Carlos Mendoza continues to mix and match with the Mets’ lineup.
Brandon Nimmo has been red-hot since being bumped to the leadoff spot, but facing Yankees left-hander Carlos Rodon on Saturday afternoon, the skipper decided to turn back to Starling Marte.
Mendy explained his thought-process pregame.
“This is a guy that has been in this league for a very long time,” he said. “He’s been in that position before facing a left-hander today, we just felt like it was a pretty good day to put him back up top there.”
Well, Marte immediately made the decision pay off.
Leading off the bottom of the first, the veteran dropped a double into the left-center gap, and after a sacrifice bunt and two walks he was able to trot home on Brandon Nimmo’s second grand slam in the last four days.
The double was the 1,600th hit of Marte’s career.
An inning later he would strike again — this time taking advantage of a Jazz Chisholm Jr. throwing error on what should’ve been a routine groundout, lining an RBI single over left fielder Jasson Dominguez’s head.
Marte was robbed of an infield hit on a great play by Oswald Peraza in the fifth before being lifted for a pinch hitter a few innings later — he finished the day 2-for-3 with a single, double, and his 20th RBI of the season.
In a small sample size, he’s now hitting an even .500 with a 1.483 OPS out of the leadoff spot.
“I like the combination of him and [Francisco] Lindor,” Mendoza emphasized. “This is a guy that can impact the baseball, he puts the ball in play, he can put pressure on the defense with the way he runs the bases — there’s a lot to like with him in that spot and I’m glad it paid off today.”
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