The Mets hit three separate three-run homers and four bombs altogether to power them over the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, 11-3.
Here are the takeaways…
-Coming off a game on Wednesday in Toronto where they were on the brink of getting no-hit, the Mets’ offense was stymied early once again, this time by familiar foe Aaron Nola. The right-hander held New York hitless through the first four innings, striking out six with the combination of his fastball and curveball that had the Mets guessing for most of his outing.
–Jose Iglesias broke up the no-hit bid in the top of the fifth with a leadoff single and Tyrone Taylor followed with a single of his own to put Nola in his first jam of the night. Francisco Alvarez then came up to the plate and after hitting a three-run home run in New York’s six-run ninth inning against the Blue Jays on Wednesday, the catcher turned on a curveball and yanked it down the left field line which hit off the foul pole for his second three-run shot in his last three at-bats.
But the Mets weren’t done.
-With one out, Francisco Lindor and Mark Vientos each had a single to give New York five hits in the inning. Out of nowhere, the Mets had Nola on the ropes and Brandon Nimmo delivered the final blow – a three-run bomb to right field to give New York a 6-0 advantage and knock the right-hander out of the game.
-On the other side of the ball, Jose Quintana was aiming to keep his recent string of pitching excellence going and he did just that. The left-hander was fortunate in the beginning of the game and despite some balls that were hit quite hard, most were right at fielders for outs.
Ironically, two of the three hits Quintana allowed all night were infield hits – one by Johan Rojas in the third and one by Kyle Schwarber in the sixth. Neither baserunner would reach second base with Rojas getting caught stealing.
In control the entire way, Quintana went seven scoreless innings while scattering just three hits. The 35-year-old walked none and struck out four on 94 pitches (62 strikes). He lowered his season ERA to 3.91 and has allowed just one earned run over his last 25 innings which spans four starts and includes a 15.2 scoreless innings stretch.
-The Mets added a run in the seventh thanks to Lindor’s 39th double of the season which resulted in his team-leading 86th RBI. New York tacked on more in the eighth on another three-run blast, this one off the bat of Harrison Bader to give the Mets a 10-0 lead. For good measure, Pete Alonso hit his 32nd home run in the ninth inning off position player Kody Clemens as Philadelphia waved the white flag.
-New York finished with 14 hits as every starter joined the party with at least one hit.
-It wasn’t all good news for the Mets, though, as Lindor was removed from the game in the seventh inning with lower back soreness, the team announced. Obviously, that situation will be worth keeping an eye on as the potential NL MVP has been huge for New York this season.
Game MVP: Jose Quintana
The lefty had it all working on Friday night and even when it looked like it could be a long night for the offense against Nola, Quintana was just as good on the other side.
What’s next
The Mets continue their three-game set with the Phillies on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 4:05 p.m. on SNY.
RHP Luis Severino (10-6, 3.74 ERA) will pitch for New York. Philadelphia has yet to announce a starter.