The Mets edged the Brewers tonight, 3-2 in 10 innings, in a game that featured a lot of hits, not a lot of runs, and plenty of weirdness.
Kyle Harrison ran into some trouble in the first, retiring leadoff man Francisco Lindor but allowing singles to the next three batters — Bo Bichette, Carson Benge, and Luis Robert Jr. — to load the bases. Harrison, however, was able to escape without allowing any actual damage. He blew a fastball past Eric Wagaman for out number two, then got Jared Young to ground out to Joey Ortiz at third to end the inning. As we’ve come to expect from Ortiz, it was an impressive play that he made look routine, throwing the ball from almost behind second base and still getting the runner by a step and a half.
Neither offense had managed to score through three innings, but neither pitcher was exactly dominating. Harrison allowed five hits through three scoreless innings, while Mets starter Zac Thornton allowed three. Thornton gave up two more in the top of the fourth, and those two hits — a double by William Contreras and a single by Luis Lara that brought him home — gave the Brewers a 1-0 lead.
Harrison kept the Mets scoreless in the bottom of the fourth but finally cracked in the fifth, giving up a solo homer to Francisco Lindor that tied the game at one run apiece.
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The fifth was also where this game started to get weird. In the top half of the inning, shortstop Cooper Pratt singled on a pop fly that the Mets let drop in shallow right field. Pratt wasn’t exactly hustling and failed to make it to second, staying at first instead. Brewers manager Pat Murphy wasted no time pulling the rookie, immediately bringing utility infielder David Hamilton in to run for him. Take a look for yourself:
Here’s Murphy postgame:
“I love the kid and I believe in the kid immensely, but he’s got to be a player that (hustles). It’s not tolerated by anybody, and it sends a message to everybody else, too: ‘You better run!'”
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New York would score again just one inning later, taking the lead when Luis Robert Jr. hit another solo shot to start the sixth against Chad Patrick. Patrick’s been great this year for Milwaukee, and he rarely melts down, but this was one of his shakiest outings of the season. After the homer, Patrick gave up two more hits, including a double to Brett Baty, threw a wild pitch, and ultimately needed both a play at the plate and some help from Antonio Senzatela to escape with only one run allowed. Senzatela came in with runners on first and second and struck out AJ Ewing to end the inning.
Senzatela came back out for the seventh and kept the Mets scoreless, while Ashby got three straight groundouts in the eighth, but going into the top of the ninth, the Brewers still hadn’t scored again. Austin Warren came in to try and slam the door with no drama, but he couldn’t do it — allowing a double to Contreras, then walking Jake Bauers, who came in to pinch-hit for Andrew Vaughn.
Murphy then elected to go with another pinch-hitter, choosing Christian Yelich instead of Gary Sánchez against the right-handed Warren. Yeli delivered, lining a double of his own down the left-field line to tie the game at two.
Mets manager Andy Green left Warren in for one more batter, and Warren managed to slightly redeem himself by striking out Luis Lara for the first out. Green then opted for Jefry Yan (yes, this guy), who struck out Garrett Mitchell on a slider that was originally ruled a ball but successfully challenged by catcher Luis Torrens. Yan couldn’t put away Joey Ortiz, however, walking him to load the bases.
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Hamilton then hit a liner that looked like it would have enough to make it over the infield and safely into the outfield grass for an RBI single, but Lindor had other ideas:
Yan was characteristically nonchalant about it all:
With the game now tied at 2-2. Brewers closer Trevor Megill came in to try and send the game to extra innings. With two down, Lindor beat out an infield single, but Megill caught him sleeping at first to end the inning.
Chourio started the 10th inning by striking out on three pitches, all of which were out of the strike zone. Turang also struck out, and while Contreras kept the inning alive with a walk, Bauers flew out to right for the third out.
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Megill came back out for the 10th and got Bo Bichette for the first out, but intentionally walked Benge, then lost the handle and walked Robert Jr. unintentionally. With the bases loaded, Cristopher Morel hit a grounder to Hamilton that should have resulted in a force out at the plate, but Hamilton threw it away, allowing the winning run to score.
There was some irony in Hamilton making the error that ended the game, considering he was only on the field because Murphy had pulled Pratt. And while the error obviously doesn’t retroactively make Murphy’s decision right or wrong, I didn’t fully understand the decision in the first place, especially considering that a) Pratt started the month on the injured list with a hamstring injury and b) Benge, the Mets’ right fielder, has one of the best arms in baseball. It’s not a given Pratt would have made it to second even if he had hustled.
With that being said, when asked where the line is — when to pull someone to “send a message” and when not to — Murphy said you “have to listen and use your judgment and have the pulse of your team” in mind. For what it’s worth, he does seem to be pretty good at doing those things. He’ll certainly catch some backlash for pulling Pratt, but the players seem to buy in. He’s benched players like Ortiz and Sal Frelick for similar reasons before, and neither of those guys seem unhappy to be a Brewer.
Milwaukee will get another chance to bounce back tomorrow in the second game of this week’s three-game showdown with the Mets. First pitch is once again set for 6:10 p.m.
