Mets Bury Rays Early, Cruise to 10-4 Win
New York put six runs on the board before Tampa Bay had answered once, and the Rays never got close enough to matter. The Mets rolled to a 10-4 final on September 2, with four different players driving in at least one run and the offense doing its most damaging work in the first and third innings.
The game turned in the very first inning — and it turned fast. Young singled to right, and two Tampa Bay errors followed in quick succession: Bichette scored on the first, then Benge scored on a throwing error by catcher Hicks. Semien then doubled to left to score Young, and just like that it was 3-0 New York before the Rays had recorded three outs. That sequence swung Tampa Bay's home win probability from 63% all the way down to 43% — a 20-point collapse on a single play — and the Rays spent the rest of the night chasing a deficit they never had the firepower to close.
New York wasn't done. In the third, Baty doubled to left and cleared the bases, scoring Bichette, Ewing, and Semien to push the lead to 6-0. Tampa Bay showed some life in the fourth — Palacios launched a 366-foot homer to right that scored Mullins and trimmed it to 6-4, and for a moment it looked like the Rays might have a pulse. They didn't. The Mets' bullpen locked things down, and in the seventh, Morabito doubled to left to score Benge, Semien, and Young in one swing, making it 9-4. Soto put the finishing touch on it in the eighth with a 383-foot shot to right. Final: 10-4.
The story of the night was New York's lineup depth. Morabito went 2-for-2 with 3 RBI without recording an out. Baty went 1-for-2 with 3 RBI of his own. Semien scored twice. Young scored twice. Soto went 2-for-5 with a homer and an RBI — almost a footnote in a game this lopsided. On the mound, Hagenman gave New York 3.0 innings and allowed just 1 earned run, and Lavender and Nunez combined for 3.0 scoreless innings behind him. For Tampa Bay, Palacios was the lone bright spot — 1-for-4 with a home run and 2 RBI — but the Rays' defense hurt them badly, with errors directly enabling three New York runs. This one appears to have been over before most fans had settled into their seats.