Last October, it was extremely fun to watch second baseman Daniel Murphy’s historic home run frenzy as the Mets romped to the World Series. He departed in the offseason to the Nationals, but replacement Neil Walker has kicked off the 2016 campaign with a tremendous power surge of his own. Walker’s latest blast was his eighth in just 18 games, and it led the Mets to a 5-3 victory over the visiting Cincinnati Reds.
The pitching matchup of Noah Syndergaard against nominal Reds ace Raisel Iglesias turned out to be closer than expected. While neither man was in prime form, they kept the game close and limited damage. The Mets were the first to get on the board, as Iglesias struck out the first two batters in the game, but missed his spot on a pitch to Michael Conforto. The 23-year-old jumped on it and crushed a solo homer to right-center field to make it 1-0.
Syndergaard racked up the strikeouts through the first six innings and mostly kept Cincinnati off the board. The only time he failed early on was a complete byproduct of the fastest man in baseball. Billy Hamilton began the third with a drag bunt single between the pitcher’s mound and first base, and then stole both second and third. Zack Cozart then lifted a long fly ball to center, easily deep enough for Hamilton to score and tie the game.
The Mets wasted no time striking back after Hamilton’s run. Conforto led off the bottom of the third by lacing a single to left-center field. Lucas Duda then squared up another hanger from Iglesias, launching it for a two-run homer that put the Mets in front. Iglesias needed 102 pitches just to get through five innings, but to his credit, he kept the Mets to just those three runs, despite eight hits and two walks.
At the start of the seventh, Syndergaard had only allowed the Reds the one Hamilton run on five hits, walking none, and striking out nine batters. Throughout the game though, the Reds ran rampant on Syndergaard, stealing five bases on him and Travis d’Arnaud. So when Tyler Holt singled with one out in the seventh, Syndergaard tried to keep the runner close. Unfortunately, a pickoff attempt went wild, moving Holt to second on Syndergaard’s error. He got Hamilton to line out, but Cozart then smacked a single to left-center, pushing the margin to one and driving Syndergaard from the game. Later in the frame, Joey Votto ignored his early season slump to smoke a game-tying single off Antonio Bastardo, adding to the tension at Citi Field.
Logan Verrett entered to squelch the threat by striking out Ivan De Jesus. That set the stage for a rally in the home half of the seventh. Conforto was again the sparkplug, working a leadoff walk against righty J.C. Ramirez. He fanned one lefty in Duda but had to face another when the switch-hitting Walker stepped up to the plate from the left side. The second baseman saw a poor slider from Ramirez and destroyed it.
#MetsWIN! 5-3 #Mets @NeilWalker18 crushes a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 7th to seal this one. #LoveTheMetshttps://t.co/F9od6tTnSG
— New York Mets (@Mets) April 26, 2016
Walker’s two-run homer soared 400 feet to right field, putting the Mets on top, 5-3. Perhaps the most exciting part of Walker’s start is that he is demonstrating power unlike he ever truly displayed with the Pirates. Consider how long it took him every year to reach eight homers:
2010: 336 PA (August 31)
2011: 242 PA (June 5)
2012: 377 PA (July 20)
2013: 406 PA (August 20)
2014: 163 PA (May 13)
2015: 374 PA (July 24)
2016: 75 PA (April 25)
Even in Walker’s previous career year of 2014 that saw him hit 23 homers and win a Silver Slugger, it took him over twice as many plate appearances to reach eight roundtrippers. His Bondsian home run rate won’t continue, but Edgardo Alfonzo’s Mets record for homers by a second baseman (27 in 1999) could certainly be within reach at his 2014 pace.
Regardless of how Walker might finish at season’s end, his dinger tonight was the decisive blow. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia were both perfect out of the bullpen in the eighth and ninth, shutting down the Reds to secure the 5-3 victory. Bartolo Colon will take the mound tomorrow night at 7:05 against southpaw Brandon Finnegan as the Mets try to move to 12-7.
Photo credit: Anthony Gruppuso – USA Today Sports