Then Yoenis Cespedes took it to another level.
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Syndergaard hadn’t been his dominant self in recent starts, as Thor looked human the last month. Fortunately, Noah Syndergaard pitched arguably his best game of the season on Sunday going eight innings, allowing no runs, and only allowing two hits. Being 4.5 games behind the second wild card spot is not easy to overcome, but it is possible.
Still, the Mets had squandered games at home against the lowly Padres and Diamondbacks and started this road trip without much urgency and on something of a bizarro trend. “That’s what we’re looking at”.
They must cling to that presumption of progress, because the unofficial start flag for the stretch drive is about to drop on Tuesday when the Giants begin a three-game showdown series at Dodger Stadium.
San Francisco now resides in the first wild-card spot, 1 1/2 games ahead of the Cardinals.
Home plate umpire Clint Fagan, right, watches as New York Mets’ Yoenis Cespedes celebrates after hitting a two run home run off San Francisco Giants’ Jeff Samardzija in the seventh inning of a baseball game Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016, .
The blast was measured at just 417 feet, but it nonetheless landed in a spot none other has in game action this season. The ball cleared the left field bleachers before touching down on a cement walkway.
Cespedes insisted he had more important things to do than mark where it landed. “I was just staring at that ball, pushing it mentally, hoping it would go out so it wouldn’t go foul”. The result was a timely return to dominance.
On Saturday Collins said Cespedes can play golf, and when that news was relayed to Cespedes, the slugger said he was pleased to hear that because golf relaxes him. “It was a tee shot”.
“For the past month and a half, I feel like it was the first time I felt relaxed and had fun out there”, said Syndergaard, who has been prone to high pitch counts.
With an off-day in St. Louis on Monday, Cespedes may hit the links.
The two runs were all Syndergaard needed as he improved to 11-7 with 2.61 ERA on the season.
Eduardo Nunez’s infield hit and Joe Panik’s line single to left field were the Giants’ only hits off him. He struck out six and walked two.
Mets closer Jeurys Familia completed the shutout with a one-hit ninth for his 41st save.
Samardzija remained winless in four career starts against the Mets despite taking a no-hitter into the seventh. Mets’ manager Terry Collins opted not to let Syndergaard finish the game despite the fact he had only thrown 98 pitches in eight innings of work. As we’ve seen, when he’s healthy, he’s got all the talent in the world. “Just an awesome team win”.
The duel between Syndergaard and Samardzija was in stark contrast to the first three games of this series, when the teams combined for 40 runs. He walked one and struck out seven.
“That’s just a great pitching effort by (Samardzija), he did a terrific job, he gave us a chance against one of the best”, Bochy said. “But if you’re going to win, your good players have got to play good”.
“I’ve had big power hitters but I haven’t had anybody (where) the ball comes off the barrel of the bat like that”, Collins said. “He was that good”.
Syndergaard (11-7) allowed two hits over eight innings for his second consecutive win following a six-start skid. He never previously pitched at AT&T Park.
Samardzija had been 0-3 with an 8.72 in nine previous outings against the Mets.
“I’ve been working really hard in my side work, just trying to get more fluid and get more rhythm to home plate, and to try not to be too predictable with runners on base”, Syndergaard said.
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This might be the last week of meaningful games for Collins’ Mets. He is the 10th active manager, including the Giants’ Bruce Bochy, to reach the milestone. His longest no-hit bid had been 5 2/3 innings for the Chicago White Sox on July 4, 2015, against the Baltimore Orioles.
