Mets Rally in Eighth, Fall to Twins in Extras

The New York Mets and Minnesota Twins wrapped up their three-game series in Minnesota on Wednesday.

In a game dominated by the Twins through seven innings, the Mets came back to tie it in the eighth and ultimately send the game to extra innings. A promising top of the tenth fell short for New York, which was followed by a walk-off single by Ty France to hand the Mets back-to-back losses.

Right-handed pitcher Justin Hagenman took the mound for his major league debut on Wednesday after Huascar Brazobán threw a scoreless inning to open the game. Called up on Wednesday morning in place of Max Kranick, and with family in the stands, Hagenman made the jog from the bullpen and out onto the mound to make his first big league appearance in the second inning of the Mets’ rubber match against the Twins.

Hagenman delivered a strong major league debut. He pitched 3 1/3 innings, giving up just one run on three hits, while striking out four. It was a promising showing for the 28-year-old, who provided the Mets with 10 outs with Griffin Canning out with an illness.

Hagenman exited after a double by Willi Castro to center field. The call was challenged by the Mets and was upheld, a decision that ultimately came back to bite the Mets when a miscall by umpire Hunter Wendelstedt allowed a run to score for Minnesota in the sixth inning. Castro then scored on a base hit from Harrison Bader to give the Twins a 1-0 lead over the Mets.

Hagenman was removed in favor of José Buttó. The righty struggled, however, serving up four hits in 1 1/2 innings, including an RBI single from Bader. The run was credited to Hagenman, giving him one run given up in his major league debut. Buttó also gave up a run in the fifth and sixth, putting the Mets behind 3-0.

Offensively, the Mets were quiet and faced a chance to be shut out through the first seven innings on Wednesday. They were 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, but the Mets came back to tie the game with a huge eighth inning rally.

Francisco Lindor got the magic going with a leadoff single to right field. Two batters later, Alonso doubled to left field to score Lindor to make it a 3-1 game. Alonso’s single was followed by an RBI double by Jesse Winker, pulling the Mets within one run.

Luisangel Acuna kept the rally going, clubbing an RBI single to score Winker and tie the game 3-3. Acuña followed his big moment with a stolen base, but was stranded after Bader made a diving catch on a Tyrone Taylor frozen rope.

Per Mojo Hill of Metsmerized Online, with his eighth inning single, Lindor now has a 20-game hitting streak at Target Field, which is the longest in the stadium’s history by an opponent.

Brett Baty finally had a breakout day at the plate, going 2-for-4 on the day, his first multiple-hit game of the season.

The Mets kept the Twins at bay in the eighth and ninth to take the game to extra innings. New York was unable to push a run across in the top of the tenth. The Twins responded with a walk-off single by France to score Byron Buxton to give the Twins the walk-off win over the Mets 4-3 in 10 innings.

The Twins took the series from the Mets 2-1 to give the Mets their first series loss of the season.

Player of the Game

Pete Alonso is the Metsmerized Player of the Game for Wednesday. He was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored, including in the Mets’ eighth inning rally that helped tie the game and eventually send it to extra innings. Alonso continues to stay hot at the plate and is currently one of the most dangerous players in the game. He’s tied with former Met Wilmer Flores for the big league lead with 21 RBIs.

On Deck

The Mets will return home to Citi Field on Thursday to open a four-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Cardinals will have right-handed pitcher Andre Pallante (2-0, 2.20 ERA) on the mound. Canning will get the start tomorrow against the Red Birds.

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