Zac Attack - Thornton Trades an H for a W

Mets 4 Brewers 0 (American Family Field, Milwaukee, WI)

Mets record: 43-59

Mets streak: Won 1

WP - Zac Thornton (1-1)

LP - Brandon Sproat (3-5)

Seat on the Korner: Zac Thornton

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.

Zac Thornton, the Mets rookie pitcher who recently dropped the "h" at the end of his name, earned his first major league victory in his fourth career start tonight. The southpaw gave up just 3 hits and 1 walk while striking out 2 over 6 shutout innings in the Mets 4-0 win. He has now gone 18 consecutive innings without giving up a run, the longest such streak by a Mets rookie since Steven Matz (2016). Thornton is now 1-1 with a 1.93 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP in his first 4 career starts. Oh, and one Seat on the Korner, so far.

Need to Know

• The last time a Mets rookie officially dropped the last letter in his first name was Pete(r) Alonso in 2019.

• Jared Young got the scoring started tonight with a solo home run in the top of the second inning, his 7th of the season.

• The Mets had 4 multi-hit players tonight: Francisco Lindor (3), Carson Benge (2), Jared Young (2), Luis Torrens (2).

• It was Lindor's second 3-hit game this week.

• Juan Soto was the only Mets batter without a hit.

• Prior to tonight's game, the Mets recalled reliever Daniel Duarte from Triple-A Syracuse and option reliever Xzavion Curry to Syracuse.

• The Mets have now won 5 of their last 7 road games.

• Over his last 40 games, Bo Bichette is batting .323 with 23 runs scored, 9 doubles, 1 triple, 5 home runs, and 23 RBIs.

• Devin Williams pitched a scoreless 9th inning in his first appearance as an visiting player in Milwaukee.

• If the Mets win tomorrow they will have had a winning (albeit short) 6-game road trip.

Turning Point

The top of the 5th started out like most ignorable innings. AJ Ewing flied out to left. Juan Soto lined out to center. And the Mets seemed headed to the bottom of the 5th clinging to a 1-0 lead. But...Bo Bichette's 2-out walk set things in motion. By time he was trotting to first, Brewers manager Pat Murphy was on his way out to remove starter (and former Mets prospect) Brandon Sproat after 99 pitches. Chad Patrick came in to relieve. Or to try to relieve. Francisco Lindor came up next and lined a shot that deflected off the glove of second baseman Brice Turang and into center field. Lindor took advantage of center fielder Garrett Mitchell's deep placement and hustled into second base.

This put two runners in scoring position for Carson Benge, and set the stage for tonight's turning point.

The seeing-eye hit put the Mets up 3-0 which was enough for Zac Thornton and the bullpen to cruise to the eventual 4-0 victory.

Three Keys

Cleared for Takeoff

One night after returning from an extended trip to the Injured List, Luis Robert Jr. got his first hit since April 23rd. He made the most of it...

By the time it landed, the moonshot had traveled 451 feet, which is tied with Brett Baty for the longest Mets home run this season. It was Robert Jr's third home run of the season and his first home run since April 9th. And as an added bonus, he made it around the bases without hurting himself.

D-Lightful

While Zac Thornton was certainly sharp in tonight's outing, with just 2 Ks over 6 innings, he had to rely on the fielders behind him. Fortunately for the Mets, he was given multiple reasons to believe in them. It started with Marcus Semien, who rebounded from an early error with this pick.

AJ Ewing, now the Mets left fielder after Luis Robert Jr's return, made a couple dazzling plays tonight.

Not to be outdone, Bo Bichette made some solid plays of his own, including this one in the 5th inning...

Strong Like Bull(pen)

One of the Mets few bright spots through the first half of this season continued to shine, as the Mets bullpen trio of Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, and Devin Williams kept Milwaukee scoreless in the final 3 frames. The three veterans combined for 3 innings, giving up just 1 hit, striking 1 out, and no walks.