Mets 4 Cubs 3 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 52-62
Mets streak: Won 1
WP - Grant Hartwig (4-1)
LP - Hayden Wesneski (2-4)
SV - Phil Bickford (1)
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.
The entire bullpen ... outside of Adam Ottavino ... deserves to be on the seat. But Phil Bickford was asked to get out of a first and second nobody out jam to save the game, and he did. Bickford gets the seat on the strength of his second career save.
Need to Know
David Peterson's start wasn't stellar. He gave up a homer to Christopher Morel on the first pitch he threw, and wound up giving two runs in 3 and 2/3's before he was pulled for Grant Hartwig as the Cubs were rallying.
Hartwig pulled the heavy load, going 2 and 1/3, only giving up one hit and striking out two.
Trevor Gott and Josh Walker also pitched scoreless innings.
Pete Alonso's fourth inning home run was his 35th of the season and tied the game 2-2.
Jeff McNeil's go ahead home run off Hayden Wesneski was his 5th of the season and put the Mets up for good. Jonathan Arauz also drove in a run in that 6th inning for a very important insurance run to make it 4-2.
Adam Ottavino, pitching on back to back days, was the only member of the bullpen to falter. He gave up a home run to Seiya Suzuki to lead off the 9th, and would be pulled after subsequently giving up a single and a walk. Coming into the game, Ottavino came into the game with a 7.36 ERA on back to back days.
Turning Point
Rare when the turning point comes right at the end. But after Ottavino faced three batters and retired none, in came Phil Bickford with the tying and winning runs on base. After a sac bunt got the runners to second and third, Bickford struck out Morel but then walked Nico Hoerner to load the bases. Bickford, who rared back and fired fastball after fastball, blazed one by Ian Happ to end the game for the final, and most important, turning point.
Three Keys
Pete brings most of the big meat: Pete Alonso has driven in 12 of the Mets 30 runs in August, and has been scorching hot since July 20th. Pete now has four home runs in the last three games.
Alonso has 15 HR's and 34 RBI's in 27 lifetime games against the Cubs. If the Cubs were in the NL East and Pete played them 19 times a year, his numbers against them would be astronomical. I had two separate Cubs fans wonder aloud to me why the Cubs insist on pitching to him.
Don't forget the big runs: With all the attention paid to Alonso and the bullpen, Jeff McNeil's home run should be noted. Not only because it was a big homer, but because he's turning on the inside pitch more, which will hopefully make him tougher to pitch against as it takes a weapon out of opposing pitcher's arsenals.
Give Buck a tip of the cap too: Most managers, when faced with a closer struggling in the 9th and the other options in the bullpen not the most inspiring, would just leave the money guy in to figure it out. But Buck had a quick hook for Ottavino, who as previously noted has been dreadful on back to back days. Perhaps the quick hook was because Buck knew that. But it was a gutsy move to go to Bickford, who hadn't lit the world on fire as a Met so far. But it was aggressive managing, and no matter what Bickford would have done, it was the right move. Thankfully, Bickford gave the right move some good optics.
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