Mets Power Display Supports deGrom in 18-1 Win Over Jays

The Mets needed a big win, and they got one Friday night. On the 19th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, the Mets pounded out 19 hits as they shuffled out of Buffalo with style.

Facing the Toronto Blue Jays (24-20) in their temporary home of Buffalo, New York, the Mets (21-24) racked up 18 runs on the back of a 10-run fourth inning that saw 14 batters step up to the plate.

Wilson Ramos had a fantastic day at the plate, going 3-4, driving in four runs, and walking once. Michael Conforto also kept up his hot-streak, going 2-4 with a long three-run homer.

Jacob deGrom continued his campaign for the Cy Young award, going six innings, striking out nine, and lowering his ERA to 1.67. His only run allowed came in the first inning off of a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. single.

OFFENSE:

Pitching for the Blue Jays was right-hander Chase Anderson, who hasn’t had a great season so far, pitching in six games for a 4.94 ERA coming into the game.

Contrary to his stat-line, however, Anderson started off strong, striking out Brandon Nimmo and Conforto after getting behind in both counts, followed by a sharp J.D. Davis groundout to end the frame.

The Mets got some chances in the second but were robbed by great Toronto defense. Dominic Smith worked a walk to start the inning and was sent packing to the dugout after Robinson Cano was robbed of a hit by third baseman Travis Shaw, who got the force at second. Pete Alonso followed with a deep fly ball that was caught roughly ten feet from the wall. Jeff McNeil walked, bringing Andres Gimenez to the plate. Gimenez blooped a fly ball into left field that was caught on a brilliant sliding play Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

Anderson’s lucky stretch of defensive star-power came to an end in the third. Ramos doubled to start the frame, and Nimmo followed with a base hit of his own. With runners on the corners, Conforto went deep to center field, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead. After a Davis walk and a Smith strikeout, Cano slapped a base hit into center to put two runners on. After Alonso struck out, Anderson’s night came to an end, an unfortunate end to his seventh game of the season.

Replacing Anderson was ex-Met minor leaguer Anthony Kay, who was shipped up to Toronto in exchange for Marcus Stroman at the trade deadline in 2019. Kay could’ve had the easy last out of the inning after McNeil drove a ball high into shallow right field, but it got lost in the Buffalo lights and dropped in between three Blue Jays, scoring Davis from second. Gimenez struck out to end the inning, but the damage was done, 4-1 Mets.

After sending nine batters to the plate in the third, the Mets continued their dominance in the fourth, starting off with two walks from Ramos and Conforto and a chopped base hit from Nimmo to load the bases with no outs. Davis grounded a ball to shortstop, and the throw went home, but catcher Danny Jansen had a case of butterfingers and dropped the ball, allowing Ramos to score even though the throw beat him by roughly 50 feet.

Smith then came up and made the poor Toronto defense pay, blasting a grand slam over the right field wall to put the Mets up 9-1. Cano singled and Alonso struck out again, marking the end of Kay’s night. Jacob Waguespack came into the game, sporting a 4.85 ERA, which was immediately showcased after a McNeil single, a Gimenez HBP, and a Ramos double, clearing the bases and putting the Mets up 12-1.

Nimmo continued the inning by advancing Ramos to second, and Conforto flied a ball to left field that was dropped, scoring another run. Davis then lined a ball down the left field line, scoring Conforto all the way from first base and capping the inning with a tenth run.

Waguespack continued into the fifth, and was quite successful, getting Gimenez to fly out and Ramos and Nimmo to ground out for a 1-2-3 inning.

The poor Toronto defense continued in the sixth, as Conforto reached on a bad throw to first by shortstop Santiago Espinal. Davis and Smith both followed with singles, prompting a mound visit that took Waguespack from the game and brought in lefty Ryan Borucki. Borucki didn’t start off strong, walking Cano to force in the Mets’ fifteenth run of the game. Alonso struck out (again, he went 0-5 with a HBP) before McNeil grounded into a force out, scoring a run from third. Gimenez flew out to end the inning, but not before the Mets went up 16-1.

Ken Giles came in to pitch the eighth, and immediately gave up a home run to Ramos, who had quite a night, as mentioned earlier. Nimmo and newly substituted Jake Marisnick struck out, bringing up Amed Rosario, who singled into left field. He quickly returned to the dugout, however, as Smith grounded out to shortstop.

PITCHING:

DeGrom got the start on Friday evening, looking to keep his campaign strong for his third straight Cy Young award. And that he did.

Coming into the day with a 1.69 ERA, he struck out Cavan Biggio on three pitches to start the game. Randal Grichuk singled and stole second base, and after a Travis Shaw flyout, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smashed a deep single off the wall in right field, scoring Grichuk from second. Gurriel struck out to end the inning, and a frustrated deGrom went to sit on the bench.

After sizzling on the bench for a few minutes, deGrom returned to the mound, striking out Jonathan Villar and Joe Panik before getting Jansen to ground out to first base.

Espinal led off the third and was quickly retired via groundout back to the pitcher. DeGrom then kept the strikeout game going, getting Biggio and Grichuk swinging.

After sitting in the dugout for the 14-batter top of the fourth, deGrom re-entered the game with some rare run-support. Shaw worked a wonderful 12-pitch at-bat into a walk, but deGrom recovered quickly, striking out Guerrero and Villar before getting Gurriel to fly out.

Panik led off the fifth with a lineout and Jansen walked, deGrom’s second of the game. Espinal struck out swinging for deGrom’s ninth strikeout of the game. Biggio jumped on the first pitch from deGrom in his third at-bat, doubling into right field, but the rally was quickly extinguished via a Grichuk lineout.

DeGrom’s final inning went quickly, as Shaw, Guerrero, and Gurriel popped easy flyballs for Mets’ defenders to catch. His final line saw his ERA lower to 1.67, as he gave up three hits, one earned run, walked two, and struck out nine.

Erasmo Ramirez took charge of the mound in the seventh, and continued his success, working a 1-2-3 inning off of two groundouts and a line out. He continued into the eighth, and at first was met by some problems, as Espinal and Biggio led off the inning with singles. However, the fire was doused once again, as Jonathan Davis grounded into a double play and Shaw flew out to left field.

Guerrero led off the bottom of the ninth versus Ramirez, entering his third inning of work, and flew out to center field. Gurriel then gave the ball a ride, knocking it to the warning track before it was caught by Marisnick. After Derek Fisher walked, ex-Met Joe Panik struck out looking to end the game, slotting the Mets a commanding 18-1 victory.

ON DECK:

The Mets will continue their march to the second wildcard spot in tomorrow’s game, looking to take the series and inch closer to the .500 mark.

Seth Lugo (2-2, 2.05 ERA) will get the start in game two. After being switched into the starter roll, Lugo has found great success. His last game versus the Phillies was dominant, as he struck out eight over five innings of one-run work.

David Peterson (4-1, 4.26) will get the start in game three, as he looks to improve on his last start in which he only went two innings and gave up five earned runs.

After the series with Toronto, the Mets will move on to Philadelphia in what could be the most important series of the season.