Senga, Canha Help Mets Snap Losing Streak Via 5-1 Win
Kodai Senga. Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports
After losing seven-straight games, the New York Mets (31-34) were in serious need of a win on Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates (33-30). Right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga (5-3, 3.34 ERA) got the start for the visiting Mets against right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo (3-4, 4.11 ERA) for the home Pittsburgh Pirates.
Needing to score some runs and get a win, the Mets came out swinging and got that win they were looking for. Mark Canha had two RBI doubles, totaling three RBIs on Saturday while Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Álvarez each drove in a run as well via another home run, a solo shot – his 12th of the season.
Those five runs were all New York needed to claim a 5-1 win over the Pirates as Senga pitched a tremendous seven innings and was followed by two strong innings of relief by David Robertson and Adam Ottavino respectively in the eighth and ninth innings.
New York scored a run in the third via an RBI single by Nimmo. They broke it open in the seventh on the two-RBI double by Canha. Álvarez homered in the eighth and Canha hit another RBI double in the ninth to secure the win for New York. Those doubles and a great outing from Senga gave the Mets the performances they were looking for.
A very notable play in the game was when Senga got into a sticky situation in the bottom of the third. After two quick groundouts, he walked the next three to load the bases for Connor Joe who was 1-for-1 on the day.
It was Brandon Nimmo, who also excelled defensively Saturday afternoon, once again came up clutch for the Mets and made a leaping grab up the center field wall to rob Joe of extra bases and saved Senga from giving up three quick runs
Nimmo times it perfectly to Rob the Pirates of three runs and saves Senga from trouble!
T4: Mets 1 | Pirates 0 pic.twitter.com/wleopEZCyF
— Metsmerized Online (@Metsmerized) June 10, 2023
The Pirates’ only run of the game came in the fourth inning. With one on, Ke’Bryan Hayes reached on a fielder’s choice that moved Jack Suwinski to third on an error by Luis Guillorme. That “error” was the result of a judgement call at second base. It seemed as if Guillorme lost the ball on the transfer. Though, umpire Will Little disagreed and the inning continued on and there remained one out instead of two.
Ji Hwan Bae then followed by reaching on another error. McNeil, since there was only one out, rushed to try to turn a double play and booted the ball. Senga then responded terrifically and retired the next two hitters he faced to get out of the inning. The score, at the time, was knotted at one.
Senga’s day ended after seven superb inning. His final line read: 7.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 4 BB, 6 SO. His season ERA is down to 3.34.
After a strong eighth inning of work from David Robertson, the Mets called in Adam Ottavino to end the game. Ottavino retired all three batters he faced and he closed out and secured the win for New York. The Mets finally broke a seven-game losing streak and are back in the win column.
Mets’ manager Buck Showalter spoke with the media after Saturday’s win. He said he was proud of the way Senga pitched against the Pirates.
“Real proud of him. I’ve been watching him kind of out of the corner of my eye since his last start,” said Showalter. “He was kind of on a mission today, I thought.”
Canha and Nimmo were both 2-for-4 on the afternoon and Nimmo also made a couple phenomenal plays in the outfield as the Mets fought on both sides of the diamond to claim the win.
After the game, Canha said, “It’s definitely nice to put it to bed. We still have a lot of work to do.” As he discussed the team finally breaking their losing streak.
Mark Canha. Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Player of the Game: Mark Canha
Canha went 2-for-4, both hits doubles, and he was responsible for three of the Mets’ five RBIs. He has had an up-and-down year but owns an OPS on the season right around league average.
On Deck
The Mets and Pirates close out their series on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 pm ET at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. The Mets will be looking to come away with a series win after knotting the series up Saturday.
They will give the ball to Carlos Carrasco (2-2, 5.94 ERA) who will faceoff against Mitch Keller (7-2, 3.60 ERA) for the Pirates.
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