Angels3 Mets 2 (Angel Stadium, Anaheim, CA)
Mets record: 58-53
Mets streak: Lost 2
WP -Griffin Canning (4-10)
LP - Jose Quintana (6-7)
SV - Roansy Contreras (2)
Seat on the Korner: Griffin Canning
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.
Maybe the Mets got overconfident when they saw they would be facing a pitcher with a 3-10 W-L record and 5.35 ERA, but that certainly wasn't the pitcher wearing Griffin Canning's uniform in this game. Canning held them to three hits and struck out eight over five innings and came up big when it counted. With Francisco Lindor on third with one out in the first, Canning struck out J.D. Martinez and Pete Alonso. With the Mets having scored and threatening in the second, he struck out Lindor to end the inning. And again, with the Mets having scored to cut the Angels' lead to 3-2, Canning retired Martinez and Alonso to squash the potential bigger inning. For performance under pressure, Canning gets the seat.
Need to Know
The loss was the first time this season rhe Mets had dropped back-to-back one-run games.
Francisco Lindor nearly tied the game in the seventh with a home run ball that seemed to have initially been ruled fair; upon review it was called foul and confirmed by a replay.
Esoteric stat of the day: J.D. Martinez' Saturday night grand slam was the first time a Met had twice hit slams when the Mets were trailing in a single season.
The west coast trip takes a midwest detour Monday as the Mets travel to St. Louis for a late afternoon makeup game. Sean Manaea takes the mound against Andre Palante before the Mets jet back to Denver to continue the Pacific Time Zone jaunt.
Turning Point
The Mets were poised to tie the game in the top of the eighth. After J.D. Martinez struck out, Pete Alonso was hit by a pitch and Jesse Winker singled to put men on first and third with one out. Mark Vientos, one of the team's most reliable hitters with men on third and less than two out, came to the plate as Tyrone Taylor pinch ran for Vientos. Taylor attempted to steal second, and would have had the base but Vientos fouled off the pitch. Vientos then grounded into a double play to end the inning. The failure to score Alonso from third was the turning point.
Three Keys
Quintana Reverts Back to the Mean
Jose Quintana had been almost unhittable since the All-Star Break -- 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA -- and just as effective over his last 14 starts: 5-3 record, 3.27 ERA with 65 strikeouts and only 24 walks over 77 innings. But from the start of this game, he struggled. All four batters in the first inning worked full counts. Quintana coughed up the lead in the second with a hard single, a hard, run-scoring double and a walk to begin the second, followed by a sacrifice fly. While he only gave up three hits, he walked four and his pitch count was high and he left after five innings.
On a Positive Note: The Bullpen
Adam Ottavino, pitching for the second consecutive day, was effective, striking out two in his clean inning. Danny Young and Phil Maton also pitched scoreless innings, at least giving the Mets a chance to tie the game or take the lead.
Baby Angels Show Flash But Fielding Weaknesses
Zach Neto showed good range but some throwing difficulties, and Nolan Schaunel did not help Neto out at first, dropping a very catchable throw for an error that placed Francisco Alvarez on in the second for what eventually became the Mets' first run. Schaunel got charged with the error; Neto made one of his own later in the game, one of three charged to the Angels. Neto, however, did triple in the third.
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