Brewers: Crew no match for Mighty Thor in New York finale
By Phil Watson
Mighty Thor brought a hammer down on the Milwaukee Brewers Sunday, as rookie right-hander Noah Syndergaard limited the Crew to just three hits and a single run in six innings as the New York Mets took the rubber game of the three-game series at Citi Field 5-1.
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It was the home debut for Syndergaard (1-1), who got his first big-league win, striking out five and walking one.
Brewers right-hander Wily Peralta (1-5), meanwhile, continued his almost season-long trouble with command, allowing five runs on nine hits with three walks in five innings and departing after throwing 98 pitches in just five frames.
After blanking the Mets 7-0 in Friday’s series opener, New York came back to outscore Milwaukee 19-2 over the final two games.
The Mets (22-16), who won their second straight after losing five in a row, got single runs in the first and third and piled up three runs against Peralta in the fourth.
Curtis Granderson led off the game for New York in the bottom of the first with his fifth home run of the season—and second in as many days—when he turned around Peralta’s second pitch of the game and sent it into the right-field seats.
An RBI double by Lucas Duda made it 2-0 in the third and the Mets put the game away in the fourth on an RBI single by Eric Campbell and a two-run single from Michael Cuddyer.
Milwaukee (13-25) got its only score in the sixth, when Luis Sardinas led off with a single and advanced to second when Carlos Gomez was drilled in the helmet by a Syndergaard fastball.
Gomez left the game and was replaced by Gerardo Parra, but reportedly did not sustain a concussion from the impact.
After Khris Davis struck out, Ryan Braun laced a single to right that scored Sardinas. But Syndergaard settled down and got Adam Lind to fly out and retired Aramis Ramirez on a liner to center before ending his day’s work.
“How [did] a guy like that get traded?” Gomez asked rhetorically of Syndergaard, per MLB.com. “He’s really good. He’s going to be one of the guys you want to see him pitch every time. I’m excited to face him again.”
The Mets acquired Syndergaard in December 2012 from the Toronto Blue Jays as part of the trade that sent R.A. Dickey north of the border.
The 6-foot-6, 240-pound righty is nicknamed Thor for his resemblance to the character from the Marvel comic film universe, played by Australian actor Chris Hemsworth.
Granderson’s homer was the 55th surrendered by the Brewers this season, most allowed in the major leagues.
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“They’re killing us,” Peralta told MLB.com. “Every mistake we make, it’s a homer. They don’t roll over or hit a single. Just homers.”
The Brewers had just four hits on the day. Lind and catcher Juan Centeno had the others. For Centeno, his double off left-hander Sean Gilmartin in the seventh inning was his first since joining the Brewers, who acquired him off waivers from the Mets last October.
Milwaukee ends the first leg of their three-city, 10-game road trip with a 1-2 mark and now heads to Detroit for the first time since 2009 for a three-game interleague series with the Tigers.
The Brewers will start right-hander Mike Fiers (1-4, 5.00 ERA) in the series opener, scheduled for 6:08 p.m. Central from Comerica Park. Fiers has never faced Detroit in his career and is 2-0 with a 1.14 ERA in six appearances and four starts in interleague play.
The Tigers will counter with left-hander Kyle Lobstein (3-3, 4.33 ERA), who has similarly never faced Milwaukee.
Next: Mets Rock Garza, Crew In 14-1 Romp