Final Score: Mets 7, D-Backs 5

The Mets finally won a game against Arizona, and it’s league worst pitching staff. Apparently it’s so easy to score runs against the D-Backs even Thor can do it. Noah Syndergaard launched a fifth inning two-run homer and those two runs ultimately proved to be crucial.

Cubano: In the fourth inning, Yasmany Tomas launched a solo homer off of Thor to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Obviously the international scouting game isn’t an exact science, but I’ve been pretty good at picking the successful Cubanos from my couch. It only took Tomas one season to breakout in the power department. We should have signed the 25 year old stud.

The Inning With The Thor Bomb: In the fifth inning, the Mets broke out against starter Braden Shipley. It was really a straight up hit parade. T.J. Rivera singled and Alejandro De Aza doubled to start the inning. Then Rene Rivera tied the game with a sac fly, and Thor gave the Mets a 3-1 lead with his two-run blast. Then Jose Reyes tripled and scored on a Curtis Granderson sac fly to make it 4-1. Reyes also seemingly winced when he scored and limped back to the dugout. He stayed in the game and was supposedly fine, but man he is so goddamn brittle.

The Other Big Inning: In the sixth inning, Kelly Johnson hit a solo homer to make it 6-1. Kelly was starting because Neil Walker had pregame back spasms which has become the classic Mets injury at this point. Then it was a repeat of the 5th inning. T.J. Rivera singled and thanks to a fielding error by Michael Bourn in center field, he was able to advance to second base. Then De Aza doubled and Rivera scored making it 6-1 Mets. And once again an error by an outfielder (Tomas) let De Aza head to third base. Then with two outs, Jose Reyes singled to drive in De Aza and make it 7-1 Mets.

Thor Bailout: Noah really had another classic bone spur Syndergaard outing. He had a high pitch count, and he only managed to pitch 5.2 innings. He gave up 4 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits and 2 walks. He did manage to strike out 8. He worked out of a jam with men on base in the first, third, and fifth inning. He also let up another 4 stolen bases (which continues to be an absurd flaw that he hasn’t eliminated in any way). In the 6th inning things fell apart for Thor in large part due to T.J. Rivera’s fielding problems.

T.J. Giveth and Taketh: Rivera had 4 hits in last night’s game so he’s going to remain in the lineup. But he made two errors in the 6th. Jake Lamb reached on a throwing error to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then with one out Welington Castillo singled and Mitch Haniger hit a bases clearing triple that made it 7-3 Mets. Then with two outs, pinch hitter Philip Gosselin reached on a throwing error by Rivera and another run scored to make it 7-4. Sloppy ass defensive work by Rivera, but that’s nothing new for this ball club. In the 7th inning, the D-Backs added a 5th run off of Hansel Robles who had to be bailed out by Addison Reed. But other than that the Mets pen held the lead.

Let’s Leave The Moon: Last night Michael Conforto had 4 hits in Vegas and Brandon Nimmo hit a homer. The Mets are supposedly looking at moving the Triple-A team to Rochester in the offseason if it’s possible. We really need to leave Vegas. The numbers posted there are so meaningless.

Today: Jon Niese pitches tonight. Remember earlier this year when Niese dominated on the mound for the Pirates against the Mets? You think he’s going to pitch like that tonight? Nope. But I’m still hoping for two in a row, which is as close to tic-tac-toe as the Mets can get.