A good night all around for Mets ends with win over Angels
Brandon Nimmo #9 of the Mets celebrates a run with Pete Alonso #20 against the Los Angeles Angels in the sixth inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on June 10, 2022 in Anaheim, California. Credit: Getty Images/Ronald Martinez
ANAHEIM, Calif. — The sky did not fall on the Mets on Friday night. Pete Alonso and Starling Marte didn’t end up on the injured list. Tylor Megill didn’t implode on his return. They didn’t lose their third in a row, and as an added bonus, it looks as if Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will be facing live batters soon.
In fact, two days after suffering their most lopsided loss of the year — a loss that coincided with hot streaks by both Atlanta and the Phillies — the Mets continued to prove that this year, the worst-case scenario doesn’t always have to be the most likely one.
Megill, returning after a four-week stint on the injured list, pitched promisingly in a shortened appearance. Alonso batted cleanup and played first base three days after it looked as if he might have broken his hand on a hit by pitch.
And the lineup manufactured run after run, beating the Angels, 7-3, at Angels Stadium. The Angels, who fired manager Joe Maddon earlier this week, have lost 15 of their last 16.
The Mets went 5-for-10 with runners in scoring position Friday and are hitting a major league-best .296 with RISP. Brandon Nimmo and Mark Canha each went 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs. Eduardo Escobar also went 2-for-4 and is hitting .429 in his last seven games.
“It’s just the fact that no one tries to do too much,” Nimmo said of the Mets’ success with runners in scoring position. “You know it’s not on one guy. We know if someone doesn’t get it done with one out and there’s a guy on third base that the guy behind you has a great chance at picking you up. When you have that confidence in your teammates, it really helps take a lot of pressure off.”
The Mets were able to grind out three runs in the second and bounce starter Jhonathan Diaz in the process. Escobar and Jeff McNeil led off the inning with back-to-back singles and were in scoring position when Tomas Nido batted with two outs. Nido hit a sharp grounder to short that took a wild bounce off the infield grass for a run-scoring single. He is 11-for-26 with runners in scoring position, a team-leading .423.
Nimmo walked and Canha lined an 81.7-mph changeup the other way for a two-run double, ending Diaz’s night.
Megill, on a shortened pitch count after his lengthy stay on the IL with right biceps tendinitis, cruised through the first, at one point hitting 99.2 mph with his fastball, before giving up two runs in the second. Jared Walsh led off the inning with a single and, one batter later, Brandon Marsh walloped a belt-high sinker 449 feet to right-center to cut the Mets’ lead to 3-2.
Nimmo made it 4-2 in the fourth when he blasted Andrew Wantz’s 2-and-1 fastball 401 feet to center for his fourth homer.
Megill ended up skirting in and out of trouble, putting two on to start the fourth and striking out Jo Adell to end his night at 64 pitches. David Peterson came in and induced a double play, meaning Megill — who grew up in nearby Long Beach — allowed two runs, five hits and a walk with four strikeouts in 3 1⁄3 innings in his first game back since May 11.
“It wasn’t too bad — just one pitch,” Megill said of his outing, which was attended by about 40 friends and family. “All my friends, and my family and my parents’ friends and family and people I grew up around since I was a little toddler [were here]. So being able to come here and see me pitch here, it was very, very good. I liked it.”
Peterson continued to eat up valuable innings, pitching 2 2⁄3 and allowing one run, three hits and a walk with two strikeouts. His only big mistake came in the sixth, when he allowed another homer by Marsh in the first multi-homer game of the outfielder’s career.
Nimmo doubled home two runs and scored on Canha’s single in the top of the sixth to give the Mets a 7-2 lead before Marsh’s home run in the bottom of the inning made it 7-3.
Alonso may have lost his ironman streak, but he didn’t lose his ironman status. He missed only one game after getting hit in the hand with a 95.7-mph slider Tuesday. That ended his streak at 151 consecutive games played, but instead of hitting the IL, he passed a pregame grip test and was slotted into the lineup, going 1-for-5.
Buck Showalter said Alonso’s presence was pivotal to the lineup’s success, providing a boost and protection in the four hole. The Mets, though, will have to see how he reacts to the workload Saturday.
“It’s a different lineup with Pete there,” Showalter said. “It’s a testament. I think sometimes we lose sight of the courage it takes to get back out there when you’ve been hit multiple times, and now I think everybody is getting a little healthier.”
Marte (left quadriceps tightness) sat for another day, though he did run with trainers in the outfield before the game. Showalter said he could be available Saturday or Sunday.
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
