Mark Canha leads the Mets to a bounce back win over the Marlins

Apr 1, 2023 - 11:13 PM

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The Mets were looking to bounce back from their first loss of the season, and it wasn’t pretty, but they managed to put together a 6-2 win over the Marlins. Neither starter was very effective, but Tylor Megill managed to stick around an inning longer than his counterpart Edward Cabrera and that made all the difference.

The Mets chased Cabrera after four innings and two runs. His pitch count escalated quickly when he issued six walks to Met hitters. The Mets benefitted from the free passes in the fourth when they were down 2-1 and Mark Canha walked to lead off the inning, you’ll be hearing his name often during the rest of the recap. He eventually came around to score and tie the game at two on an Omar Narváez single. With Starling Marte getting most of the day off, the Mets needed to find some offense elsewhere and Canha stepped up in a big way with a successful day at the plate.

With the Marlins forced to go to their bullpen early, the offense took advantage. Andrew Nardi was the first one out of the Miami bullpen and immediately got into trouble. He was a bit unlucky when two infielders tripped over each other going back on a pop up by Jeff McNeil, but it fell for a double. Pete Alonso followed it up with a more conventional double with a shot into left to give the Mets a 3-2 lead. Canha then picked up his first RBI of the day when he drove in Alonso to extend the lead.

Canha’s day continued when he hit his first home run of the year in the seventh to cap a big day at the plate. He finished the day going 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs, and two RBIs. Pete Alonso did not leave the yard but he also had a nice day with two hits, two runs, and two walks.

As for the the Mets’ pitching they managed to limit the damage. Megill allowed the tying runs on after the Mets took the lead but worked out of it with the help of a nice play by Francisco Lindor. That ended Megill’s day who went five innings, struck out seven, walked two, and allowed two runs. He wasn’t Justin Verlander but it was enough to put the team in a position to win.

Dennis Santana followed Megill and was spotless in his Mets debut. Drew Smith got two quick outs but then when Jazz Chisolm came to the plate as the tying run they then turned to Brooks Raley who got him to ground out to end the threat. Adam Ottavino worked himself into and out of trouble in the eighth, and David Robertson nailed it down in the ninth. Even without Edwin Díaz the bullpen has been holding steady so far in this young season. On this April 1st the team pulled out a win against the Marlins despite looking a little shaky at times. No fooling.

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What’s WPA?

Big winner: Mark Canha, +25.5% WPA
Big loser: Francisco Lindor, -12.1% WPA
Total pitcher WPA: +20.4% WPA
Total batter WPA: +29.6% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Pete Alonso RBI double in fifth
Teh sux0rest play: Nick Fortes home run in second