The Mets finally had a breakout day for the offense! The Mets worked 17 walks last night and scored 17 runs as they took the series opener from the Oakland Athletics. The 17-6 win was enough to flip the Mets run differential all the way to a +10 on the season.
Francisco Lindor had the most memorable night at the plate hitting a grand slam in the second and getting three more RBI’s on a double later in the game. The Mets have struggled all season to get the big hit and Lindor essentially did that twice for the Mets as the Athletics were starting to assemble a comeback before the 5th inning.
Yesterday was a redemption day for the Mets offense. Here’s hoping today is redemption day for Carlos Carrasco. The first two starts of the year have been tough for Carrasco. He has allowed 11 runs from 10 hits and seven walks. In previous years, Carrasco has struggled when he allows homers, and he’s already allowed three this year. His troubles this year seem to be related to a drop in velocity. The Athletics have the following career numbers against Carlos:
- Jesús Aguilar 5-13, 2 2B, 3 BB, 2 K
- Tony Kemp 3-7, HR, BB
- JJ Bleday 1-5, HR< 2 BB
- Aledmys Díaz 0-2, K
- Jace Peterson 0-2, BB, K
The Mets bats will get a look at Shintaro Fujinami, making his third start of his major league career. Fujinami struck out four batters over two scoreless innings in his first start. Since then he has tossed 4 2/3 innings allowing 13 runs from eight hits and seven walks. The 29-year old pitched in Japan for 10 years before this season, posting a career 3.17 ERA over 252 games and 1302 1/3 innings.
Three Things To Watch For:
- The Athletics Overworked Bullpen: Going into today’s game, the Athletics have the least effective, in terms of ERA, starting rotation in the majors. Their last day off was 4/6 and they don’t have another day off scheduled until 4/20. The Mets were able to knock Kaprielian out before the end of the fourth inning yesterday, further exasperating the bullpen. Can the Mets do it again and take advantage of the bullpen?
- Work those counts! The Mets worked 17 walks last night and now have 76 on the season, good for 1st in the league. While last night was extreme, the Mets have been working walks all season. Last night was the first time the Mets fully capitalized on the free passes.
- Possums. Gary revealed last night that the Mets broadcast booth is not actually in the visiting TV booth this series. Wayne Randazzo discovered during his first broadcast of the year that there is a possum living in the visiting TV booth. When the SNY crew tried to set up for this series they found some possum droppings and decided to go to another booth. Today is the first WPIX game of the year so first, we’ll look to see if the “new” visiting booth has signage more centered than last night. Second, a camera man still had to operate out of the possum booth. Here’s hoping he can coexist with our new fury friend for the rest of the weekend.
