Jameson Taillon hadn’t given up a home run to a left-handed hitter all season until he came to Citi Field on Friday night and proceeded to give one up to the first hitter he faced.
The Mets hit four home runs in a 7-2 series-opening win over the Chicago Cubs. The switch-hitting Francisco Lindor (3-for-5, RBI) hit one from the left side, and three of the four lefties in the lineup took the former Yankees right-hander deep as well. Brett Baty and Jeff McNeil both homered in the second inning, and Juan Soto (2-for-4, two RBI) hit a massive shot to right-center for his fifth in the last eight days and his eighth of the season.
It’s been a tough start to the month for the Mets (25-14), who have gone 8-7 after a red-hot April, but they continue to dominate at home. The Cubs (22-17) came in with the third-best record in the National League, the second-best run-differential and a pitcher who doesn’t give up much to lefties.
And yet manager Carlos Mendoza, Taillon’s bench coach in the Bronx, made sure his left-handed bats got into the lineup.
In the bottom of the first, Lindor teed off on a fastball and put it into the right field seats to give right-hander Clay Holmes a 1-0 lead to work with. Baty and McNeil then made it 3-0 in the second, and the Mets capitalized on a defensive blunder by Dansby Swanson to make it 5-0 in the bottom of the third.
With one out, Taillon walked Brandon Nimmo and gave up a single to Francisco Alvarez. Baty then chopped one to the left side, hitting it right in between converging infielders, reaching base safely before Swanson, the shortstop, could make a play.
With the bases loaded and one out, Luisangel Acuña hit a double-play ball to Swanson, who stepped on second and threw to first, throwing the ball well over the head of Michael Busch. Nimmo scored and third base coach Mike Sarbaugh waved around Alvarez.
Kyle Tucker hit a leadoff home run off Holmes in the top of the fourth to make it 5-1. But as if to outdo one of the best right fielders in baseball, Soto — himself one of the best right fielders in baseball — hit one of the more impressive home runs you’ll see in the bottom of the inning.
Soto battled Taillon for seven pitches, getting ahead 2-0 before the pitcher evened the count at 2-2. He took a sweeper low and inside for ball three to work the count full.
He turned on the seventh pitch, an inside fastball, and drove it out nearly all the way to the Shea Bridge, 434 feet to the right-center stands.
Holmes cruised with a large lead, going six innings, allowing three hits, walking three and striking out five. The only run was the home run by Tucker, the first homer given up by Holmes this season. After eight starts, Holmes is 5-1 with a 2.74 ERA.
Clearly, the conversion project has been successful.
Taillon (2-2) lasted only four innings, his shortest start yet. Coming off a stretch of four straight starts of giving up two or fewer runs, the Mets took six runs off of him, tying his season high, on nine hits. Taillon walked one and struck out four.
Throughout his career, Taillon’s splits have been mostly even against right- and left-handed hitters, but he’s been much better against left-handed hitters this season. Coming into Friday, lefties were hitting .161 off Taillon and had amassed an OPS of only .444 while striking out 18 times.
Stacking the lineup with lefties and still finding a way to get Acuña in there for his speed as well proved effective, and it shows how the Mets can beat teams in different ways.
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