Game 37 of 162
Mets 2 Reds 1 (Great American Ballpark: Cincinnati, OH)
Mets record: 18-19
Mets streak: Won 1
WP - Justin Verlander (1-1)
LP - Hunter Greene (0-3)
SV - David Robertson (7)
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.
Justin Verlander was brilliant and timely, as the Mets absolutely needed a starter to go deep. Verlander's seven innings were just what the doctor ordered and what the Mets had in mind to start the season. He gave up two hits and two walks while striking out seven on the night on 104 pitches.
Need to Know
Verlander's victory over the Reds now gives him at least one victory against all 30 MLB teams.
Hunter Greene gave up six hits and four walks in 5 and 1/3, striking out four.
Pete Alonso's solo HR in the second inning was his 13th of the season, taking back the major league home run lead by himself.
Brandon Nimmo had three hits, including one which brought in the go-ahead run in the fourth with two outs.
The bottom of the order was productive, as Daniel Vogelbach and Luis Guillorme each had two hits.
The Mets could have run away and hid in this game, as they left 11 men on base against the Reds' staff.
Turning Point
The turning point to me came early:
Hunter Greene was dealing in the first inning, striking out the side swinging with the last two K's coming on the slider. But after Alonso led off the 2nd with a first pitch dinger on the slider, Greene lost all feel for the pitch did not have nearly as much success with it as he did in the first.
Three Keys
Verlander could really be all three keys tonight. That's how important his outing this was. I'll go a step further: If the Mets weren't in such a bad way, I think Verlander leaves after six. But the combination of the importance of this victory and the roll that Verlander was on as he went later in the game (he retired 18 out of the last 19 hitters) might have convinced Buck Showalter to let him go one more inning.
Nimmo's two out hit in the 4th got more important as the game went on, as the Mets were stranding runner after runner on base tonight. Two-out hits were hard to come by, and it will certainly highlight offensive issues going forward. But Nimmo's go-ahead single was enourmous in the micro and the macro.
David Robertson's contributions this season have been understated. Tonight, his ninth inning save was enormous. If the Mets had wasted Justin Verlander's excellent outing with a walk off loss, it would have crushed the morale of the team. But Robertson went unscathed to save the victory and lower his ERA to 0.59 in a season where he was asked to fill in for a reliever who had the best season by a closer in Mets history.
(Also all credit due to Adam Ottavino for holding the Reds in the 8th. This is probably the first game that went anywhere near what the Mets had envisioned this season: Verlander for 7, Ottavino and Robertson to close it out.)
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