Starting pitching rules the night again for Mets
Taijuan Walker of the Mets pitches against the Yankees during the first inning at Citi Field on Tuesday. Credit: Jim McIsaac
The offense has come and gone for the Mets this season. So, too, at times has the relief pitching. One thing that has remained consistent to keep the Mets atop the NL East while Atlanta has surged is their starting pitching.
And it was central again Tuesday night as the Mets took the first game of the Subway Series, 6-3, at sold out Citi Field.
Taijuan Walker showed a little rust from a 10-day break but quickly shook it off to turn in a strong performance against baseball’s toughest lineup. Walker allowed solo home runs to Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo in the first inning but then managed to grind through six frames.
The Mets scored four in the bottom of the first and Walker didn’t let that lead get away. He allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk with a pair of strikeouts to improve to 8-2 with a 2.67 ERA in 17 starts.
Walker’s effort is part of a tremendous run for the Mets rotation. In the club’s previous 14 games, Mets starters had pitched to a 1.58 for 85 2/3 innings and none had allowed more than two runs in an appearance. Over a total of 21 games in the month of July, Mets starting pitchers have thrown 122 2/3 innings to a 2.54 ERA — though they only have eight wins against five losses.
The Mets have, in a way, usurped a major storyline in the Yankees’ phenomenal 2022. The Yanks may have baseball’s highest-scoring offense, but their starting pitching has been the cornerstone of their success. Now the Mets have a chance on Wednesday to sweep these two games from them with starting pitching.
Max Scherzer is the scheduled starter and carries a 6-2 record with a 2.28 ERA into the contest.
Walker gave up 26 home runs last season, but that number is down this season. Even with the two he allowed on Tuesday, foes only have six against him.
“It’s the command of his secondary pitches,” manager Buck Showalter explained.
The righthander dealt with shoulder bursitis in April, but has moved past it to find a groove. He has a run of seven straight quality starts going.
“It’s hard to do what he’s doing,” Showalter said. “He’s pitching at a really quality level since he got going in the flow of the season and the health issues were behind him. Very quietly, he’s having a solid year, very consistent.”
Roger Rubin returned to Newsday in 2018 to write about high schools, colleges and baseball following 20 years at the Daily News. A Baseball Hall of Fame voter since 2011, he has covered 13 MLB postseasons and 14 NCAA Final Fours.
