Rangers 2 Mets 1 (Citi Field, Flushing NY)
Mets record: 60 -73
Mets streak: Lost 2
WP - Chris Stratton (2-1)
LP - Drew Smith (4-5)
S - Aroldis Chapman (4)
Seat on the Korner: Mitch Garve
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.
Tonight's Seat on the Korner belongs to Mitch Garver, who went 2-4 tonight with an RBI on the solo home run that he hit in the top of the 7th to open up the scoring for the Rangers.
Need to Know
Pete Alonso went 0-3 tonight with a walk and 2 strikeouts.
Mark Vientos had the only RBI for the Mets tonight with a solo home run in the bottom of the 9th, of course DJ Stewart grounded out one pitch after to end the game.
Francisco Lindor, despite breaking his hitting streak a few nights ago, is still 12th in the majors and 6th in the National League in WAR (Wins Above Replacement). He is also hitting .343 with 7 doubles, 5 home runs and 17 RBIs since July 29th.
Jeff McNeil went 2-4 tonight, and despite having a rougher year than previous ones, he still leads the team in batting average with a .266 average.
The Mets seem to rack up the hits, yet can't bring any of their guys home.
Turning Point
The turning point of the game was when Drew Smith was brought into the game after Jose Quintana's great outing. Quintana went 6 innings, allowed 3 hits and 0 runs, he was having quite the pitching battle with the Rangers' Andrew Heaney. Of course, until this happened:
That was Drew Smith's second pitch, the bullpen is obviously an issue, but with the amount of hits and walks that the Mets were able to draw tonight, they should've been able to drive a man home. They just have trouble capitalizing in those clutch moments.
From there, the Mets only brought in one run on a late Vientos home run, and only were able to add 1 more hit to the board.
Three Keys
Quintana: Jose Quintana was once again great for the Mets. Going 6 innings, only allowing 3 hits, no runs and striking out 5 can certainly be deemed a quality start.
Since his time with the Mets, Quintana earned a quality start in all but one of his outings, the previous one to tonight against the Braves where he gave up 5 runs. The problem is, whenever Quintana is on the mound, the offense does not seem to be able to provide support for his amazing work.
Mark Vientos: It is safe to say that this year hasn't been the best for Mark Vientos. Coming off an injury, things have been tough for him. But tonight, things may have looked up for him. Hitting a home run in the bottom of the 9th against Aroldis Chapman should not be ignored.
Sure he was brought up in tough times and hasn't played up to expectations, but Vientos is still young and the future may be looking bright for him.
The Farm System: The future is still looking bright down in the farm system, as tonight Ronny Mauricio went 3-5 with 2 RBIs on a two run home run. In the end, Syracuse still lost, but the spotlight players look like they're making their way up even more.
Down south a little more, the Rumble Ponies won 1-0 tonight, with the likes of Luisangel Acuna having a two hit night, with his average going up to .261 on the year.