Strong Pitching, Soto Homer Catapult Mets to 3-1 Win

After a disappointing series in Baltimore, the New York Mets went to Kansas City to play the Royals in the hopes of getting to the All-Star Break on a high note. On Friday night, the Mets had a good comeback win. On Saturday, pitching and Juan Soto were enough to get the Mets a series win in Kansas City as New York won 3-1. Frankie Montas was effective, Reed Garrett got the Mets out of a jam, and Edwin Díaz went six outs to secure the win. 

Solid Outing for Frankie Montas

Montas struggled much in rehab assignments, but so far in the major leagues, Montas has been effective. On Saturday, Montas had his best outing as a Met so far. Montas pitched five shutout innings with four strikeouts. For Montas, that’s now three starts of four where he was pretty good. Montas’s pitching well does a lot for the Mets’ rotation heading into the second half. 

Strong Day For The Bullpen

In the sixth inning, Montas gave up back-to-back doubles as the Royals trimmed the Mets’ lead to 2-1. Carlos Mendoza took him out of the game for Reed Garrett. Garrett got out of the jam to keep the game at 2-1 by getting Bobby Witt Jr. to pop out, Vinnie Pasquantino to ground out, and Maikel Garcia to fly out. Chris Devenski pitched the seventh inning and pitched a shutout inning despite walking Salvador Perez and hitting Nick Loftin.

Mendoza then put in Edwin Díaz for a six-out save. With one out, Díaz walked Witt, but Luis Torrens and Francisco Lindor combined to tag him out on a stolen base attempt. For the second consecutive game, the Mets got the benefit of a close replay review on a stolen base attempt. A one, two, three inning for the Mets’ All-Star closer sealed the win for New York. 

Juan Soto Splashdown

Speaking of All-Stars, a guy who should be representing the Mets in the midsummer classic is New York’s right fielder. In the top of the fourth inning after a Francisco Lindor single, Soto launched a 435-foot home run into the Kauffman Stadium water in right field to give the Mets a 2-0 lead. It was Soto’s 23rd home run of the season. 

Jeff McNeil and Lindor also shone on offense. McNeil provided the Mets with some breathing room in the ninth, driving in the third run of the day to open the Mets’ lead back to two. Lindor also reached base prior to the Soto homer, giving the Mets a lead they’d never relinquish. Before the homer, Lindor stole second base, joining the 200 stolen base club. He’s one of nine active players to reach 200 stolen bases, and joins Derek Jeter and Jimmy Rollins as the only shortstops to steal 200 bases and hit 200 homers (minimum of 70% games played at shortstop).

Player of the Game: Juan Soto

Soto’s two-run home run jump-started the Mets in their 3-1 win.

On Deck

In the first half finale on Sunday, the Mets will pitch Clay Holmes and see the season debut of Sean Manaea against Noah Cameron of the Royals. The game will start at 2:10 pm EDT and will be televised locally on WPIX and broadcast on Audacy Mets Radio, WHSQ 880AM.

 

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