Welcome to the Noah Syndergaard show! Not only did the Mets pitcher put in a solid 8-inning performance against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the team’s 4-3 win on Wednesday night, but he was singlehandedly responsible for all four of the Mets runs. With a homer in the top of the third and another three-run blast in the top of the fifth, Syndergaard became the first New York Mets pitcher to hit two home runs in one game since 1983, when Walt Terrell did it against Ferguson Jenkins of the Chicago Cubs.
Of course, I’m sure I wasn’t the only one on the edge of my seat waiting to see if Syndergaard would take it over the wall for the third time, but alas the Dodgers pitched to him with a little more gusto and Syndergaard whiffed in his last two at bats. But a win is a win is a win and if one player contributes most of that in a given game, who cares? The outcome is a victory and that’s all that matters.
“You’d like to see him get the bunt down,” Manager Terry Collins said. “But if you don’t get the bunt down, you might as well hit a homer.”
However, let’s talk about the Mr. Magoo thing for awhile okay? Curtis Granderson – three strikeouts. Duda – two strikeouts. Cabrera – another three strikeouts. Come on guys, are we leaving it up to the pitchers to get the job done and put the ball over the wall? The other day Colon’s homerun was just enough for the win and today it was Noah’s. Kenta Maeda did a great job of throwing past our stronger hitters and, if it wasn’t for Syndergaard, the Mets would be putting a notch in the loss column. Thanks Thor, who also said, “It felt like it was like a dream,” Syndergaard said. “It’s not real. I don’t think I ever hit two home runs when I played Little League. To hit two home runs in a major league ball game, especially against a pitcher like Maeda, it’s an awesome experience.”
Tonight was a direct result of Bartolo inspiring me to be a better man. #histrotwasbetter
— Noah Syndergaard (@Noahsyndergaard) May 12, 2016
Interestingly, though, the New York Mets seem to find four runs no matter what they are doing. There have only been a few games in the last few weeks where the Mets didn’t score 4 runs in one game.
The Mets did have eight hits overall to the Dodgers 7. Syndergaard earned the win and Familia earned the save although the Dodgers did try for a comeback in the bottom of the 9th. Before this game, Noah Syndergaard has made 30 career starts, racked up 215 strikeouts (7.2 per start) and was 9th in the majors with 215 strikeouts since 1913 in a player’s first 30 major league games. The former Mets phenom Dwight Gooden is first with 267 strikeouts.
Tonight, New York Mets’ right-handed Bartolo Colon faces the Dodgers’ Clayton Kershaw in the series finale. Colon has a 2.82 ERA and 8.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio, but against the Dodgers he has a 5.16 ERA., Kershaw has a 2.04 ERA and 21.33 strikeouts for every walk.
The Mets are now 17-6 in their last 23 games and 19-7 in their last 25 contests.
Steven Matz will get a little rest after the Mets made the decision to skip his rotation on Saturday after he experienced soreness in his elbow. According to the Mets, the elbow flared up on him, but the pitcher has not undergone an MRI. They believe it’s ‘just soreness’ to which Matz agreed and thought he just needed some rest. On the season, Matz has a 2.86 ERA and 1.18 WHIP in 34.2 innings.
On Friday, the Mets head to Colorado to face the Rockies in a three-game series. Matt Harvey, who put in a solid performance in his last start after some shaky appearances, will be on the mound. Harvey has never pitched at Coors Field, but hopefully his last outing where he struck out 10 Padres in six innings gave him a much-needed boost of confidence. We’ll just have to see. Hey, maybe it will be Harvey’s time to hit one over the wall to help his own cause.
