The Mets looked to win their fourth game in a row on Wednesday night in Arizona when they took on the Diamondbacks in the second game of their three-game series at Chase Field. The game was a pitching duel between Kodai Senga and Tommy Henry, and Senga was on his way to a tough-luck loss after eight dominant innings. However, with the Mets down to their last out in the ninth inning, Francisco Álvarez hit his 15th home run of the season to tie the game, and Mark Canha hit an RBI triple to give the Mets an incredible come-from-behind 2-1 win.
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The Mets were on their way to a 1-0 loss after Andrew Chafin made quick work of the first two Mets he faced in the ninth. When Álvarez took a borderline called strike two that he visibly did not agree with, it certainly felt like it would be another gut-wrenching loss for the Mets. However, in an epic seven-pitch at-bat, Álvarez had the final laugh over Chafin, and took an outside sinker deep over the right field fence to tie the game at 1-1.
Brett Baty followed the home run with a single, setting the stage for Canha. The former Athletic laced a 405-foot triple over the head of Alek Thomas, driving in Baty to give the Mets a 2-1 lead. It was Canha’s first triple of 2023 and the 13th triple of the season for the Mets.
OH WOW!!!!!!
MARK CANHA WITH A GO-AHEAD TRIPLE IN THE 9TH! pic.twitter.com/uA4Wtt5Cie
— SNY (@SNYtv) July 6, 2023
Meanwhile, Senga was brilliant on Wednesday night against the first-place Diamondbacks, going eight innings and allowing just one run in the win. Senga, who is only ahead of Blake Snell in the percentage of pitches thrown for strikes, pounded the strike zone against Arizona. Of his 12 strikeouts, five of them were looking. He threw 72 strikes in his 107 pitches and had the Diamondbacks guessing at the plate all night by pitching backward. He attacked early with his off-speed pitches and froze hitters with two-strike fastballs.
The only run Senga allowed was from a solo home run off the bat of Christian Walker in the seventh inning. The 30-year-old was overpowering in his eight innings, and allowed just four hits, with the other three being singles that were not particularly well hit. He struck out 12 batters and allowed just one walk.
While Senga was cruising on the mound, the Mets’ bats were not able to get anything going against Henry. The Mets were held to just two hits by the left-hander, singles by Starling Marte and Tommy Pham.
The Mets had opportunities to open the scoring in the fourth and fifth innings, but were unable to get the big hit against the Diamondbacks’ left-hander Henry. With Pham on second base, the Diamondbacks intentionally walked Marte to bring up the struggling Jeff McNeil. After a double steal by the Mets’ corner outfielders, McNeil grounded out to leave both runners on base. In the next inning, Pham came up with two runners on but lined out to end the inning.
Despite looking lifeless at the plate until they were down to their last out, the Mets were able to get the ball to David Robertson looking for his 13th save of the season. The Mets’ closer retired the side in order, including a fortunate bounce on a come-backer by Corbin Carroll leading to a 1-3 putout for the second out of the inning.
The Mets improved to 40-46 after their Wednesday win over the Diamondbacks. New York won their second consecutive series, a feat they haven’t accomplished since May 21, when they swept the Guardians after winning a series against the Rays.
It took the Mets 26 outs to get on the board, but Senga’s masterpiece made the comeback win possible. The gem was the best outing of Senga’s rookie season as he pitched eight innings for the first time in his MLB career and did an excellent job of mixing his pitches. The 12 strikeouts matched the career-high that he set on May 17 against the Rays.
The Mets will go for the sweep and their fifth win in a row on Thursday night when they wrap up their three-game series with the Diamondbacks at 9:40 p.m. ET. Carlos Carrasco (2-3, 5.94 ERA) will start for the Mets against Ryne Nelson (5-4, 4.67 ERA) for Arizona.
Carrasco threw five innings in his last start against the Giants, holding San Francisco to just two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out six. Like most Mets, he struggled in the month of June, pitching to an ERA of 6.23 over five starts and failing to go more than five innings in any start.
The game will be broadcast on SNY, and the radio call will be on WCBS 880.
The post Álvarez’s Homer Leads Mets Comeback 2-1 Win Over D’Backs first appeared on Metsmerized Online.
