Mets Snap Losing Streak With 5-2 Win

After taking a 14-2 thrashing the night before by the Pittsburgh Pirates and in the middle of a 3-game losing streak, a streak that also saw them blow a 5-0 lead and get 1-hit by the Washington Nationals, the New York Mets were eager to get a win. In addition, the Mets welcomed back Edwin Díaz after he served a 10-game suspension. It wasn’t pretty, as the Mets made their fair share of mistakes and missed opportunities, but they did just enough to get a 5-2 win on Saturday. Starter David Peterson had a short outing, and the often-maligned bullpen held on to get a win. 

Edwin Díaz

With the Mets hanging on to a 5-2 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th inning, New York called upon Díaz to get a save. It was his first appearance since the night in Chicago, where he was ejected for too much rosin, and the first time he threw a pitch in general since June 18 against the Texas Rangers. It took a batter for Díaz to get going as he hit Oneil Cruz. His fastball was hitting 96 MPH. Right off the bat, concerns arose, but Díaz settled in. His fastball hit 98-99 MPH, and he blew away Rowdy Tellez with fastballs. To wrap up his night, he got Andrew McCutchen to ground into a double play to get the save. His slider looked good as well. 

Bullpen Steps Up

It wasn’t just Díaz in Saturday’s win; the bullpen as a whole stepped up. After Peterson only went 4 1/3 innings, José Buttó (the winning pitcher), Reed Garrett, and Dedniel Núñez pitched shutout ball to hand it off to Díaz. Butto looked strong with a 1 1/2 innings of work. Garrett got into trouble in the bottom of the 7th inning but got a little luck. He loaded the bases with 1-out. With Ke’Bryan Hayes at the plate, he lined a sure-to-be 2-RBI single, but Francisco Lindor raced over the middle and made a nice catch to save a pair.

Garrett faced Jack Suwinski with 2-outs, and home plate umpire John Tumpane gave him two generous strike calls. That caused Pirates manager Derek Shelton to argue, which led to his ejection. Garrett struck out Suwinski swinging on a splitter out of the strike zone. Núñez was once again impressive in the bottom of the 8th inning by getting a 1-2-3 frame on just 8 pitches.

Luis Torrens Picks Up The Big Bats

Luis Torrens had an interesting day, to say the least. Torrens got caught stealing and made a bad throwing error. However, he made up for it by going 3-for-4. His biggest hit came in the bottom of the 3rd with the bases loaded. New York, who missed an earlier scoring opportunity in the 1st inning, had the bases loaded with no outs for Pete Alonso. Alonso struck out swinging on a very high fastball. Mark Vientos then struck out. With 2-outs and the Mets in danger of leaving more runners on base, Torrens picked up Alonso and Vientos with a bases-clearing double to give the Mets a 3-o lead.

Player Of The Game: Luis Torrens

Torrens has been a good investment so far by David Stearns ever since the Mets acquired him in May. He stepped up at the plate with three hits during Saturday’s win, and the good from him outweighed the bad.

On Deck

The Mets will send Sean Manaea to the mound on Sunday against the Pirates Luis Ortiz. The game will be telecast locally on SNY at 1:35 p.m. EDT and broadcast on WCBS 880.

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