New York @ Arizona preview
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Last Meeting ( Jul 4, 2023 ) NY Mets 8, Arizona 5
The New York Mets were 10 games below .500 when June ended, and their season was going nowhere rapidly.
Suddenly, New York is showing life with four consecutive victories. The Mets will try to complete a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks when the teams meet Thursday night in Phoenix.
The Mets will be looking to match their season-best winning streak of five games, accomplished twice previously. And they are only in position to achieve that due to an "Amazin' Mets" type of rally for a 2-1 victory on Wednesday.
Arizona was one strike away from a 1-0 win before New York rookie Francisco Alvarez hit a tying homer to right-center off Andrew Chafin. Brett Baty followed with a single before Mark Canha smacked a long RBI triple to center.
"It's really the adrenaline that heightens that moment for me," Alvarez said through an interpreter. "That's my favorite part of the game. When that game's on the line, I'm not afraid of failure. I'm comfortable."
David Robertson worked a perfect bottom of the ninth as the Mets finished off the unlikely win.
Alvarez's 15th homer of the campaign was the big blow. The catcher flung his bat high in the air as he neared first base and even ran backwards for several steps between first and second base so he could see his teammates in the dugout.
"It was super exciting," Alvarez said. "You guys saw me running around the bases and I did everything to celebrate that homer.
"I felt like we deserved to win. ... It was such a big moment."
Alvarez has three homers in the past four games, and he has gone deep in both games of the current series.
The Diamondbacks have enjoyed a strong season but have dropped three straight games and seven of their past 11.
Christian Walker went deep for the 18th time this season to account for Arizona's lone run on Wednesday. He has homered in both games of the series.
That seventh-inning run held up until Chafin was called on to wrap up the contest. The 33-year-old left-hander has 19 career saves, eight of them coming this season in 11 opportunities.
He is part of a bullpen-by-committee approach in which right-handers Miguel Castro and Scott McGough have seven saves apiece. McGough got the final out of the seventh and worked a scoreless eighth on Wednesday. Castro didn't pitch.
"I'd love it if we had a lockdown Mariano Rivera type of guy in the bullpen, but we don't," Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. "We've got to find a way to mix and match it, and we'll continue to do that.
"We're going to be fine. It's just a matter of playing it out."
Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte (lower back) missed his second straight start but entered the game as a pinch hitter and remained in to play defense. Lovullo said Marte is expected to be in the starting lineup on Thursday.
Carlos Carrasco (2-3, 5.94 ERA) will start on Thursday for the Mets. The right-hander is 0-1 with a 6.23 ERA over his past five starts.
Carrasco, 36, allowed two runs and five hits over five innings in a no-decision against the San Francisco Giants on Friday.
Carrasco is 1-0 with a 1.29 ERA in three career appearances (two starts) against Arizona. Evan Longoria, who often faced Carrasco when both players were in the American League, is just 3-for-23 (.130) with a homer against him.
Ryne Nelson (5-4, 4.67 ERA) will get the ball for the Diamondbacks.
The rookie right-hander is coming off back-to-back stellar efforts, allowing one run and three hits while striking out six in each of them. He pitched seven innings in a win over the Giants on June 25, then threw 7 1/3 innings while beating the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday.
Nelson, 25, has never faced the Mets.
--Field Level Media