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You’ll be pleased to know that the Mets discovered their winning formula Wednesday night at Busch Stadium.
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You’ll be pleased to know that the Mets discovered their winning formula Wednesday night at Busch Stadium:
Sit their two most expensive purchases of the winter and don’t even bother utilizing a starting pitcher.
It worked well enough for the Mets, powered by the “Bench Mob,” to post a 7-2 victory over the Cardinals Wednesday night, Game 2 of a doubleheader at Busch Stadium, giving Luis Rojas’ gang a split after falling by a 4-1 count in a particularly ugly Game 1. Francisco Lindor’s shortstop replacement Jonathan Villar and James McCann’s catcher replacement Tomas Nido each contributed a home run and two RBIs, while opener Miguel Castro and bulk-guy Jordan Yamamoto accounted for Jacob deGrom’s injury absence to tame the Cardinals’ dangerous lineup.
“We call ourselves The Bench Mob and we’re always ready to go,” said Nido, crediting himself and reserve outfielder Kevin Pillar (who singled, doubled and drove home two runs) for the moniker.
A great story, a great handle and a fine job by Sandy Alderson and company putting this Mets bench together. Yet we all know that Hugh Quattlebaum’s and Kevin Howard’s missions remain challenging following their long first official day at the office. Game 2 delivered a much-needed win, ending a two-game losing streak — and a temporary path to success.
Lindor, the Mets’ $341 million man (plus the $22.3 million he’s earning this year), tallied his first “Did Not Play” for his new team after registering perhaps his worst overall game in a Mets uniform. Not only did he go 0-for-3 hitting leadoff in Game 1, failing to send the ball past the infield or sniff as hard as 85 miles per hour on his exit velocity, but he committed a costly error on defense, his bad throw to first on Nolan Arenado’s two-out, fifth-inning grounder opening the door for Mets-killer Paul DeJong to smoke a two-run insurance homer off tough-luck losing pitcher Marcus Stroman.
Hitless in his last 24 at-bats, the 27-year-old now owns a horrid .157/.276/.202 slash line in his first 24 games as a Met.
“I think it helps watching the game from the side,” the ever-optimistic Rojas said. “[Lindor] will get back in there [Thursday], and we’ll see if he gets going.”
McCann, whom the Mets paid a relatively paltry $40.6 million, matched Lindor’s 0-for-3 in Game 1 and sunk his slash line to .206/.270/.250. Yeesh.
Good thing they put this reserve corps together. Villar never seemed more worth his $3.55 million than he did in Game 2, his solo homer in the fourth padding the Mets’ lead to 4-0, his fifth-inning single driving home an additional run and his defense at shortstop just fine.
“I feel happy. I feel good,” Villar said. “I’ll be ready for any situation they [give] to me. Wherever they need me to play, I’ll be there.”
Nido, an Alderson draft pick (eighth round) from 2012, slammed a two-run homer in the second inning to give his club a 3-0 margin. And Yamamoto, whom the Mets acquired from Miami in a February trade, excelled in his Mets debut, picking up the win two days after he had been scheduled to start for Triple-A Syracuse until deGrom’s injury changed the plan.
“Definitely a crazy ride,” Yamamoto said. “This is a little bit better than Triple-A.”
It’ll get worse if Game 1, Stroman’s strong effort going to waste, becomes the norm rather than Game 2. There’ll be plenty of blame to share if the Mets don’t reduce their waste. If Lindor and McCann don’t start earning more of their money. If Quattlebaum and Howard can’t unlock this team’s talented offense any better than the dismissed Chili Davis and Tom Slater.
We all know the winning formula for this team, and it doesn’t feature Villar or Nido as the primary ingredients. Which makes moments like Game 2 all the more charming — and no more sustainable.
This story originally appeared on: NyPost - Author:Ken Davidoff
