Thor Strikes a Win!

From the second pitch of the game, Curtis Granderson seemed to have set the tone for the Mets with a leadoff dinger. With the lead Noah Syndergaard, making his Citi Field debut, seemed to be able to build off his good no-decision, last start against the Cubs. In the third inning Eric Campbell and Lucas Duda had back-to-back doubles to double the score 2-0. In the following inning Monell lead off the inning with a walk, Syndergaard’s strikeout was sandwiched by Lagares’s single, followed by Grandy’s strikeout. With two out and two on, Campbell singled in a run and then Duda walked. With two out and two on again, Cuddyer stepped up and singled in two runs to extend the lead 5-0. Hopefully that’s a sign of life from Cuddyer. Murphy grounded out to end the inning.

In the sixth inning there was a scary moment when Carlos Gomez was hit in the head by a 97 mph fastball. Noah Syndergaard seemed to be rattled out there and Terry Collins was smart for going out there to try to settle down the 22-year old rookie. The fastball hit Gomez in the helmet and luckily right in the flap of the helmet but he was taken out of the game to check more on him. Hopefully the ex-Met is okay. 

Syndergaard was able to get out the sixth inning but not before giving up a run. Before Syndergaard beamed Gomez, he was cruising not afraid to pitch inside which was a great thing because it seemed to help from last start when he didn’t really go inside. Syndergaard seemed like he was afraid to go back inside especially against Ryan Braun who seemed like he was try to just go to right field all day. All the pitches to Braun were away and Braun just went with the pitch to single in the Brewers first run. Syndergaard was able to get out of the sixth inning and strand runners on the corners.

In the bottom of the eighth inning, Juan Lagares led off with a single. He then stole second base which was so great to see. Lagares now has three stolen bases, it’s great to see Lagares running, hopefully he steals more. He was stranded out at second base but it was good to see Lagares running.

Coming off a 14-1 win last night by the Mets, it was really great to see them follow that up with more offense (five runs). At the beginning of the game, I thought that it would have been more of a pitching match up because of Wily Peralta’s numbers against the Mets but early in the game it seemed like him and his catcher (another ex-Met Juan Centeno) were not on the same page. Peralta wanted to throw a slider but Centeno kept putting down fastball, eventually he threw the slider to lead off the inning for a strike. From that moment on Peralta just seemed upset.

Noah Syndergaard pitched six strong innings, giving up one run on three hits, striking out five to only one walk to earn his first big league win in his Citi Field debut. Hopefully Syndergaard isn’t afraid to pitch inside during his next start because he seemed so good when he does that. The hard stuff inside, sets up so many possibility’s. He looks like the real deal and could be very good. Familia also got some work in because he’s only pitched a few pitches this whole week.

The Mets took the rubber game of the series and wash away the bad taste from the road trip against the Cubs and five game losing streak.

Update: Gomez does not have a concussion. That’s some good news for the Brewers.This is an awesome picture taken by an amazing fan. Such a beautiful day too. Bluebird sky with the Mets logo on the jumbotron.