Pete and the Mets Feeling Right At Holmes in Citi Field

Mets 10 Marlins 5 (Citi Field, New York, NY)

Mets Record: 8-3

Mets Streak: W6

Mets Last 10: 8-2

WP: Clay Holmes (1-1)

LP: Calvin Faucher (0-1)

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.

Another day, another batch of RBIs for Pete Alonso. The Mets first baseman earned his "Seat on the Korner" with 2 doubles, 4 RBIs, a run scored, a run scored and a walk. Alonso's first double and RBI came on a wind-aided double in the bottom of the 3rd inning to tie the game at 2. His next double and 3 RBIs came in the bottom of the 6th inning and extended the Mets lead to 9-5. (More on that below.) Through the Mets first 11 games, Alonso is batting .333, with a 1.139 OPS, 5 doubles, 3 home runs, and 15 RBIs.

Need To Know:

Before the game, the Mets held a moment of silence in memory of Octavio Dotel and the rest of the victims of the Dominican Republic roof collapse tragedy. Dotel pitched for the Mets as a rookie in 1999. He went on to play for 13 teams in 15 major league seasons.
Francisco Lindor led off the bottom of the first with a long home run to right field. It was Lindor's first HR of the season and his 21st career leadoff HR (and third as a member of the Mets). He has led off all 5 home games with a hit.

With the win, the Mets secured their third straight series victory, second at home. They have now won eight straight series at Citi Field, having not lost a series in Queens since last August 13-15, against the Athletics.
The Mets are now 86-57 against the Marlins in Citi Field, and have not lost a series to Miami since 2017.
In the bottom of the 6th, Starling Marte was hit on the wrist by a Ronny Henriquez fastball. It was Marte's 161st career HBP. He is the active leader in HBP, with former Mets Mark Canha (139) and Justin Turner (136) far behind in second and third, respectively.
Today is Jeff McNeil's 33rd birthday. Currently on the IL, McNeil celebrated the occasion by taking batting practice at Citi Field prior to the game, along with fellow IL'er, Francisco Alvarez. McNeil and Alvarez will soon start their respective rehab assigments and are probably just weeks away from joining the team.

Turning Point

After the Mets took a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the 5th, the Marlins answered back with 3 runs of their own. The Mets put together a rally of their own in the bottom of the inning - a leadoff single by Brett Baty, a bunt single by Hayden Senger (after a replay overturn), and a questionable one-out intentional walk to Juan Soto loaded the bases, bringing the hottest hitter in the Mets lineup, Pete Alonso, to the plate. He didn't disappoint. The Polar Bear lined the second pitch into the gap, bringing home all three runners, and giving the Mets plenty of breathing room.

Three Keys:

Clay Ball

The Clay Holmes experiment took a strong next step today as the Mets newest reliever-turned-starter struck out a career-high 10 batters in his longest outing to date. In all, Holmes went 5.1 innings, giving up 5 hits, 4 runs (all earned), and 3 walks to go along with his 10 K's. The righty dealt with tough weather conditions all day, highlighted by a 10-pitch 4th inning in which he struck out the side, en route to his first win with the Mets, and second career win as a starting pitcher.

Cleaning Up

While Brandon Nimmo has gotten off to something of a slow start this year, his first as regular in the middle of the lineup, he had one of the biggest hits in the game. With the score tied at 2, the Mets cleanup hitter came up with the bases loaded and proceeded to knock a double to left, bringing home 2 and putting the Mets ahead to stay.

Soto Voce

He may not be making the loudest statement right now, but Juan Soto has (quietly) put together a solid start to his season. With two more hits today, the Mets star right fielder upped his batting average to .308 and his OPS to .925. The #2 hitter in the lineup now leads the Mets in runs scored (10) and walks (9), and is second on the team in hits (12), doubles (4), batting average, OBP (.438), slugging pct. (.487) and OPS. Soto has now reached base in all 11 games this season, and currently has a 6-game hitting streak.