Mets 3, Tigers 2 (F/10): An extra-innings fumble, Tigers’ bad luck continues
Despite the Mets’ dismal season record and poor performance this season, the New York club managed to trounce the Tigers on Tuesday. Wednesday night, the Tigers were hoping to get one back and save face a little. They’ve been having an awfully rough go of it lately, and the longer that lasts, and the more we see performances like the one on Tuesday, the harder it is to believe this is the 90-win team many of us predicted with great hope at the start of the season. Fresh off his suspension, Framber Valdez was back on duty, and he was up against Christian Scott for the Mets.
The Tigers got things started right away with a leadoff walk in the first to Kevin McGonigle. Dillon Dingler then doubled right behind him, pushing McGonigle within 90 feet of home. A scorching single to center by Riley Greene brought both baserunners home and put the Tigers on the board early. Two outs followed the Greene single, but he was still the game’s early hero.
Valdez also wasted no time, churning through the Mets’ order with three consecutive groundouts, his bread and butter.
In the second, Zach McKinstry got a one-out single. Another out followed, then McGonigle singled, putting runners on the corners. A Dingler flyout ended the inning scoreless, though. In the home half, the Mets got their first baserunner, a leadoff single by Mark Vientos . Then one out later, Brett Baty singled as well. A Tyrone Taylor groundout brought Vientos home and put the Mets on the board. They’d have to settle for just the one run, though.
Colt Keith got the third inning going with a leadoff single. Greene then grounded into a double play, to eliminate the baserunner. A Matt Vierling strikeout then ended the inning with little fanfare. In the bottom of the inning, Luis Torrens singled for the Mets. Carson Benge then singled. Bo Bichette hit into a fielder’s choice that saw Torrens tagged out at home, avoiding the tying run. Benge stole second during a Juan Soto at bat (where, notably, he fouled a ball very painfully off his foot), but it didn’t really matter as a flyout then ended the inning.
In the fourth, Spencer Torkelson got a one-out walk. One out later, Zack Short was hit by a pitch to put two men on. Despite the free baserunners, the Tigers weren’t able to convert any runs. The Mets went 1-2-3 in the home half.
Dingler got a leadoff single to get things going in the fifth, but Colt Keith then grounded into a double play. Riley Greene singled, and that was enough to end the night for Scott, who was replaced by Huascar Brazobán. Brazobán then collected the final out of the inning. In the home half A.J. Ewing took a leadoff walk. A Luis Torrens groundout advanced him to second. Two more outs followed to leave the baserunner stranded and the Mets without any more runs.
With two outs in the sixth McKinstry reached on an error by Mark Vientos at first. The call was initially an out, but a very quick review showed that McKinstry was safe. It didn’t end up making much difference as he was then picked off stealing to end the inning. Oops. In the bottom of the inning, with one out, Vientos got hit by a pitch for a free walk to first. Things got really fiery during Baty’s at-bat as the umpire claimed he appealed a call, when it appeared he hadn’t, and the strike was upheld, but oh boy, folks got heated. Baty ended up striking out but yikes.
The Tigers went 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh. The final out of the inning was another contentious one, as the umpire called an automatic strike because Dingler wasn’t “prepared” at the eight-second mark. Pretty brutal play, though, considering he literally just messed up an ABS call. With two outs in the home half, Torrens walked. Then Benge singled to put two men aboard. That was it for Valdez, whose final line for the game was 6.2 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, on a season-high 106 pitches. Kyle Finnegan came in and promptly gave up a single to Bo Bichette to tie the game. Benge got tagged out attempting to steal home and the Tigers were able to get out of the inning without giving up the lead.
Luke Weaver was the new Mets pitcher for the eighth. With one out, Greene singled, then advanced to second on a Vierling groundout. Wenceel Perez then drew a walk. A strikeout ended the inning, Torkelson tried to challenge and wasn’t allowed to, but it wouldn’t have mattered; it was a strike. The Mets went 1-2-3 in the bottom of the inning.
Devin Williams was in for the ninth, and with two outs, gave up a walk to McGonigle. McGonigle then stole second. A flyout ended the inning, though, putting a kibosh on any Tigers’ comeback efforts. Kenley Jansen was the Tigers’ pick for the ninth, and got three outs in a row. The game was heading into the tenth.
Matt Vierling got a two-out walk in the tenth against new pitcher Brooks Raley . A flyout put an end to any run-scoring hopes, though. Drew Anderson came in to pitch for the Tigers. Benge got a one-out RBI single, and the Mets were walk-off winners, taking the second game of the series.
