PHOENIX — Dedniel Nuñez had a four-run lead to work with when he took the mound for his season debut. But it was obvious from the start that the right-handed reliever wasn’t up to the task.
The Mets held on to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-4 on Monday night at Chase Field in a game that largely came down to pitching decisions. In the end, the Mets made the right ones, especially in bringing in closer Edwin Diaz after trying to limit his usage in recent days. But Carlos Mendoza took some risks in going to his bullpen early and going to Nuñez in the top of the eighth.
The Mets were up 5-1 thanks to home runs by Pete Alonso and Francisco Lindor. So far this season, the Mets have had a short leash on most of their starters, but on Griffin Canning especially. It was no different in his seventh start of the season, with the Mets pulling the right-hander after he allowed a leadoff walk in the sixth inning.
“Still kind of leaves a sour taste in my mouth to walk that guy there in the sixth and get pulled,” Canning said. “But I’m going to keep working to get deeper in the games and keep going one pitch at a time.”
He had thrown only 82 pitches and allowed one run, but still, the Mets thought it best to go to the bullpen for Huascar Brazobán.
It was a good decision, as the right-hander got the first batter he faced, Josh Naylor, to ground into a double play. Brazobán got five outs and allowed no baserunners. Canning earned the win (5-1), striking out six and holding Arizona to only one earned run, a first-inning solo shot by Corbin Carroll.
But then the Mets went to Nuñez.
A fireballing, but late-blooming right-hander who emerged seemingly out of nowhere last season at the age of 27, Nuñez started the season in Triple-A to allow for more time to build up after an injury ended his season prematurely last summer. He was called up Sunday for a doubleheader in St. Louis, but didn’t play.
The Mets found him what they thought would be a soft spot with a 5-1 lead. Soft or not, he couldn’t throw strikes. Nuñez walked all three hitters he faced and threw a wild pitch.
“He just didn’t have it today,” said Mendoza. “Up four, he gets to 3-2 and he goes to the breaking ball. This is a guy that should throw his fastball.”
Nuñez walked Geraldo Perdomo on six pitches, then threw a wild pitch to Corbin Carroll and walked him on six pitches too. Ketel Marte was issued a six-pitch walk as well to load the bases.
“First time out, he’ll be alright,” Mendoza said. “But this was one of those nights where he just didn’t have it.”
Reed Garrett came in to face a bases-loaded jam. He struck out Pavin Smith before Naylor hit a line drive to shallow center field to score Perdomo. Eugenio Suarez then hit one off the wall in center field to score two more. It should have been a bases-clearing double, but a baserunning blunder by Naylor prevented another run from scoring.
Instead of rounding second, Naylor stutter-stepped to look back at Taylor, who had the ball in plenty of time and hit the cutoff man with precision. Naylor stopped at second, and the Diamondbacks couldn’t close the gap.
In the ninth, with Diaz on the mound for the save, an error by Alonso put Alek Thomas on base. But Francisco Alvarez threw a bullet to Lindor at second base to catch Thomas stealing. The throw was just in front of the bag, making it a difficult play for Lindor, but the shortstop let the momentum of the catch carry him right into the runner.
The Diamondbacks challenged the call, and it was upheld.
“I tried to keep my foot on the ball as long as I could to not be in the runner’s way,” Lindor said. “And then you literally just dive for it.”
Diaz retired the next two for the save (eight).
Alonso made it 2-1 with a home run off right-hander Ryne Nelson (1-1) in the fourth, a 425-foot bomb to left field for his ninth of the season. Lindor hit a three-run shot off Ryan Thompson to break the game open in the seventh.
The Mets (23-13) and Diamondbacks (18-17) aren’t exactly rivals, but they play one another tough. Last year, the Mets fought for a comeback win at Chase Field that ultimately gave them a win in the head-to-head season series. That one win proved crucial, breaking a tie at the end of the season for the wild card.
Last week, the Snakes came to Citi Field and took the series.
Every win counts between two tough NL contenders. The Mets made the better decisions and came out on top this time, and will now try to do it two more times this week.
“We’ve been here before,” Lindor said. “They can come back in a hurry.”
