The New York Mets continued to play the role of spoilers as they got a win in Texas against the Rangers.
The New York Mets opened their final road trip of the season successfully as they posted a 6-3 win over the Texas Rangers, with Francisco Alvarez leading a sixth-inning comeback that allowed the Mets to take control.
Things went back and forth initially, starting when both teams got on the board with a run in the third. Francisco Alvarez doubled off Ranger starter MacKenzie Gore, then moved to third on a groundout, and Juan Soto singled him home to make it 1-0.
The Rangers struck back on a walk to Danny Jansen off Mets starter Sean Manaea, with Jansen moving to second on a passed ball that was charged to catcher Luis Torrens. Josh Jung doubled home the run to make it 1-1.
Both teams also scored in the fourth. The Mets briefly took the lead when Carson Benge doubled and scored on a throwing error by old friend Brandon Nimmo with the ex-Met in right field, but the Rangers got two back in their half of the inning on run-scoring sacrifice flies from Elias Diaz and Wyatt Langford.
That made it 3-2, but the Mets charged back and took the lead in the sixth inning as their catching corps took over the offense. Alvarez doubled home two runs to start the scoring, and Torren got a third run in with a sacrifice fly. Nathan Eovaldi was the victim in relief, and Benge followed up with a run-scoring double in the seventh to make it 6-3.
Manaea was solid for the Mets as he went six innings and gave up three runs, two earned, to go with three hits, two walks and nine strikeouts.
But the real pitching heroes came out of the Mets bullpen. Nate Lavender and Dedniel Nunez both posted scoreless innings, and the ever-puzzling Kodai Senga got his eighth save of the season even though the Mets activated regular closer Devin Williams from the injured list before the game.
The win didn’t matter in the standings for the Mets, but it definitely hurt the Rangers. The Houston Astros picked up a 7-0 win over the Seattle Mariners, and Houston and Texas are now tied for the lead in the AL West at 78-79. The big mystery in that division is whether the winner will enter the postseason with a sub-.500 record, and the Mets get another chance to play spoiler in the second game of the series, which will feature Nolan McLean going up against Cody Bradford.
