Mets' offense explodes, Jonah Tong solid in 19-9 win over Marlins

With an early offensive barrage that helped make life easy for Jonah Tong, the Mets jumped out to a 12-0 lead after two innings and coasted to a 19-9 win over the Miami Marlins at Citi Field on Friday night.

The 19 runs are the most the Mets have ever scored in a home game, though the final six runs were scored against a position-player doing the pitching, infielder Javier Sanoja. Catcher Luis Torrens pitched the ninth for the Mets, allowing four runs before being relieved by Ryne Stanek.  

In his major league debut, the 22-year-old Tong pitched a solid five innings to earn the win while displaying the talent that helped him zoom through the minors and reach the big leagues ahead of schedule.

Here are the top takeaways…

— Tong wasn’t quite as dazzling as Nolan McLean, as major league debuts go, but he showed plenty of promise in going five innings, allowing only one earned run, though four in all due to back-to-back errors by Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso on rather routine plays.

The 22-year-old Tong struck out six Marlins’ hitters, while walking none, and demonstrated an impressive mix of pitches, changing speeds effectively off his 95-96 mph fastball with a change-up and curve ball. He threw 97 pitches as the Marlins battled him into deep counts, in addition to the extra pitches he needed after the errors.

Tong also had a long time to sit in both the first and second innings, as the Mets scored 12 runs against three different pitchers.

All in all, he wasn’t quite the strikeout monster he had been in the minors, leading all of minor league pitchers in Ks, but that’s likely because major league hitters aren’t as likely to chase his high fastball. But he clearly has the weapons to be a successful starter in the bigs. It’s just a matter of whether the Mets decide to keep him in the rotation right now, as he was being used in this spot as a sixth starter to give the others in the rotation an extra day of rest.

— The Mets blew the game open early, scoring five runs in the first inning and seven in the second against three different Marlins’ pitchers.

Juan Soto got the party started with a towering, two-run home run after Lindor led off with a single and a stolen base.

By the time Brandon Nimmo hit a three-run home run to right field, the Mets had a 5-0 lead and had yet to make an out against Marlins’ starter Eury Perez.

The Marlins pulled the 22-year-old Perez in the first after 39 pitches, then the Mets beat up on Tyler Zuber for seven more runs in the second inning, all with two outs.

The highlights included a two-run, opposite-field home run by Alonso, a two-run double by Tyrone Taylor, and a two-run double by Lindor.

— With their 12-run barrage over two innings, the Mets continued their hot hitting with runners in scoring position as well.

Remember when the RISP blues were the theme of their offensive season for so long? They’ve turned that around in a huge way: after going 5-for-6 in those situations in the first two innings Friday night, the Mets are hitting .379 w/RISP in August, the highest such average in the majors.

—  With his two-run home run in the second inning, Alonso raised his RBI total to 110, remaining second in the majors behind Kyle Schwarber’s 119.

— Struggling late-inning reliever Ryan Helsley was used in a low-leverage spot, pitching the sixth with a 12-4 lead. Though he gave up a leadoff double into the left-field corner by Connor Norby, Helsley got through the inning without allowing a run, getting two ground balls and a fly out.

Game MVP: Mets Offense

The early ambush of Eury Perez turned Citi Field into a party after just two innings as the Mets’ hitters gave rookie starter Jonah Tong a huge cushion in his debut.

Soto, Alonso, Nimmo, Mark Vientos and Torrens supplied the power with a total of six home runs, including two from Nimmo.

Highlights

Upcoming schedule

The Mets and Marlins continue the four-game set on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. on PIX11.

David Peterson (8-5, 3.18 ERA) will take the mound opposed by Edward Cabrera (7-7, 3.32 ERA).

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