Easy Like a Monday Evening

After a weekend when the Mets sought out and discovered multiple ways to lose in St. Petersburg, it was a pleasant change of pace to watch them figure out how to win one in St. Louis.

They sat Pete Alonso. Given the Polar Bear’s roughly 2-for-a-thousand slump, they kind of had to.

They inserted DJ Stewart in Alonso’s stead, and though Stewart is not a first baseman, he played first base without incident and knocked in the night’s first run, in the first inning.

They stuck Jeff McNeil in left field, one of the positions he used to fill with a flourish, and he made a trademark Flying Squirrel catch.

They had Tomás Nido collecting two hits, bunting a runner over once and not getting stolen on.

They generated two runs in the fifth as one imagines the Gashouse Gang might have in the same town ninety years ago, minus dust or fuss: a single; a single; taking advantage of an outfield error on the second single to grab another ninety feet apiece; a run-scoring groundout to the right side that drove the lead runner home and moved up the trail runner as well; a sacrifice fly to bring home the second of two runs and build a 3-0 lead.

They relied on Sean Manaea for six innings. The first five yielded zeroes. The sixth ended tied on three runs scored, but gosh it was nice to see only one walk. No wonder it was the kind of start labeled quality.

They took back the edge as soon as Brandon Nimmo came up in the seventh. Nimmo has mostly walked and gotten hit when not batting in tough luck in 2024. The clubhouse’s elder statesMet is still capable of getting hold of one and nobody getting hold of it. When he did on Monday, the ball he whacked didn’t stick around and the visitors were up, 4-3.

They slipped Alonso back in for defense as the evening progressed (with Stewart moving to left, McNeil to second and Joey Wendle to towel off early), which was a heady maneuver, both because Pete has played lots of first base and he shouldn’t sit and stew over his hitting for too long.

They deployed a bullpen that’s earned plaudits and was ready to deliver results. Jake Diekman gave up an isolated double, Adam Ottavino just one single, and Edwin Diaz nothing at all.

The closer had a save. The starter had a win. The team was victorious. It’s been known to happen. It just did.