Mark Vientos shines, Jose Quintana struggles as Mets come back for walk-off win over Marlins
The Mets hosted the Miami Marlins in split-squad action on Sunday afternoon, coming away with a walk-off 7-6 victory.
Here are a few key takeaways...
- Manager Carlos Mendoza said before the game that he expected Jose Quintana to go about five innings or 75 pitches on Sunday afternoon, but the lefty had a rocky outing.
The second inning was a struggle for Quintana. The Marlins had four hits in the inning, including a pop-up that Francisco Lindor lost in the sun, and pushed across two runs. Quintana had to throw 21 pitches in the inning, giving him an early high count of 34 through two frames.
Quintana allowed a solo homer to Dane Myers in the third and another hard-hit RBI double a few batters later, and his day ended a bit earlier than expected when he was pulled after 4.1 innings. Quintana allowed six runs (four earned) on eight hits while striking out three and walking one.
- The Mets are obviously hopeful that Mark VIentos can be a force against lefties this season, and he was exactly that in the bottom of the second, crushing a sun-aided double to deep center field off of lefty Luis Palacios. Starling Marte was out by a considerable amount trying to score, but Vientos moved up to third on the throw and scored on a Ji Man Choi single to right.
And he wasn't done there.
In the bottom of the sixth, Vientos hit an absolute bomb of a three-run homer off another lefty, Devin Smeltzer. The no-doubter got the Mets back in the game, but it was also a tantalizing look at his raw power. A bounce-back game for Vientos after he struck out four times on Saturday.
- Not to be outdone, Harrison Bader had himself a day at the plate. After doubling earlier in the afternoon, Bader hit a line-drive rocket for a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, tying the game at 6-6.
- Edwin Diaz entered the game to pitch the top of the seventh inning, and while it wasn't necessarily the strike-out-the-side performance he had in his spring debut, he was still just as effective.
Diaz retired the side in order, needing just 10 pitches to record a flyout and two groundouts.
- With the game tied in the bottom of the ninth, Jose Iglesias had no intentions of the game ending in a tie. The veteran infielder crushed an opposite-field homer, giving the Mets a 7-6 win.
Highlights
Upcoming Schedule
The Mets are off on Monday and will host the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night at 6:10 p.m. on SNY.
The Mets have not announced their pitching plans.
