The Kids Are Alright

Mets 10 Tigers 2 (Citi Field, Flushing, NY)

Mets record: 16-25

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Freddy Peralta (3-3)

LP - Jack Flaherty (0-4)

Seat on the Korner: A.J. Ewing

We select a Star of the Game and virtually invite him to take his Seat on the Korner — just as Ralph Kiner did on WOR-TV Channel 9 during the early days of the New York Mets.

Continuing the tradition of Rheingold Beer sponsoring Kiner’s Korner, this season every seat is proudly presented by The Main Event Restaurant & Sports Bar.

With locations in Plainview and Farmingdale, The Main Event features 80+ HD TVs, fresh daily seafood, and Black Angus certified steaks—so you never have to choose between great food and the big game.

The Mets could not have asked for much more from the debut of A.J. Ewing. The Mets centerfielder of the future tripled, walked 3 times, stole a base, scored twice and had 3 RBIs in 5 plate appearances. All this to help spark the Mets to a 10-2 victory. First game or not, that's the kind of game that earns a player a Seat on the Korner.

Need to Know

• Ewing became the first Mets player to hit a triple in his major league debut.

• He is also the 10th player in Mets history to reach base at least 3 times in his MLB debut.

• The Mets pounded out 13 hits, including 2 each from Carson Benge, Juan Soto, Mark Vientos, and Brett Baty.

• Bo Bichette reached base three times with a single and 2 walks.

• Mets starting pitcher Freddy Peralta earned his 3rd quality start of the season, and has now given up just 3 earned runs in his last 17 innings while striking out 14.

• Tonight was the start of a 6-game homestand against American League teams (Tigers and Yankees).

• The Mets are now 5-5 against the AL this year, and 307-305 since Interleague Play began in 1997.

• Mark Vientos hit a game-tying single in the 3rd inning, and is now has 13 hits, 6 runs, 3 home runs, 3 doubles, and 10 RBIs in his last 12 games.

• Brooks Raley pitched a scoreless 7th inning with 1 strikeout and 2 hits. He is now 0-1 with a 1.13 ERA (2 ER/16 IP) with 19 strikeouts on the season.

• Austin Warren closed out the game with 2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and 2 walks while striking out 3. He lowered his season ERA to 0.82.

• Prior to the game, the Mets designated Andy Ibanez in order to make room for Ewing. Ibanez was 0-6 with 2 RBIs in his Mets tenure. That's still more productive than Jed Lowrie was while with the team.

Turning Point

On Sunday, it was a couple errors by (now former) Mets third baseman Andy Ibanez that opened up the door for the Diamondbacks to take a commanding lead. Tonight, the Mets were beneficiaries of shoddy play from the hot corner.

Ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Mets loaded the bases with just one out. Bo Bichette stepped to the plate looking to provide some insurance. Instead, he hit a route grounder to Tigers third baseman Gage Workman, and it looked like Detroit could easily turn two and escape the inning. Instead, Workman's grounder sailed over second base and into right field. Two runs would score on the play. The next better, Juan Soto, drove in another run with a ground out to first. Instead of a tight 3-2 lead going into the final third of the game, the Mets went into the 7th inning with a much more comfortable score of 6-2.

Three Keys

Substitue

Francisco Alvarez got the Mets scoring going tonight with a bases loaded groundout in the bottom of the second inning. He then doubled in the 4th inning. Seemingly on a good track, the Mets were happy to see Alvarez step to the plate with A.J. Ewing on first in the 6th inning, and even more excited when Ewing stole his way into scoring position. However, Alvarez twisted his knee while fouling off a pitch, and removed himself from the game.

Luis Torrens stepped in and worked a walk after starting with Alvarez's 2-2 count. Torrens would then come home on the Workman miscue. An inning later, Torrens hit a single that drove in the Mets 8th run.

My Generation

A.J. Ewing may have been the story tonight, but he wasn't the only Mets rookie to impact the game. Right fielder Carson Benge, batting in the leadoff spot, had two hits including an opposite field RBI single in the bottom of the third inning that put the Mets ahead to stay.

Benge went 2-5 on the night with 2 singles, a run scored, and an RBI. In his last 8 games, he is batting .346 (9-26) with 7 runs scored, 3 doubles, 1 home run, 6 RBIs, and 5 walks. Over his last 17 games, Benge is batting .309 (17-55) with 10 runs scored, 4 doubles, 2 home runs, and 9 RBI.

The Real Me

The Mets have seen a lot of up and down from Freddy Peralta so far this season. While his 3-3 record and 3.10 ERA is relatively solid, he hasn't shown the Ace-like consistency the Mets were looking for when they obtained him in the offseason.

Tonight started out no different. Peralta needed 21 pitches to get through a scoreless first inning, then another 27 pitches while limiting damage to 2 runs in the second inning. He then gave up a double to Colt Keith to lead off the third inning.

Then something clicked. Peralta set down the next 8 Tigers batters with relative ease. With the score 3-2 in the 5th, he gave up a 2-out single to Keith. That was followed by a Riley Greene single. But, when an errant throw to third gave Keith the opporunity to score, it was Peralta who backed up third base and threw Keith out at home (with a little help from third base umpire Rob Drake).

Peralta returned to the mound in the top of the 6th and retired the Tigers 1-2-3, with 2 strikeouts and a ground out. Peralta then handed the ball over to the Mets bullpen. On the night, Peralta went 6 innings giving up 7 hits, 1 walk, 2 runs (both earned), and 7 Ks. It was Peralta's first winning quality start, and an encouraging sign for him and the Mets.