Mets grind their way to much-needed win; hey, whatever it takes
Tyler Stephenson of the Cincinnati Reds is late with the tag as Juan Soto of the Mets scores during the eighth inning at Citi Field on Sunday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
Winning games on Juan Soto’s legs? Not exactly how the Mets imagined this thing working out when they invested $765 million in the generational slugger.
But with their malfunctioning lineup, Carlos Mendoza & Co. are scraping up offense any way they can. On Sunday, that included bunts, stolen bases and Soto dashing home on an eighth-inning contact play to deliver the go-ahead run in a desperately needed 3-2 victory over the Reds at Citi Field.
The sellout crowd (42,981) was remarkably patient after booing the Mets for two days in their post-break homecoming. Nary a boo was heard despite a 2-for-10 performance with runners in scoring position, but maybe handing out David Wright bobbleheads — the day after The Captain’s No. 5 was retired — had a somewhat pacifying effect.
There was no shortage of targets, either. The Reds took a 1-0 lead eight pitches into the game after Mark Vientos — subbing at first base for the (temporarily) sidelined Pete Alonso — couldn't handle a low throw from Luisangel Acuna (who drew the error). Francisco Lindor’s malaise deepened as he’s now in an 0-for-21 funk, hitting .203 with a .632 OPS over 37 games since breaking his right pinkie toe on June 4.
Also not great: Edwin Diaz, called in for a four-out save, never making it to the ninth before spitting up the lead, only his second blown chance in 38 appearances. But we’ll leave the bullpen out of this particular conversation, as Ryne Stanek finishing up with a scoreless ninth was enough for a relief corps that came in with MLB’s third-worst ERA (5.85) since June 13.
We’ll assume that president of baseball operations David Stearns will come up with a reliever or two to fortify the overtaxed bullpen by the July 31 deadline. What actually feels more worrisome at the moment is squeezing a higher level of production from a lineup that looks too pedestrian too often.
The Mets made the anticipated move after Sunday’s game by summoning Francisco Alvarez from Triple-A Syracuse, a source confirmed, with the expectation that he will be in Monday’s lineup against the Angels. Alvarez homered again Sunday, his seventh in 19 at-bats, and the Mets can no longer afford to squander that power down in the minors. They need to find a jolt from somewhere — even if Alvarez was striking out a bit too frequently for Syracuse — given that the Mets rank fifth in batting average (.230) and sixth in OPS (.679) and have averaged 3.77 runs per game since June 13.
Look what they had to resort to Sunday to avoid being swept by the Reds. Twice they bunted runners over — once with the No. 5 hitter, Jeff McNeil — and it was Acuna’s sacrifice in the third inning after Tyrone Taylor’s 52.6 mph, 30-foot infield single that set up Brandon Nimmo’s RBI single.
In the fifth, Brett Baty singled and stole second before scoring on Acuna’s rocket double over leftfielder Connor Joe’s head. The Mets manufactured what proved to be the game-winner in the eighth on Soto’s leadoff walk, McNeil's double and Luis Torrens' grounder to second, with Soto beating Matt McLain's throw to the plate.
Lately, every day has felt like a grind, and if changing the lineup doesn’t work, then the Mets have to seek other methods.
“There’s going to be stretches where it’s hard,” Mendoza said. “We got guys that are going through it right now and you have to find ways to create runs, put pressure on the defense, just trying to take the extra 90 feet when you can.”
We didn’t figure Soto to be instrumental in that, but he already has matched his single-season high with 12 stolen bases, and he ran the contact play to perfection Sunday. Soto got a great jump on Torrens’ 102.7-mph bouncer to McLain and easily got his left hand across the plate with a headfirst slide to beat the one-hop throw.
“Any way you can help the team win a ballgame, it’s great,” Soto said. “The hitting is not going my way right now, but I try my best to help the team with defense, running or any other way I can do it.”
Even before the win was secured, the Mets breathed a sigh of relief when Alonso entered the game at first base for the top of the seventh inning. He played through a bruised hand Saturday after getting jammed during his pregame hitting session, a condition that worsened in the later innings, so he felt he needed some time Sunday to get the inflammation more manageable.
When Alonso finally returned to the field — keeping his Mets-record streak of 354 consecutive games intact — he was welcomed back with loud applause from the restless crowd. While his eighth-inning strikeout was a bit of a buzzkill, the Mets apparently dodged a serious bullet, as the last thing they can afford is losing the ultra-durable Polar Bear for any length of time.
“We’ll see how this recovers,” Alonso said. “But I’m very optimistic. If we keep trending in the right direction, then we’re going to be in a real good spot.”
As for the Mets’ sputtering offense, that remains a mystery.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
