I went to the SMets game this afternoon. It was a glorious day, low 80's, low humidity and sunny. The kind of day you dream about in January.
Chris Sale was on the mound for the WoSox for the second time this week. He also started Tuesday's game, when he pitched two innings. Today he was on a pitch count and was pulled after the first batter in the 5th inning. Tall drink of water with a whip-like arm who could release the ball at different levels. He's like DeGrom: heck of a pitcher but how do you get to Cooperstown with 119 wins in 13 years and you're 34? Anyway, the SMets could do nothing with him. I've now seen DeGrom. Scherzer and Sale pitch here.
Trevor Story was rehabing as well and hit a two-run homer in the first. The Sox got two more in the second, largely due to some of the 4 errors the SMets committed in the first three innings, (they also had another missed catch when the center fielder failed to call off the right fielders and a ball that dropped when the same center fielder did hustle to get to it. He and the left fielder also failed to back up the shortstop on an attempt at a 3-4-3 DP hat bounced off the shortstop's glove, clearing the bases when there no need to give up a run). In the third, Bobby Dalbec hit his 27th home run on the season on his 86th hit to make it 0-5.
Things changed when Sale left to a standing ovation, mostly form the Red Sox fans who were there, of which there were many. The game started to change at that point: Joe Suozzi hit a homer to put the SMets on the board. The Sox added another run to pad their lead to 6-1. Then, in the bottom of the 6th, the SMets loaded the bases and that apathetic center fielder, Brandon McIlwain, became a hero by hitting the ball over the left field fence to make it 5-6.
The Sox answered in the 7th when their catcher, Ronaldo Hernández, hit the light tower over the Beer deck in left. Maurico saw it and just turned around to see how far it would go. The Sox added a third run in the 8th and home team came into the bottom of the ninth down by 3 runs.
They got the first two guys on and then made two outs. Nick Meyer came to the plate. The Smets announcer, (I think it was Evan Stockton), said, "No need for a home run, just get a single to keep this game alive". Meyer, who couldn't hear him, belted the ball over the left field fence, just to the right of the deck. It wasn't as long as Hernández's shot but it counts for three times as many runs and tied the game. Mauricio came up, trying to hit the game winner but could not and we went into extra innings.
The Smets prevent the Sox's 'ghost runner' from even getting to third. The Chiefs bunted their to third and Tomas Nido came up. Nido, an infamous "good field, no hit" type in the majors, entered the game hitting an amazing .282. it had gotten progressively more amazing as he had gotten three hits and was now batting .305 laced a single to increase his batting average to .313 and win the game for the SMets