Canning, Lindor, four run inning key Mets win to start homestand

Mets 4 Cardinals 1 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 12-7

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Griffin Canning (2-1)

LP -Andre Pallante (2-1)

SV - Edwin Diaz (4)

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.

Francisco Lindor's three hits, RBI, and his key contributions to a four run second inning (more on that later) helped the Mets breeze to victory over St. Louis on Thursday night.

But tonight's an extended version of Kiner's Korner, as Ralph probably would have wanted to talk to tonight's starting pitcher as well. So we'll bring another seat to the studio.

Need to Know

Tonight was the Mets Black Legacy Game, and chef Kwame Onwuachi threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Mets career home run leader Darryl Strawberry.
Griffin Canning went a strong 6 innings, giving up one run on three hits and two walks while striking out 8 hitters. He threw 102 pitches after having his start pushed to tonight after injury for his best start as a Met this young season.
Mark Vientos' solo HR in the second was his first of the year.
Brett Baty went 2-for-3 with an RBI, stringing together two multiple hit games in a row after not doing that all year.
Juan Soto went 0-for-3 with a strikeout and a walk. His two other outs were atom balls which is a hint that maybe the floodgates are opening soon.
The win marked the Mets' 5th straight victory against St. Louis.
Brendan Donovan's RBI single in the third inning extended his hitting streak to 13 games.

Turning Point

Perhaps this counts more as a season's turning point than a game's turning point. But while Vientos' first home run of the season put the game in a straight line that the Mets kept traveling on, it also put Vientos on the board and hopefully gets him going.

Three Keys

Multitasking

Any baseball team is better when they play with their wits about them. Francisco Lindor showed what the Mets can be when they play smart baseball, as evidenced by his traffic cop routing which helped score the 4th Mets run. His rundown while directing Tyrone Taylor home before he was tagged out was an underrated thing of beauty.

Canning's Cunning

Griffin Canning's ability to work backwards ... using his off speed stuff to set up his fastball ... served him well tonight as he struck out eight Cardinals tonight. His pitch count was run up to 102 as Cardinals hitters were hanging tough on his off speed stuff with two strikes. But in reverse of the rule that the advantage goes to the hitters in long at-bats, Canning was getting most of these hitters out after multiple foul balls.

Then with a chance to go six innings for the first time all season, he did it in ... well, I guess you wouldn't call it "style", but he did it.

The Bullpen Waltz

Mets wins have been following a pattern. Clean innings in the 7th and 8th (provided tonight by Reed Garrett who walked one batter, and A.J. Minter), and Edwin Diaz giving you a scare in the 9th before getting it together. It's kinda like a waltz which strays in the direction of a Yes song from "Tales from Topographic Oceans"

Diaz walked the leadoff hitter tonight and was down 2-1 to Alec Burleson. But he came back to strike him out, strike Jordan Walker out, and getting Nolan Gorman to ground out to end the game. It was a step in the right direction for Diaz, capping yet another game where the Mets bullpen was very, very good as they threw three hitless innings.