits — three in the first inning — two earned runs and struck out four. In three starts, spanning 17 2/3 innings, he has a 2.55 ERA. The Mets improved to 4-2 in games started by fill-ins Lugo, Robert Gsellman and Rafael Montero, and with the Matz news, Lugo and Gsellman will remain in the rotation for at least another turn.
“We came into this season with the moves we made last year, we traded a lot of good young pitching away, and we’re really lucky this organization is stocked, because these guys have come up, and they’ve literally just saved us,” Mets manager Terry Collins said. “They don’t seem intimidated by anything.”
Lugo retired the first two hitters he saw before allowing the only runs he would surrender, on a Christian Yelich opposite field, two-run homer. The Marlins got the first two men aboard in the third, but Lugo set down Martin Prado and Yelich and struck out Xavier Scruggs. In the fourth, with runners on second and third, he got Dee Gordon to fly out to left to end the threat, and retired the final eight batters he faced, cruising in the middle innings.
It’s been quite a year for Lugo, from getting pummeled in the minor leagues to being part of a starting rotation in the middle of a playoff chase. His struggles weren’t merely the result of the thin air in Las Vegas and the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. He wasn’t pitching well, either. He’s turned it around on the other coast.
“The best I can describe it is as fun. It’s a lot of fun,” Lugo said. “You’re going to have roller-coaster seasons. Everybody goes through them. You got to keep your head level, and keep working.”