ANAHEIM, Calif. — Baby steps.
The Mets are banged up and their lineup remains challenged, but a series victory is no small feat for this careening crew, so their weekend in Orange County should be celebrated, albeit cautiously.
Mark Vientos provided rare thunder Sunday with two home runs and Clay Holmes’ latest strong performance carried the Mets to a 5-1 victory over the Angels. The Mets won two of three games for only their second series victory since April 5.
Before the game the Mets placed Ronny Mauricio on the injured list with a left thumb fracture. Mauricio joined Francisco Lindor, Jorge Polanco, Luis Robert Jr. and Jared Young among the sidelined position players.
Vientos’ second homer of the day, a two-run shot in the eighth inning, provided rare breathing room for the bullpen. Luke Weaver pitched 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings before Brooks Raley recorded the final three outs in a non-save situation.
Holmes kept his string of superb starts intact by allowing one earned run on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts over 6 ²/₃ innings as his ERA dropped to 1.69. Holmes has allowed two earned runs or fewer in each of his seven starts this season. He’s pitched at least six innings in each of his last three starts.
Holmes walked Zach Neto on 11 pitches to start his day and after Mike Trout walked, Jorge Soler delivered an RBI single for the game’s first run.
Holmes limited the damage, getting Jo Adell to ground into an inning-ending double play.
Vaughn Grissom walked in the second, but Holmes got Oswald Peraza, who beat the Mets the previous night with an RBI single in the 10th inning, to hit a grounder that became an inning-ending double play.
Juan Soto’s grounder to first baseman Nolan Schanuel in the third was notable because the ball got lodged in Schanuel’s webbing as the pitcher, Jack Kochanowicz, ran to cover the base. Schanuel flipped his glove, with the ball stuck in it, to Kochanowicz for the out. The Mets left two runners stranded in the inning when Brett Baty struck out.
Vientos launched a two-run homer in the fourth that gave the Mets a 2-1 lead. Benge walked before Vientos crushed a shot 427 feet to left-center for his third homer this season. The blast was Vientos’ first since April 18 at Wrigley Field.
Holmes retired six straight batters before allowing a two-out single to Sebastián Rivero in the fifth. But the right-hander got Neto to hit a grounder to Baty at third base that became the inning’s third out.
MJ Melendez’s diving catch in the left-center gap on Soler’s drive kept Schanuel at first base in the sixth. Holmes retired Adell on a fly to left for the third out.
In the seventh, Vientos couldn’t field Bichette’s one-hop throw to first on Peraza’s grounder. Holmes was removed and Weaver struck out pinch hitter Yoán Moncada to conclude the inning.
In the eighth Benge stroked an RBI single that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead after Baty was hit by a pitch leading off. Vientos followed with his second homer of the game.
In the ninth, Benge went full extension by the right field foul line to rob Grissom of an extra-base hit. Benge, who reached base three times in addition to the defensive gem, had maybe his strongest game this season.
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