The Lost Boy Returns
The Lost Boy showed up at the house on Wednesday, and it felt, I suppose, like a revelation.
Meanwhile, in the Mets lineup, Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor had seemingly vanished, leading to some pretty wild talk about witness protection. But—you know—turns out they were just hiding in plain sight right in front of everyone.
Alonso and Lindor combined for five RBIs in a 6-3 win over the Angels, completing a three-game sweep at Citifield. This marked the Mets’ fourth consecutive win, tying their longest winning streak in about six weeks. It’s kind of interesting how things can turn around like that, don’t you think?
Lindor, who had been like, struggling with hitless at-bats for a while, finally broke through with an RBI single in the third, and, as if he was on a roll, did it again in the fourth. Meanwhile, Alonso fired up the crowd with a powerful homer that gave the Mets an early lead for the first time since the All-Star break.
Alonso came into the game battling through a slump, struggling at 2-for-33 with his last hit being a distant memory. But he crushed a ball 439 feet to left field, his third homer this season, which was thrilling. It brought him to No. 248 in his career, just four shy of Daryl Strawberry’s franchise record. Funny enough, he hadn’t homered since July 8th in Baltimore.
Sean Manaea, coming off the injured list for the third time, pitched five solid innings, allowing one run, striking out five while giving up two hits and two walks. He seemed to have found his groove early on, hitting the corners to start, though he ran into trouble in the second inning with some walks.
Brandon Nimmo’s homer kicked off the scoring for the Mets, marking his 14th career home run, and—if I’m remembering correctly—his first of the season. It’s nice to see him contribute like that, especially in high-pressure moments.
On the other hand, Trout, yes, Mike Trout, tied the game at 1-1 with a solo homer, marking a personal milestone of 999 career RBIs. You have to respect a player like that.
But the Mets took back control in the later innings. After a few moves, including Tyrone Taylor’s leap to get on base, Lindor brought in an RBI single, finally breaking his streak of being hitless for quite some time. That must have felt good for him—2-1 Mets. And then, Alonso popped another one, sending it into the second deck, which was just electric.
Things escalated quickly, with Lindor following up with another RBI single that put the Angels in a bit of a hole, 6-1. Mark Vientos started the rally strong, which is always encouraging for a team.
Jose Bato had a shaky outing in the seventh inning, allowing two runs, which was rough. Brooks Raleigh stepped in and calmed the situation a bit, but it was tense, surrendering a couple of hits.
As the eighth inning rolled around, Raleigh managed to get two outs before bringing in Edwin Diaz to face some tough runners. Diaz threw a tough slider but navigated through the inning without too much damage, even after a little drama at the plate where disagreements led to the Angels’ interim manager getting tossed.
Diaz came back in the ninth, and, well, it was a little nerve-wracking when he hit Taylor with a fastball but quickly recovered to seal the game with his 21st save. It’s moments like that that really keep you on the edge of your seat, even if you’re just watching from home.
