Luis Torrens shines, Mets blast three home runs in 6-2 win over Guardians

The Mets racked up nine hits, including three home runs, to beat the Cleveland Guardians, 6-2, in their first game after the trade deadline.

Here are the takeaways…

— The Mets took advantage of a two-out throwing error that extended their second inning, as Luis Torrens blasted a three-run home run against LHP Joey Cantillo to take an early 3-0 lead.

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Bo Bichette tacked on another run in the third inning with a solo home run to deep left field, pushing the lead to 4-0. The homer, No. 11 for Bichette, had an exit velocity of 107.5 mph and traveled 422 feet.

— Torrens’ big night continued in the fifth inning, driving in his fourth run of the game with a single up the middle to make it 5-1. He finished the night 3-for-3 with a walk and four RBI.

— Sean Manaea got the start and kept the Guardians’ bats relatively quiet, allowing two runs on seven hits over 6.0 IP with seven strikeouts and five walks.

Manaea allowed the first three batters to reach base (HBP-single-walk) before getting back-to-back strikeouts and a forceout to escape the early jam. He avoided damage the next two frames, but the Guardians got to him in the fourth inning. Jo Adell hit a leadoff double, Chase DeLauter walked, and Angel Martínez doubled off the wall in LF to cut the lead to 4-1.

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The lefty let up a two-out RBI single to Travis Bazzana in the fifth, but struck out Gabriel Arias to leave two Guardians stranded and keep the score at 5-2. Manaea stayed in to pitch the sixth inning and got through with a strikeout and 4-3 double-play on a soft liner. He finished after 100 pitches even.

— Manaea got some help from RF Carson Benge in the second inning, as the rookie caught Brayan Rocchio trying to go first-to-third on Steven Kwan‘s single with a laser throw for the third out. It’s his fifth outfield assist of the year.

Benge smashed the team’s third home run of the night in the top of the eighth, a 451-foot homer over the wall in left-center to extend the lead to 6-2.

— Daniel Duarte entered to pitch the seventh and ran into immediate trouble. Francisco Lindor‘s high throw allowed Adell to reach first safely (although a review may have flipped the call) and a walk to DeLauter brought the game-tying run to the plate with no outs. Duarte got two lineouts and interim manager Andy Green turned to LHP Nate Lavender to get the third out in his MLB debut, striking out Bazzana looking. Lavender stayed in and tossed a 1-2-3 eighth inning, forcing a groundball double play.

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— Making his new bullpen role debut, Kodai Senga came in to get the final three outs in the ninth inning. He walked Adell with one out, but got the job done with two flyouts.

Game MVP: Luis Torrens

Torrens’ four RBI were his most in a game this season and matched his entire July total.

(He nearly lost this honor for getting thrown out trying to tag up to second base in the top of the ninth inning.)

Highlights