Infielder Andres Gimenez helps Guardians sweep Mets with 6-3 win.
CLEVELAND – The Mets have become adept at avoiding sweeps as of late, but that changed with one swing of the bat from a former Mets prospect Wednesday at Progressive Field. Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andres Gimenez, who was a key piece in the 2021 Francisco Lindor trade, tied the game with a three-run homer in the sixth inning off left-hander Jose Quintana. The Mets went on to lose 6-3 and the Guardians completed a three-game sweep. The team will get a much-needed off day before
hosting a trio of National League West opponents at Citi Field. They finish an eight-game trip through Philadelphia, Miami and Cleveland 2-6 and are 21-28 overall, seemingly in a free-fall, having gone 6-14 in May. Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil and Harrison Bader each hit solo homers against right-hander Triston McKenzie to give the Mets a 3-0 lead. Alonso’s came in the first inning, McNeil’s led off the second and Bader hit his in the fourth. Reed Garrett (5-1) was charged with the loss after giving up a go-ahead RBI single to Johnathan Rodriguez in the seventh. Adam Ottavino gave up two runs in 2/3 of an inning in the bottom of the eighth. Quintana cruised through the first five innings of his outing until giving up the game-tying homer to Gimenez in the sixth. Quintana was nearly out of the inning early, getting the first out before giving up a bunt single to Austin Hedges, who dropped one right into the dirt on the third
base side and it came to rest in fair territory. But then he faced the top of the Cleveland order for the third time and gave up a double to leadoff man Tyler Freeman. That brought up Gimenez, a 25-year-old infielder who was once a highly-ranked prospect in the Mets’ system. As a 21-year-old, Gimenez played 49 games during the COVID-shortened 2020 season for the Amazins’ and looked as though he could overtake Amed Rosario for the starting shortstop role. But then Steve Cohen bought the team and hired
Jared Porter to run the baseball operations. The Guardians couldn’t hang on to Lindor and a deal was struck to send Lindor and right-hander Carlos Carrasco to New York for Rosario, Gimenez and prospects Josh Wolfe and Isaiah Greene in January 2021. Shortly before opening day, acting general manager Zack Scott signed Lindor to a 10-year extension, effectively making him the face of the franchise.
