Joey Lucchesi pitched seven masterful innings in his first outing since 2021 as the Mets beat the Giants, 7-0, on Friday night.
Here are the takeaways…
– Lucchesi had a bit of a rough first inning. After giving up a one-out double to Wilmer Flores, he walked Darin Ruf. But J.D. Davis grounded into a double play to get Lucchesi out of the inning.
Lucchesi would use his signature “churve” (changeup-curve) to get double plays to get out of trouble and keep his pitch count down. In fact, he would become the first Mets starter this season to pitch into the seventh inning.
In his final inning, Lucchesi struck out the side. His final line was: 7 IP, four hits, two walks and nine strikeouts.
– The Mets got on the board in the second inning. Daniel Vogelbach led off the inning with a single but was erased after a Mark Canha fielder’s choice. Brett Baty pulled a single through the hole and then Luis Guillorme went the other way to drive in Canha and put the Mets up 1-0.
Another Mets run would score in a weird fashion. After Guillorme led off the fifth with a single, Nimmo bunted him over. After a Francisco Lindor strikeout, Jeff McNeil hit a dribbler in front of the plate, but Giants catcher Joey Bart hit McNeil in the back on the throw allowing Guillorme to score. Pete Alonso followed with a no-doubt homer to dead center to increase the Mets’ lead to 4-0.
That was Alonso’s 10th home run of the season, which leads the majors and he now has the Mets record for most home runs before the start of May. He would drive in two more runs on a single with the bases loaded in the ninth inning and finished 2-for-5 but struck out three times.
– Brandon Nimmo continued to get hits. He picked up a lead-off single in the first inning, the third straight game he’s started with a hit. He would add a single in the ninth inning and finished 2-for-4.
Vogelbach would pick up an RBI single in the ninth to extend New York’s lead to 7-0. He would finish 2-for-4 with a walk.
– Brooks Raley shut down the Giants in the eighth and Tommy Hunter, making his return to the team after an IL stint, pitched a clean ninth inning to seal a Mets win.
Highlights
What’s next
The Mets continue their four-game series against the Giants on Saturday at 4:05 p.m.
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