In a game that included plenty of close calls, errors, and assorted miscues, the Mets walked off the Pirates for a 4-3 win to open their series in Queens. In the end, it was Pete Alonso’s sac fly that scored Francisco Lindor to win the game in the bottom of the ninth, but here’s an attempt at describing the chaos that got the game to that point.
The Pirates opened the scoring with a routine solo home run from Ian Kiner-Falefa, whose experience in New York has already been anything but routine after he confirmed that the legendary Ralph Kiner was related to him.
The Mets tied things up in the bottom of the fourth, as Brandon Nimmo opened the frame with a double and was driven in on a one-out double by Jeff McNeil. Things were still pretty normal at this stage, as Paul Skenes was allowing baserunners but limiting damage while David Peterson was racking up strikeouts and generally keeping the Pirates from reaching base.
In the top of the fifth, though, the weirdness began. The Pirates had a runner on second with two outs, and Ke’Bryan Hayes hit an infield single that glanced off Brett Baty’s glove and slowly rolled into no-man’s land in shallow left field. Luckily for the Mets, Jared Triolo stopped at third base rather than trying to score, and he almost certainly would have scored if he’d kept running. David Peterson didn’t waste that gift, striking out Bryan Reynolds to end the inning with the game still tied at one.
Pittsburgh took the lead again with a run in the top of the seventh after Peterson issued a leadoff walk and was pulled before José Buttó issued a one-out walk and allowed a run to score on a fielder’s choice.
Then came the close calls as the Pirates turned to their bullpen. Tyrone Taylor hit for Brett Baty to start the bottom of the seventh and got hit by a pitch. He stole second successfully on a bang-bang play, and Luisangel Acuña followed that with an infield single that was an even closer play at first base—but also resulted in him being safe.
The tying and go-ahead runs that the Mets scored weren’t the sexiest, but they worked. Juan Soto grounded out to bring home a run to tie the game, and Pete Alonso hit an infield single to short, but much like the ball that the Pirates had hit earlier, it hit a glove and rolled into shallow left field. Acuña took a chance and rounded third base, and he got in just barely ahead of the tag at home plate to give the Mets a 3-2 lead.
Dedniel Núñez threw a scoreless eighth—thanks in large part to Brandon Nimmo robbing what would have been a leadoff home run with a great catch just above the fence and in front of the railing in left field.
Carlos Mendoza turned to Huascar Brazobán to secure the save in the ninth, as several of his other relievers were unavailable. And Brazobán didn’t do anything wrong, but things got dicey quickly. A single up the middle started the inning, but Brazobán induced a ground ball to short that took a hop that Franciso Lindor should’ve easily turned into a double play. Instead, the ball escaped Lindor’s glove, and the Pirates had runners on first and second with nobody out.
After a sac bunt, the Mets brought the infield in, and Acuña—who moved to third base when after the Mets took Baty out of the game—botched a ground ball off the bat of Hayes. On top of allowing the tying run to score on the play, Acuña’s reaction to it was too late to record an out at first.
With runners on the corners and one out, the middle infield was playing half way, but Brazobán induced another ground ball. This one was hit to McNeil, who had played center field until the Taylor-for-Baty move, and he started a 4-6-3 double play to get the Mets out of the inning.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Lindor hit a ground ball up the middle that should’ve been an out, but he reached on an error instead. Soto singled to put runners on the corners, and Alonso hit a fly ball to deep-enough right field to easily plate Lindor.
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Box scores
Win Probability Added
Big Mets winners: Juan Soto, +25.9% WPA, Pete Alonso, +25.2% WPA
Big Mets loser: Huascar Brazobán, -21.8% WPA (TRAID WPA)
Mets pitchers: -5.0% WPA
Mets hitters: +55.0% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso singles, Luisangel Acuña scores in the seventh, +21.5% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ke’Bryan Hayes reaches first on an infield single to tie the game in the top of the ninth, -24.7% WPA
