Game 60 of 162
Final Score: Blue Jays 6 Mets 4 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 30-30
Mets streak: Lost 3
WP - Nate Pearson (3-0)
LP - Dominic Leone (0-2)
SV - Jordan Romano (15)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Brandon Belt earns a spot in the seat as he hits the game winning home run off of Dominic Leone in the top of the 7th. The home run earned him 2 RBIs. That was Belt's only hit of the day.
Need to Know
Pete Alonso hit his 72nd home run at Citi Field, the most by one Met in Citi Field's 14 year history. With this home run, Pete Alonso is still number one in the league with home runs and tied for fourth in the league with Marcus Semien in RBIs.
Today was the first time in Kodai Senga's MLB career that he pitched less than 4 innings. He was taken out in the top of the third inning after giving up 4 runs in 2.2 innings pitched.
Tommy Pham went 2-3 with 2 solo home runs, Lindor showed some life as he recorded a single and went 1-4, McNeil went 0-4, Vientos went 1-4 and with Alvarez going 0-3 with a strikeout, the bottom 3 hitters in the lineup went 1-11 today.
Turning Point
With the offense going back and forth, the real turning point of the game was after Tommy Pham's first home run in the bottom of the third inning. After this, the mets went on a scoring stretch of three runs in the next three innings. Tommy Pham also proceeded to hit the next solo home run in the game, giving the Mets their second run of the game and his second homer of the game.
Along with Lindor's struggles at the plate, he had a couple of balls just elude him for base hits, including Kirk's hard hit single above.
Three Keys
Lindor: After going 0-7 in the first 2 games of the series, The struggles of Francisco Lindor continue as Buck Showalter has not yet replaced Lindor as he batted in the third spot today. He started off the game with a swinging strikeout, making him 0-16 in the last 5 games.
Today, Lindor showed a little bit of life. He got a single in the bottom of the third and made some good defensive plays throughout the game.
I don't think that Lindor should be moved, it's normal for players to go through slumps. It's important that Buck does not mess up his mentality as one of the leaders on this team. He is great off the field, so it should just be taken with time to get him back into his groove.
Japandamonium: As quoted by the pregame show in Citi Field, it was Japandamonium today as Yusei Kikuchi faced off against Kodai Senga for the first time since 2018 when they were both in the NPB.
Before today, Senga was second in the league with at home ERA with 1.20. He recorded 22 whiffs in his last start against the Phillies, relying on his world famous Forkball 22.1% of the time this season (MLB.com).
Buck spoke highly about Senga's mindset before the game:
Today, Senga did the opposite of what was seen in the past. He went 2.2 innings, giving up 4 hits, 4 runs and 5 walks. He had a strong top of the first, but then shut down in the top of the second when he gave up the first 2 runs of the game on a double by Whit Merrifield, where Matt Chapman and Daulton Varsho came home, who were on 3rd and 1st, respectively.
But it didn't stop there, letting up two more runs in the top of the third because of a home run to Vladimir Guerrero Jr in the top of the third and a bad defensive play by Lindor, Alvarez and Tommy Pham that led to a failed pick off attempt.
Senga was upset with himself, clearly saying he couldn't make the changes mid game that he wanted to:
It's Time to Score: After being swept by the 4th place team in the AL East, this begs the question, what do the Mets need to do from here?
Simple: produce. After only producing 5 runs in this whole series, 4 out of the 5 coming in todays game, its clear that changes need to be made in the Mets offense.
Many people seem to be worried about the Mets' future, performing to a much lower standard than everyone had expected to, however, Buck Showalter did not seem to be too worried at today's press conference, claiming this is normal.
Something that may have been extremely impactful is the constant lineup changes day by day. Players need to have consistency, and giving different spots each night can lower confidence and morale of the players.
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