The New York Mets have won the London Series finale thanks to late game heroics by a final score of 6-5.
Jose Quintana quickly found himself in trouble in the bottom half of the 1st inning. Kyle Schwarber hit a dribbler in front of Luis Torrens, but Torrens unable to handle the ball gives Schwarber a lead off infield single. JT Realmuto stepped up to the plate next and drew a walk to make it first and second for the Phillies with no outs. The always dangerous Bryce Harper would come to bat and Quintana gives up another walk to load the bases with still no outs. Quintana was able to lock in on Alec Bohm to get him to ground into a double play that scores Schwarber from third and immediately gets Nick Castellanos to ground out to first to limit the damage to only one run.
Both offenses would be kept quiet until the bottom of the 4th inning. Nick Castellanos gets a lucky roll down the third base line for an infield single. Edmundo Sosa came to the plate next and ripped an RBI double to the right center gap and Whit Merrifield followed with an RBI single to make it a 3-0 Phillies lead. Quintana would get some help defensively from a great play up against the right field wall from DJ Stewart to rob the Phillies of an extra base hit. Following Stewart’s excellent play Johan Rojas responds with a two out single and that would be all for Jose Quintana.
Jose Quintana Final Line:
3.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 K
For the second day in a row Mets starting pitching fails to make it past the 4th inning, as Danny Young makes his second appearance in the London Series. Young would walk Schwarber to load the bases, but gets Realmuto to strikeout swinging to keep it a 3-0 ballgame.
In the top of the 6th the Mets offense came back to life. Luis Torrens singles with one out and following a Lindor fly out Pete Alonso draws a two out walk, which concludes Taijuan Walker’s outing giving up only two hits while striking out six. Gregory Soto comes in for relief to face Brandon Nimmo and Nimmo ropes a double down the left field line that scores Torrens to make it a two run game. JD Martinez came up to bat following Nimmo’s double with two men in scoring position and Martinez hit a screaming line drive to the left center gap that scored two to tie the ballgame at 3-3.
The Mets threatened in the top half of the 7th starting with a Jeff McNeil lead off single in his first game back after a brief mental absence. Mark Vientos would come in to pinch hit for Brett Baty and draw a walk to put two men on with no outs. Matt Strahm would get Luis Torrens to pop up and Lindor (barely missing a home run) to fly out to left field. Jeff Hoffman would be called upon to get Pete Alonso out and Alonso would strike out swinging as the Mets could not bring around McNeil.
Dedniel Nunez came back out in the bottom of the 7th after a 1-2-3 6th inning, but gave up a lead off blast from David Dahl to give the Phillies a one run lead. Dahl came on to pinch hit for Johan Rojas, as both managers played games with pitcher/hitter match-ups the whole second half of the game. Jake Diekman would come in to relieve Nunez and retire the first two batters he faced, but a walk to Harper and two right handed bats due up Carlos Mendoza made another pitching change. Reed Garrett would walk Alec Bohm to put two men on with two outs, but would get Castellanos to strike out swinging to end the inning.
The top of the 9th showed the bottom of the Mets lineup sparking a rally. Tyrone Taylor led off the inning with a walk and a Jeff McNeil single sent Taylor to third. Mark Vientos would hit a soft ground ball down the third base line and Alec Bohm could not handle the bare handed play, as Taylor comes in to score to tie the game. Luis Torrens would follow the infield single with a walk to load the bases with Lindor up to bat. Lindor would strike out swinging, but Pete Alonso would be hit by a pitch that scores McNeil to take the lead. Phillies closer Jose Alvarado would follow the hit by pitch with a wild pitch that brought in Jose Iglesias to make it a two run lead for the Mets.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza would keep Reed Garrett in the game after a 1-2-3 8th inning to close the game out. After giving up a lead off single to the nine hitter Garrett would get Schwarber to pop out in foul territory for the first out of the inning. The very next batter Garrett would plunk Realmuto to put two runners on and with Bryce Harper due up and the Mets would make another pitching change bringing in Drew Smith. Harper then scorched a single to right field to load the bases with one out. Alec Bohm then worked a walk to bring in the runner from third to make it a one run game with only one out. With the bases still loaded Nick Castellanos comes to bat and Drew Smith induces a weak ground ball that Luis Torrens quickly pounces on to get the rare 2-3 double play to end the ball game.
An electric ballgame for all of Major League Baseball as the London Series comes to an end. The Mets now take the long but happy plane ride back home to get ready to face the Miami Marlins in a three game set.