BOSTON — The Mets‘ first losing streak of the season sure didn’t last long.
Whatever was bottling up the Mets’ offense over the last week finally dissipated in a 5-1 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night at Fenway Park. They ended a streak of 16 scoreless innings in the second and ended their losing streak at three games by salvaging the series.
It wasn’t the Mets’ heavy hitters that got the job done. Instead, it was a backup catcher who drove in the first run of the game and the bottom of the order that produced a three-run rally in the seventh inning.
Catcher Luis Torrens went 2-for-3 with an RBI double, a run scored and a walk, Luisangel Acuña reached on two infield singles and Brett Baty, the No. 9 hitter, had the clutch hit with a two-run single off left-hander Brennan Bernardino.
Typically, the Mets would pinch-hit for Baty in the situation he found himself in during the top of the seventh. Tied at 1-1, right-hander Liam Hendricks loaded the bases, giving up three straight singles to start the inning, forcing the Red Sox (25-26) to go to their beleaguered bullpen.
Starting pitcher Walker Buehler had been ejected in the third inning one night prior, and Boston practically emptied the ‘pen, using six relievers to cover the rest of the game, including Bernardino, who threw 23 pitches over 1 2/3 innings.
Manager Carlos Mendoza could have used one of his two left-handed bench bats in that spot. Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil had both been given the night off, and Nimmo has been used in similar situations when coming off the bench in the past. But the manager stuck with Baty, and it proved to be the right decision when the third baseman drilled a single to the left field corner to score two runs and put the Mets up 3-1.
The top of the order continued to put pressure on Bernardino. The Mets loaded the bases and with one out, Juan Soto drove one to left-center field. It was caught for an out, but it was deep enough for the speedy Acuña to score easily from third.
Pete Alonso ended the inning to strand two with a ground-ball right back to Bernardino. The top of the order might be chasing pitches, but the bottom is doing what it can to help the Mets get past this difficult stretch of games.
Garrett Crochet dueled Tylor Megill until the big right-hander ran out of gas in the fifth inning. They each gave up one run and walked one hitter, while Megill struck out 10 hitters to match his career-high mark and Crochet struck out half as many hitters, but got two more outs to pitch into the sixth inning.
Megill cruised through the first four innings until hitting a wall in the fourth, giving up a run and loading the bases. The Mets went to right-hander Huascar Brazobán with two outs, and he battled Alex Bregman for nine pitches before finally striking him out to end the inning and keep the game tied.
Brazobán pitched 2 1/3 innings for a hard-earned win (3-0), and Edwin Diaz pitched the ninth.
When Francisco Lindor made it 5-1 with a home run over the Green Monster in the top of the ninth, it was as if the struggles from the last few weeks had never existed. It was the most runs scored by the Mets (30-20) in 10 days, and the first home run for them in eight days.
This offensive breakthrough couldn’t come at a better time: The Los Angeles Dodgers are up next, visiting the Mets for the first time since the World Series champs eliminated the Amazin’s in the 2024 NLCS.
