Francisco Lindor, Carlos Carrasco propel Mets to fifth straight win
Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco arrived together from Cleveland in the same blockbuster trade in 2021, looking to duplicate the success they enjoyed throughout their careers there.
That duo continued their respective excellent rebound seasons in Flushing and fronted the Mets to their fifth consecutive win Tuesday night, with Lindor blasting his 20th home run of the year to support Carrasco’s 6 ²/₃ innings of two-run ball in a rain-delayed 6-2 victory over the Reds at Citi Field.
“I feel the same way I felt in 2017 and 2018. That’s what I’ve felt like the last two months,” Carrasco said, referring to two seasons he went a combined 35-16 with a 3.33 ERA and 457 strikeouts for Cleveland. “And Lindor, I’ve played with him every year for the last seven years and he’s unbelievable. He goes out there and plays hard and I’m really happy for him.”
Carrasco extended a run of stellar outings by the Mets’ refortified rotation since co-aces Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom rejoined Buck Showalter’s projected quintet of starters. The 35-year-old righty allowed two earned runs on seven hits with one walk and nine strikeouts to post his team-best 13th victory of the year (13-4). He also improved to 5-0 with a 1.69 ERA over seven starts since his last loss on June 28 against the Astros.
“Carlos has been a good major league pitcher for a long time, but he hasn’t been this healthy in a while. It’s one of those things we hoped could happen this year, that it could be a little shot in the arm,” Showalter said. “I think he’s at peace with the results, as long as he’s in attack mode.”
Overall, Mets starters have recorded a minuscule staff ERA of 2.23 over 31 games since Scherzer returned from an oblique injury on July 5 — including two recent starts by deGrom and an eight-inning gem Monday night by Chris Bassitt — with Taijuan Walker going for the series sweep Wednesday afternoon.
“I think every time one of those guys is pitching, the next guy just wants to do the same. That’s the key right now,” Carrasco said.
After being limited to 53 ²/₃ innings over 12 starts in his first season with the Mets due to a hamstring injury suffered in spring training, Carrasco (88 pitches) now has thrown 124 ¹/₃ innings this year, his most since 2018 and second on the team to Bassitt’s 130.
With leadoff batter Brandon Nimmo receiving a rare game off, Jeff McNeil added a solo shot for the first-place Mets, who have won 15 of their last 18 games to improve to 72-39. Deadline pickup Mychal Givens, Trevor May and Seth Lugo recorded the final seven outs in relief of Carrasco.
Lindor’s two-run shot to left off Reds lefty Mike Minor in the third inning provided the game’s first runs. In the process, the $341 million switch hitter became the first shortstop in franchise history to record multiple 20-homer campaigns.
McNeil ripped his seventh homer of the year, a solo shot to center in the fourth, before adding a run-scoring single to chase Minor in the sixth for a 4-0 lead.
The Reds (44-65) reached Carrasco for singles in each of the first three innings and a walk in the fourth, without scoring a run. He struck out the side in the fifth and retired three batters on just six pitches in the sixth before the Reds got on the board on Jake Fraley’s two-run blast to right-center with one out in the seventh.
Two-out singles later in the inning by Austin Romine and Jonathan India prompted Showalter to summon Givens, who whiffed Nick Senzel to escape the inning.
The Mets recouped those two runs in the bottom half on a bases-loaded single by Darin Ruf, who went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .333 (5-for-15) since he was acquired from the Giants at the trade deadline. Ruf and fellow acquisitions Daniel Vogelbach and Tyler Naquin have combined to hit .338 with four homers and 18 RBIs in 80 at-bats with the Mets.
“Everyone in this lineup is hot right now,” McNeil said. “We’re a dangerous team, we’re a good team, and we know that.”
