This was an excellent old school pitching duel, however that’s nothing new for Taijuan Walker.
A few weeks after dueling in opposition to Astros right-hander Justin Verlander, Walker went toe-to-toe with top-of-the-line beginning pitchers within the recreation proper now in Sandy Alcantara.
Walker, in one other excellent efficiency, dazzled throughout seven shutout innings within the Mets’ 2-0 loss to the Marlins in further innings on Sunday at Citi Field. The Mets right-hander has constructed a robust case for his second-consecutive All-Star look. Walker’s season ERA dropped to 2.63 after his seven strikeouts and solely three hits allowed in a 99-pitch affair in opposition to the Fish.
“I just have confidence in all my pitches right now,” Walker stated.
On the opposite facet, Alcantara restricted the Mets to 6 hits – and Luis Guillorme had three of them. Guillorme, batting eighth and enjoying second base, collected a single in all three at-bats in opposition to Alcantara, who owns a Jacob deGrom-like 1.73 ERA following his shutout outing in opposition to the Mets. Guillorme and Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto are the one two gamers in MLB to report three-hit video games in opposition to Alcantara to date this season.
“I faced [Alcantara] in Miami and I even faced Verlander too,” Walker stated. “Those are fun starts. Those are fun games. You want to go out there and be just a little bit better.”
The Marlins lastly broke the scoreless recreation within the tenth inning on an error by the Mets catcher. Billy Hamilton, the free runner on second, stole third base and Tomas Nido airmailed the throw into left area. Hamilton simply scored the go-ahead run on Nido’s error. Tommy Hunter, pitching the highest of the tenth, allowed yet another run on three hits earlier than the inning was over.
The Mets (53-33) didn’t make up the two-run distinction within the backside of the tenth. Brandon Nimmo happened an inch shy of tying the sport on a two-run residence run to proper area, however the ball died simply in entrance of the fence for an out. The Mets dropped two out of 4 to their division rivals to separate the collection at Citi Field. The Amazin’s will open a important three-game collection in opposition to the Braves behind Max Scherzer on Monday.
“In order to compete with a starter like that, you gotta get a good start from your starter,” Buck Showalter stated. “We certainly did. We matched him. Tai has been solid for us.”
Following the dominating performances from each beginning pitchers, Showalter went to Edwin Diaz in a scoreless ninth inning.
Diaz, making his third consecutive reduction look in a non-save scenario, was one once more otherworldly. The Mets nearer made going through the highest of Miami’s order look simple, retiring the facet one simply seven pitches together with two strikeouts. Diaz has struck out 70 of the 139 batters he’s confronted – a jaw-dropping price of greater than half the batters he’s confronted this season. He additionally has a 1.78 ERA in 36 reduction appearances.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com