The New York Mets injury bug has become as contagious as COVID-19 as both Taijuan Walker, and Kevin Pillar left with injuries. Despite the losses, the Mets still managed to take game one over the Atlanta Braves by a score of 3-1. The win also allowed the Mets to keep their spot in first place in the NL East.
First big league hit and RBI for @Johneshwy! #LGM pic.twitter.com/slyaykMWtb
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 18, 2021
It seems every win will involve the Mets to search their active roster for help at this point in the season. Walker pitched three shutout innings before leaving with tightness in his left side. Sean Reid-Foley cleaned up the mess by delivering three perfect innings, making it seem like Walker never left the game. The strong outing set the table for Jeurys Familia, Trevor May, and Edwin Diaz to shut the door on the win.
Bench Mob
After the top three hitters of Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Dominic Smith, the bench mob dominated the rest of the lineup. They had plenty of trouble solving Max Fried, who was able to keep the Mets quiet for the first six innings of his start. In the seventh, Fried left the game with a hand cramp after Tomas Nido‘s leadoff double. It gave the Mets their opportunity to get on the board as they loaded the bases against Jacob Webb.
Webb had himself an inning he would like to forget. Webb allowed a double to James McCann to give the Mets a 1-0 lead, then ended up loading the bases for Kevin Pillar. Unfortunately, Pillar got an RBI in the worst way possible by taking a fastball from Webb right on the bridge of his nose. Blood immediately spewed from Pillar’s nose, and he was forced to leave the game. Khalil Lee replaced Pillar in the outfield and joined fellow rookie Johneshwy Fargas out there. Fargas ended up leaving his mark on the game by recording an RBI double as his first major league hit.
The win was another example of the Mets’ ability to play through adversity. They came off a sweep, lost their starting pitcher after three innings, watched Pillar get hit in the face but still managed to find a way to win. Throughout all of the injuries, they still have themselves in first place with a chance to get to 20 wins on Tuesday. Speaking of Tuesday, both teams will rely heavily on their bullpen. The Mets will have a bullpen game while the Braves turn to Tucker Davidson to make his second career start.