Royal 7 Mets 6 (Kauffman Stadium, Kansas City, MO)
Mets record: 50-56
Mets streak: Lost 1
WP – Carlos Hernandez (1-6)
LP – Brooks Raley (0-2)
Seat on the Korner: Matt Quartraro
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.
In a game filled with the bizarre, Royals manager Matt Quartraro showed how small ball can produce runs when you have limited talent. This game featured a sacrifice bunt, a double steal, a pinch runner for the DH -- and losing the DH when the pinch runner went out to the field. Perhaps Quartraro -- a candidate for the Mets' managerial job a few year back -- can help provide a road map for how Buck Showalter should manage the rest of the season.
Need to Know
* With Justin Verlander on his way to Houston, Tommy Pham headed to Arizona and Dominic Leone going to Anaheim (and Max Scherzer and Mark Canha already gone), the Mets had five roster spots to fill. Not knowing how many players would be traded by the deadline, and which slots needed to be filled, the Mets had 10 minor leaguers at their Kansas City hotel, waiting to sort out the roster. The results: say hello to Rafael Ortega, Michael Perez, John Curtiss, Vinny Nittoli and Josh Walker.
* Pete Alonso hit his 31st home run in the second inning, his fifth in the last seven games. Alonso also had an RBI single in the eighth, continuing his resurgence that saw him named National League Player of the Week.
* Francisco Alvarez hit his 21st home run of the season in the 10th, giving the Mets a two-run lead that Brooks Raley quickly gave back.
* Brandon Nimmo was a late scratch with quad tightness experienced during batting practice.
* Max Scherzer was quoted as saying he was told in his meeting with management before waiving his no-trade clause that the team was now viewing 2024 as a transition year and was zeroing in on 2025.
* Surprisingly, Ronny Mauricio was not one of the callups.
* Owner Steve Cohen was said to be flying to Kansas City to address the team Wednesday about the trades and the team's vision for 2024 and 2025 .
Turning Point
In a bizarre game that ended with a walkoff balk, the turning point didn't come until the bottom of the 10th when Grant Hartwig, the sixth of seven Mets pitchers, got Dairon Blanco (the pinch runner-turned left fielder) to hit into what seemed like an inning-ending ground out. Brett Baty threw wide, extending the inning. Hartwig then walked the next batter, loading the bases before giving way to just-recalled Josh Walker. Walker promptly balked the winning run home, with the umpires turning a deaf ear to catcher Francisco Alvarez' claim that there were problems with the PitchCom that should have negated Walker's flinch.
3 Keys
Everything seemed to be going well into the seventh until manager Buck Showalter pulled starter Jose Quintana. Of the six relievers who followed, Trevor Gott snd Brooks Raley, the closer by default, were ineffective. The Royals bullpen also didn't impress.
Brett Baty's error wasn't the only miscue that cost the Mets. On a double steal in the seventh, Francisco Alvarez threw wide past Baty, allowing the Royals to take a 2-1 lead.
Zach Greinke, whose fastball tops out at 89 MPH and who brought a 1-11 record into the game, pitched like the Grienke of old, holding the Mets to only Alonso's second-inning home run in over five innings. He left after throwing only 72 pitches.
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Ty.
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