Mets’ Rally Comes Up Short Against Diamondbacks

It had been four and a half years since Brandon Waddell had appeared in a Major League game. He last pitched in the United States on July 9, 2021, before the Mets called him up and gave him the ball on Wednesday to face Corbin Burnes and the Arizona Diamondbacks in game two of their series at Citi Field.

Huascar Brazobán opened the night for Waddell. He threw two hitless innings with three strikeouts before turning the ball over to Waddell for just the 12th appearance of his big league career.

Waddell, who played the last few seasons in the Korean Baseball Organization, picked up right where Brazobán left off, pitching 4 1/3 scoreless innings, striking out four. He threw 60 pitches, 40 of which were strikes.

In a performance deserving of a win, Waddell walked away with a no-decision after Ryne Stanek came on in relief in the seventh and gave up three straight two-out hits to give the Diamondbacks a 2-1 lead.

After Stanek struggled to finish the seventh, the Mets then gave the ball to another newcomer, right-hander Chris Devenski. He threw a scoreless inning of relief in the eighth and struck out one. However, Devenski came back out in the ninth inning and struggled, giving up two runs on two hits to allow Arizona to extend their lead to 4-1.

Offensively, the Mets collected seven hits and drew nine walks, however, they were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 men on base.

Francisco Lindor was 2-for-4 with a single and a double, continuing his strong play. Mark Vientos went 1-for-4, hitting his fourth homer of the season but also striking out with the bases loaded in the ninth inning.

Tyrone Taylor had his second straight big night, going 3-for-4 on the night with two singles and a home run in the ninth as part of a comeback attempt by the Mets.

With bases loaded, Jesse Winker grounded out to first, although he and Carlos Mendoza contested that the ball hit Winker’s foot. A run came across on the play to make it a 4-3 game before Francisco Alvarez grounded out to end the game.

Player of the Game

Tyrone Taylor went 3-for-4 on the night with his first home run of the season.

On Deck

The Mets and Diamondbacks close out their three-game series with the rubber match on Thursday at 1:10 PM. Zac Gallen (1-4, 5.57 ERA) will take the mound for Arizona against Kodai Senga (3-1, 1.26 ERA) for the Mets.

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