Twins 8 Mets 4 (Target Field, Minneapolis, MN)
Mets record: 64-77
Mets streak: Lost 3
WP - Kenta Maeda (4-7)
LP - David Peterson (3-8)
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.
Max Kepler didn't even start this game, but when he came in to pinch hit with the bases loaded in the 7th, he had a huge impact: hitting a bases clearing triple to break the game open off Drew Smith to give the Twins the series victory.
Need to Know
Brandon Nimmo led off the game with his 23rd HR of the year on the third pitch of the game off Kenta Maeda.
David Peterson was staked to a 2-0 lead after the first, and gave it right back in the second with a two runs single by Donovan Solano, and an RBI single by Kyle Farmer in the third to make it 3-2. But that's all Peterson gave up in six innings as he improved his 7.74 ERA on the road coming in.
Pete Alonso was hit in the shoulder by a Maeda pitch to extend Alonso's league leading number to 18 hit by pitches on the season.
Alonso would respond with his 43rd HR of the season in the 8th inning to make it 7-3, a 114 mph shot into the second deck. (Pete's longest career home run also happened at Target Field.)
D.J. Stewart returned from back issues and hit his own home run in the 8th inning for his 10th home run in his last 17 games.
Willi Castro's home run in the bottom of the 8th off Jeff Brigham gave the Twins the momentum back after the home runs by Alonso and Stewart in the 8th.
Two "Baby Mets" were in the starting lineup today. Ronny Mauricio went 1-for-3 for hits in 6 of his 7 games (Mauricio also drew a walk.) Brett Baty went 0-for-4 with two K's. Francisco Alvarez came in as a replacement for Omar Narvaez and flew out to center in the 9th.
Turning Point
While Peterson was able to wriggle out of a first inning jam with three strikeouts, he wasn't able to do so in the second as Donovan Solano's two out two run single got the Twins back even and sent them on their way.
Three Keys
Strange but good ...
David Peterson got stoked to a 2-0 and gave it back in the second and third innings. But along the way he was piling up K's early (three in the first inning to get out of a jam), and then getting quick outs late. Somehow, even after he gakked the lead, he came up with a quality start, three runns in six innings. It was his third QS all season, but his second in his last three starts.
Peterson is good when he harnesses his slider and shows good command with it. He's better when he doesn't put himself into jam after jam to get out of.
Killing them softly ...
Kenta Maeda's fastball averaged 90.8 mph, and the Mets' OPS against fastballs under 92 mph. So when Nimmo led off the game with a dinger and Daniel Vogelbach extended the lead to 2-0, it seemed like it would be a good sign. But just as Dallas Keuchel did last night, Maeda righted his ship and set the Mets down quietly after that.
Drew needs clues ...
Drew Smith's season is growing more horrific by the outing. There was a time not long ago when Smith's season looked worse on the whole than it actually was, as the runs he was giving up just came at the worst times, with many of those runs coming in tie games or in one run deficits.
Today's debacle also came with the Mets only down by a run as he replaced Peterson in the 7th and gave up a single (Willi Castro was then caught stealing), a walk, a single and a walk to load the bases to set up Max Kepler's pinch hit bases clearing triple. It was another awfully timed meltdown for Smith, but now with his ERA at 4.56, you can truly say that Smith's season on the whole is definitely as brutal on paper as it has looked to the naked eye.
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