Mariners 8 Mets 7 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)
Mets record: 62-74
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP - Justin Topa (5-4)
LP - Adam Ottavino (1-5)
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.
Crawford's solo dinger in the top of the ninth along with his relay throw in the bottom of the ninth saved the day for the Mariners, who saw leads of 3-0 and 7-3 slip away before winning it 8-7.
Need to Know
Jeff McNeil had three hits, including the game tying RBI triple in the 8th inning to make the score 7-7.
David Peterson gave up four runs in four innings, the last of which came on a sac fly which scored J.P. Crawford who Peterson hit to lead off the fifth. Peterson would up walking four and striking out four, along with four hits which included a home run by Teoscar Hernandez.
Jose Castillo came into the game with a .580 OPS against on his fastball, but the four runs he gave up were off fastballs: a three run HR by D.J. Stewart in the 4th, and Mark Vientos' solo shot in the 6th to make it 7-4.
Dominic Canzone's 6th inning two run HR made it 6-3, and it was the first pinch hit home run of his career.
Francisco Lindor's home run in the 6th gave him a 25/25 season, the first Met to do it since Carlos Beltran in 2008.
Vientos left the game before the 8th inning as he suffered an injury running out a fly ball.
The Mets came back from down 3-0 and from 7-3 to tie the game twice. The middle relief of Sean Reid-Foley, Phil Bickford, and Trevor Gott each pitched a scoreless inning to key that second comeback.
Turning Point
This was a game with many twists and turns, but the final one was the cruelest turn: J.P. Crawford's solo home run off closer Adam Ottavino was the difference.
And then for good measure, Crawford throw out the tying run at second to lead off the bottom of the 9th ... we'll get to that.
Three Keys
Ronny continues to make it happen: Ronny Mauricio picked up right where he left off last night. Batting ninth and playing second again, he got a base hit off of one of the elite pitchers in the league.
He then stole his first major league base:
He would end his night going 2-for-4.
On the Mark: As much as I'm not crazy about Vientos playing third base, I'm happy that he's getting some run against righty pitchers. His homer the other night off Aroldis Chapman not withstanding, Vientos has always been better against righties than lefties all through his professional career. His homer tonight came off an elite righty, and against a pitch that has been nasty against the rest of the league:
Here's hoping Vientos' injury isn't serious and that he continues to get to play against righties the rest of the season.
Why Daniel, why? What could make this 8-7 loss the quintessential 2023 Mets loss was the fact that a big part of it was because Daniel Vogelbach was thrown out in the ninth inning trying to stretch a single into a double.
You read that right: Daniel Vogelbach.
To do that when a pinch runner would have made that a double with a stolen base? Just head scratching and infuriating. Much like the 2023 Mets.
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