Cookie and Canha lead the Mets to victory

The Mets only needed two games to earn their first series win against the Phillies this season, beating Philadelphia 4-1 tonight at Citi Field. Though not always a breeze, the Mets won in large part thanks to a rare quality start.

For only the third time this season, Carlos Carrasco kicked off the game with a scoreless first inning. And for the billionth time this season, the Mets offense put up a scoreless first inning of their own, scuffling against Phillies’ starter Aaron Nola.

The Phillies tallied the scoreboard first thanks to a solo home run from ninth-place hitter Edmundo Sosa in the top of the third. Bryson Stott’s successive single threatened to add more, but Carrasco cleaned it up by inducing outs from Trea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Nick Castellanos.

The Phillies’ 1-0 lead was short-lived. After a Daniel Vogelbach walk to lead off the bottom of the third, Mark Canha smacked his fourth home run of the season to left field, giving the Mets a 2-1 lead. Canha’s home run marked the fourteenth-straight game with a Mets home run, sustaining a power surge the offense lacked early in the season.

He struck again in the bottom of the fourth. With bases loaded and two outs, Canha pushed a single to right field, scoring Brett Baty and Pete Alonso and giving the Mets a 4-1 lead. His four RBI in his first two at-bats registered a season-high in a single game for Canha, making up 25% of his season’s RBI total.

Handling the Phillies’ lineup with relative comfort, Carrasco pitched his first quality start of the season, allowing a single run over six innings and throwing just 82 pitches. Nola, meanwhile, threw 103 pitches over his six innings while striking out five, walking three, and giving up four earned runs in another laboring start.

A bullpen relay of Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino, and David Robertson handled the final three innings, though not always cleanly. Mets pitchers gave up nine total hits but stranded nine runners while giving up only one run, while the Mets offense managed only five hits but brought four runners home.

The Mets will aim for the sweep tomorrow, with Max Scherzer facing Mets legend Taijuan Walker with a 1:10 scheduled first pitch.

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What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Mark Canha, +37% WPA

Big Mets loser: Starling Marte/Brandon Nimmo, -5% WPA

Mets pitchers: +26% WPA

Mets hitters: +24% WPA

Teh aw3s0mest play: Mark Canha home run, +21% WPA

Teh sux0rest play: Edmundo Sosa home run, -13% WPA