DETROIT \u2014 Once Monday\u2019s fourth inning arrived, the Mets became a Juan-man wrecking crew.<\/p>\n
Juan Soto\u2019s Labor Day heroics were much needed. <\/p>\n
Another Mets starting pitcher was struggling, and runs would be necessary to help start this 10-game road trip properly.<\/p>\n
Soto\u2019s bat delivered with a go-ahead grand slam in the fourth. <\/p>\n
And after that lead was flushed, he produced a go-ahead, two-run triple in the sixth. <\/p>\n
Finally, the Mets had a lead to keep in a 10-8 victory over the Tigers at Comerica Park.<\/p>\n
Mets right fielder Juan Soto (22) triples down the right field line against the Detroit Tigers in the sixth inning at Comerica Park. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Soto began the new month in style by matching a career high with six RBIs on a day he reached base four times. <\/p>\n
This after he produced a 1.009 OPS with 10 homers in August.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s one of the best things you can do as a baseball player \u2014 come up clutch for your team and try to help them win the game,\u201d Soto said, referring to twice putting the Mets ahead.<\/p>\n
The Mets snapped a two-game skid and continued their recent offensive thunder by reaching double digits in scoring for the third time in eight games. <\/p>\n
The Mets maintained their four-game lead on Cincinnati for the NL\u2019s third and final wild card.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the month,\u201d Soto said. \u201cI feel like whoever gets hot in September is the team that goes all the way. You can see it with the teams that are winning lately, they are really hot in September, so I think this is the right time to get hot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sean Manaea had a sixth straight underwhelming start. <\/p>\n
Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea (59) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the first inning. Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images<\/p>\n
The left-hander lasted just 3 \u00b2\/\u2083 innings and allowed five earned runs on eight hits with six strikeouts and one walk. <\/p>\n
Manaea, who has failed to complete five innings in each of his past three starts, saw his ERA jump to 5.60.<\/p>\n
Jahmai Jones launched Manaea\u2019s first pitch of the game for a homer to give the Tigers a quick lead.<\/p>\n
Manaea threw a 92 mph fastball that Jones blasted over the left field fence.<\/p>\n
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (12) attempts to turn a double play over Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) in the second inning. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n
Luis Torrens got the Mets going with a two-run double against Charlie Morton in the second. <\/p>\n
Mark Vientos was hit by a pitch for a second straight game before Jeff McNeil singled and Cedric Mullins\u2019 sacrifice bunt advanced the runners. <\/p>\n
Torrens hit a shot past third base to bring in both runners.<\/p>\n
Wenceel P\u00e9rez\u2019s two-run homer in the third placed the Mets in a 3-2 hole. <\/p>\n
Manaea walked Gleyber Torres with one out before P\u00e9rez cleared the left field fence.<\/p>\n
Mets\u2019 Juan Soto (22) celebrates his grand slam with Jeff McNeil (1) against the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning. AP<\/p>\n
Soto\u2019s second career grand slam \u2014 and first in a Mets uniform \u2014 reclaimed the lead. <\/p>\n
Torrens singled to load the bases following McNeil\u2019s leadoff double and Mullins\u2019 walk before Soto, with two outs, hit his first homer this season with more than one runner on base.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just so many things he can do offensively when he\u2019s at the plate, it\u2019s just really impressive,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said. \u201cI remember a couple of months into the season and everybody was talking about the struggles for Juan Soto and he still was having an .850 OPS. Now it\u2019s the complete package.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the Tigers weren\u2019t finished tormenting Manaea. <\/p>\n
After Dillon Dingler singled in the fourth, Zach McKinstry delivered an RBI triple. <\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 two-out RBI single sliced the Mets lead to 6-5 before Torres\u2019 ensuing single ended Manaea\u2019s afternoon.<\/p>\n
Spencer Torkelson scored the tying run on Ryne Stanek\u2019s wild pitch in the fifth.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDelivering insights on all things Amazin\u2019s\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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Soto\u2019s two-run triple in the sixth put the Mets ahead 8-6. <\/p>\n
Torrens singled leading off for his third hit of the game and Lindor was hit by a pitch before Soto delivered, giving him six RBIs in the game to tie a career high. <\/p>\n
Brandon Nimmo brought in Soto with a two-out single.<\/p>\n
Brett Baty\u2019s RBI groundout in the seventh extended the Mets lead to 10-6 after McNeil had reached on an error and Mullins walked.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
But Ryan Helsley got into trouble in the bottom of the inning, allowing two hits and a run before Brooks Raley was summoned to get the final out.<\/p>\n
Jones\u2019 double leading off the eighth against Raley helped the Tigers pull within 10-8 on P\u00e9rez\u2019s RBI groundout. <\/p>\n
Edwin D\u00edaz was summoned for the four-out save.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Soto was asked what has most impressed him about the Mets\u2019 offensive surge.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way we have been taking pitches and taking at-bats lately, it\u2019s been making a difference,\u201d Soto said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys in that clubhouse that have been working hard in the cage and figuring out their swings and now we\u2019re getting the results.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DETROIT \u2014 Once Monday\u2019s fourth inning arrived, the Mets became a Juan-man wrecking crew. Juan Soto\u2019s Labor Day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127972,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[372,7842,363,1189,7686,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-127971","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-detroit-tigers","9":"tag-juan-soto","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-new-york-mets","12":"tag-sean-manaea","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127971","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127971"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127971\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127971"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127971"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127971"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}