NEW YORK – A month later, a decade later, Johan Santana removed the burden of history from Citi Field. When Santana placed the first striker in the franchise’s history, he opened the door for others to follow.
It took another long wait, even as the Mets rose to prominence with one of the best young rotations in baseball. During the league, 39 strikers occurred after Santana’s, including efforts by 18 different teams. But it wasn’t until one cool Friday night at the City Fields that the Mets added another of their own.
Tyler Megill presented the first five innings before Drew Smith, Joelie Rodriguez, Seth Lugo and Edwin Diaz combined in the last 12 outs to end the historic 3-0 victory over Phyllis.
The necessary offense came in the form of a single by Jeff McNeill with twice in the fifth and a solo Homer by Pete Alonso in the sixth, both by Aaron Nola.
Although Megill faced minor problems in the early innings, his speed was reduced and he struggled to eliminate the beating, which led to a high number of pitches despite the lack of hits. The right went one bat in the second inning and two more in the fifth, which ended on 88 pitches. At this point, manager Buck Shawolter removed it in favor of Smith, who intercepted four of the five bits he faced.
Rodriguez came in, straightening the first ram he faced, but quickly caused a double play at the end of the inning. He and Lugo combined an unbeaten eighth before Diaz completed his efforts in the ninth. This allowed the Mets not only to finish the 17th combined without a striker in the history of AL / NL, but also to win a key match of the division over Phyllis.
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