It wasn’t pretty, but the Mets managed to win another game, topping the Twins in their series finale 10-8. Christian Scott was poor and the bullpen coughed a lead up late, but the Mets offense – largely dormant for the past three weeks – finally woke up and scored enough to cover for the poor night on the mound.
The aforementioned Scott got the start, making his 2026 debut and his first major league appearance since July of 2024. He struck out the first batter he faced, then managed to walk four of the next five batters, forcing in a run. It didn’t get much better in the second either; a walk, a balk, and a hit batter ended his night after only 1.1 innings.
Against Joe Ryan, one of the more underrated starters in the game, you’d likely expect that to be the end of it with the way things have been going for the Mets. But no, tonight was different. Brett Baty got Ryan for a three-run home run in the bottom of the first, his first homer of the year. A couple of doubles led to another run in the bottom of the second, and two more came home after a passed ball on a strikeout extended the inning. The Twins got one run back in the fourth, but the Mets immediately responded with a solo shot from Carson Benge, giving them a 7-2 lead after four.
Nothing is easy for the 2026 Mets though. Tristan Gray homered off of David Peterson out of the bullpen in the sixth, making it 7-3. Then, the real disaster in the eighth. Craig Kimbrel entered and had nothing, loading the bases with two outs. Huascar Brazoban, Carlos Mendoza’s security blanket, was brought in to put out the fire. Instead, he surrendered a game-tying grand slam to Ryan Jeffers. Yup.
If anything, it’s fitting that the Mets were burned for making what was clearly the wrong transaction prior to the game. Yes, Craig Kimbrel is a future hall of famer. Yes, he has a shiny ERA so far as a Met. No, he is not currently a better pitcher than Austin Warren, and that’s immediately obvious to anyone who can visually or statically evaluate a pitcher. Optioning the superior arm in deference to a veteran who doesn’t have it anymore is simply bad process.
Mercifully (for us at least), this game didn’t go like so many others in this streak. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, bringing Bo Bichette to the plate. Bichette entered the game with a .220/.255/.390 line and the worst strikeout rate since his rookie season. He finally came through though, launching a ball that missed being a grand slam of his own by inches and which gave the Mets a 10-7 lead.
But again, nothing is easy for the 2026 Mets. Huascar Brazoban ran back out to the mound for the ninth, only he wasn’t meant to; Devin Williams was supposed to come in. But because Brazoban crossed the foul line, he needed to face at least one batter. (This whole incident is a huge indictment of the manager, as if we’ve not had enough of those recently.)
That’s okay though, Brazoban got the first out and Williams entered, and even struck out the first batter he faced. Then he allowed a single. Then another single. Then a double. Suddenly, the tying run was in scoring position, and it sure felt like yet another disaster was pending. But no, Williams bounced back to strike out Trevor Larnach and finally close out the 10-8 win.
The Mets are now 9-16 and perhaps are back on track, though losing Francisco Lindor earlier in the day for an extended period is not going to help (Ronny Mauricio did not look good at short today). They’ll start a 3-game series with the Rockies tomorrow with Freddy Peralta squaring off against Michael Lorenzen.
SB Nation GameThreads
Amazin’ Avenue
Twinkie Town
Box scores
MLB.com
ESPN
Win Probability Added
FanGraphs
What’s WPA?
Big Mets winner: Bo Bichette, +44% WPA
Big Mets loser: Huascar Brazoban, -32% WPA
Mets pitchers: -29% WPA
Mets hitters: +79% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Bo Bichette hits a three-run double in the eighth, +34.2% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Ryan Jeffers hits a grand slam in the eighth, -36.5% WPA
Read the full article here
