Final Score: Red Sox 6 Mets 1 (Fenway Park, Boston Massachusetts)
Game 99 of 162 Games
Mets record: 46-53
Mets streak: Lost 2
WP - Chris Murphy (1-0)
LP - Carlos Carrasco (3-4)
Seat on the Korner: Alex Cora
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.
Every so often Ralph would invite the opposing manager on to the Korner, As Alex Cora moved into 7th place for all-time wins by a Red Sox manager and now has the second best winning percentage of any manager in Red Sox history and his use of his bullpen tonight he is our choice for the seat tonight.
Need to Know
Alex Cora earned his 415th win as manager of the Red Sox, moving him ahead of Jimy Williams for 7th most in franchise history.The only person to manage as many Red Sox games as Cora (747) and post a better winning percentage than his (415-333) is Terry Francona (.574)
Alex Cora and his brother Mets third base coach Joey Cora exchanged lineups with the umpires at the start of tonight's game.
Over his last four games, Pete Alonso is 6-15 with three runs, two doubles, one triple and an RBI.
Jeff McNeil has batted .316 (109-346) with 45 runs, 16 doubles, seven home runs, 43 RBI, 23 walks with in 94 career games against the American League...McNeil's .315 average ranks fifth among active players in Interleague games.
Brennan Bernardino acted as the opener tonight, he made his 4th start this season. He pitched one and two thirds of an inning and gave up one hit while striking out three.
Tommy Pham did not start but pinch hit in the ninth. Mark Canha started in his place and recorded three outfield assists, perhaps making him a more attractive target for a contending team in a possible trade.
Danny Mendick who was called up from AAA Syracuse to replace the injured Luis Guillorme, got the start at second base and batted ninth. It's worth noting Ronny Mauricio who is currently hitting .297 with 16 Home Runs and 56 RBIs has played 42 games at 2b this season at AAA, which is 31 more than then the less offensively gifted Mendick.
Carrasco made his ninth appearance and seventh start against the Red Sox in his career. He lasted only two thirds of inning longer than the Red Sox Opener, with a lot less success, His final line was two and one thirds innings pitched 10 hits, 5 runs, 2 walks, if not for 2 horrific base running blunders by the Sox, it could have been 7 runs. Throughout his career against Boston, Carrasco has pitched to a 8.29 ERA (31 ER/33.2 IP) and holds a 1-4 record .
Yesterday Jeff McNeil had the equivalent of the Little League Home Run, tonight the Mets pulled off the Defensive Little League Double play in the first inning as Masataka Yosida came to bat with Jarren Duran on at first and no one out. Yosida hit a slow roller that Brett Baty charged and throw him out at first, Duran saw third base was unattended and continued on to third, Alonso threw across the diamond to Carlos Carrasco covering, Alonso's throw ticked off Carrasco's glove,Mark Canha alertly backed up the play and threw Duran out at home for the routine 5-3-1-7-2 double play.
Turning Point
The entire Third inning ! Carlos Carrasco played the role of Red Sox Batting Practice pitcher in the Third inning. He gave up 6 straight hits all 94 MPH or more. Had it not been for Rafael Devers base running blunder the inning might still be going on. Drew Smith came in and allowed 2 of the 3 inherited runners to score on a single and a wild pitch.
Three Keys
Cookie Crumbles
On a night when the Mets desperately needed innings from their starting pitcher, one night after Max Scherzer gave them a somewhat disappointing six, Carlos Carrasco could not get out of the third inning.Manager Buck Showalter was forced to call on the over taxed bullpen early once again. Somehow Drew Smith, Trevor Gott , David Peterson stopped the bleeding. Dominic Leone gave up his seventh home run in 28 innings of work this of the season a 413 foot rocket by Rafael Devers his 24th of the year in the seventh inning.
Pen-men-ship
Alex Cora was masterful in his use of his bullpen staff getting length from Chris Murphy and key outs from Josh Winckowski. Former Met Joely Rodriguez pitched an effective 7th to add insult to injury. Joe Jacques and Chris Martin bent but did not break in the 8th stranding Lindor and Alonso in scoring position by striking out Daniel Vogelbach. Brandon Walter put a bow on it with a scoreless ninth.
Leaving a Mark
Mark Canha’s 3 OF assists are tied for the most by a Mets player in a game, with: 6/4/06 Endy Chavez
5/23/81 Joel Youngblood
5/7/75 Gene Clines
4/11/62 Gus Bell
He is the first OF with 3 assists in a game since Joey Rickard on 5/26/2018 for BAL 4 is the record for a 9-inning game, most recently by Sam Langford on May 1, 1928 -- also the last to do it in any game.
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