Mets 5 White Sox 2 (Guaranteed Rate Field, Chicago, IL)
Mets record: 72-64
Mets streak: Won 3
WP - Jose Quintana (7-9)
LP - Davis Martin (0-3)
SV - Jose Butto (3)
Seat on the Korner:
We select the star of the game and virtually invite him to a Seat on the Korner, just as Ralph Kiner used to do for his studio postgame show on WOR-channel 9 broadcasts in the early decades of the Mets.
Yeah, again. It's hard to ignore what Jesse Winker has been doing lately, going 3-for-3 tonight with two RBI and 8 hits in his last 11 at-bats to lead the Mets to another victory over the White Sox.
Need to Know
The Mets are now 8 games over .500 for the first time all season.
Pete Alonso's first inning two run homer was his first home run against the Chicago White Sox ... the last team besides the Mets that Alonso had yet to hit a home run against.
Alonso also became the second Met to hit 30 home runs in 4 consecutive seasons. (Mike Piazza was the first.)
Jesse Winker went 3-for-3 with a home run, a single, and two RBI, giving him 8 hits in his previous 11 at-bats.
Francisco Lindor's single in the 3rd inning extended his on-base streak to 29 games, which is the longest current streak in the majors. it also extended his hitting streak to 11 games.
Jose Quintana went 5 innings, giving up 2 runs (1 earned) on 6 hits and three walks while striking out 6.
The Phillies' 3-0 win over Atlanta puts the Mets 2 games back of the Braves for the final wild card spot.
The White Sox lost their 106th game tonight, tying the 1970 White Sox franchise record.
Turning Point
Choosing Alonso's home run to make it 2-0 seems flippant. But there's some pressure on the Mets to win every winnable game down the stretch, especially these three against a team that might break their own franchise record for losses in a season by September first. So getting off to a quick 2-0 lead in the first was huge. Even though they didn't turn their quick start into a rocking chair game, it kept the White Sox at arms length.
Three Keys
Pitching ...
Jose Quintana got himself into some trouble giving up 6 hits and 3 walks in 5 innings, which is a WHIP near 2. But he got big outs when he needed them.
But give credit to the middle relievers, especially Ryne Stanek who really needed a good outing and got it with a 1-2-3 7th.
Phil Maton also continued his great run as a Met with a scoreless 8th inning.
Jose Butto gave up a run on three hits in the 9th in a hairy 9th, and Carlos Mendoza stuck with him to face Andrew Benintendi instead of going to the lefty Danny Young. But Benintendi had a couple of hits off the lefty Quintana, so Mendoza rolled the dice, which came up "whew" as Butto got Benintendi to chop it back to him to end the game with the winning run at the plate.
Power ...
Davis Martin gave up less hits and walks in his five innings than Quintana did in his. The only difference was that two of his hits were damaging back-to-back home runs in the first which put the White Sox in a hole.
Power makes a huge difference in general, and it made a huge difference tonight. Consider that the Mets had 7 guys in their starting lineup last night with at least 10 home runs, while Paul DeJong leads the White Sox in home runs and he was traded more than a month ago.
... And Defense
Huascar Brazoban allowed one baserunner in the 6th when he hit Miguel Vargas in the ribs. His inning could have been a whole lot worse had it not been for two sparklers behind him. First, Brandon Nimmo ...
... then Francisco Lindor, who gives us a few of these per week.
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