The New York Mets (48-66) opened their first series after the trade deadline with a 6-2 victory over the Cleveland Guardians (57-57) on Tuesday night at Progressive Field. Luis Torrens delivered a career night with a three-run homer and four RBI, while the Mets launched three home runs and received a strong outing from Sean Manaea to snap their recent offensive struggles.
Torrens provided the biggest swing of the night in the second inning, capitalizing on a two-out throwing error by crushing a three-run homer to left for an early 3-0 lead. Bo Bichette followed with a 422-foot solo blast in the third before Torrens added an RBI single in the fifth to make it 5-1. Carson Benge capped the scoring in the eighth with a towering 451-foot home run to left-center, his fifth of the season. Torrens finished 3-for-3 with a walk and four RBI as the Mets collected nine hits.
Manaea battled through traffic all night but limited the damage, allowing two runs on seven hits over six innings while striking out seven and walking five. He escaped a bases-loaded threat in the first, then worked around Cleveland’s fourth- and fifth-inning rallies to earn the win. Benge also flashed his arm in right field by throwing out Brayan Rocchio attempting to stretch a single into third. After Daniel Duarte ran into trouble in the seventh, Nate Lavender stranded two runners by striking out Travis Bazzana in his major league debut before adding a scoreless eighth. Kodai Senga worked around a walk in the ninth to close out the victory in his first appearance out of the bullpen.
The Mets continue their three-game series against Cleveland on Wednesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:40 p.m. Christian Scott (3-3, 2.99 ERA) is slated to face Tanner Bibee (4-11, 3.81 ERA).
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to kyle@fingerlakes1.com.