New York Mets: The Mighty Thor dominates Cincinnati

New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard is nicknamed Thor after the Norse God of thunder. Tuesday he was more like Greek hero Hercules as he put the team on his back in a 1-0 win over Cincinnati.

There is a great scene in the movie Major League, where during the final game, slugger Pedro Cerrano, fed up with his voodoo deity Jobu not helping him hit the curveball all season, he tells voodoo doll “(edited for language) I’ll do it myself,” then takes a curve out of the park. Thursday at Citi Field, New York Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard went out and did it all himself in a 1-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

Amazins fans had been concerned with Syndergaard this season, due to his awful 6.35 earned run average. Over his six 2019 starts, he allowed four or more earned runs in five of them, garnering a 1-3 record. Additionally, Thor hadn’t made it past the fifth inning in his three most recent starts. His command was off and velocity down. If someone on this staff needed a lift it was him.

Syndergaard made his own lift. In the third inning, Thor went opposite field on Reds starting pitcher Tyler Mahle for a solo home run. He got all of it too, sending the ball a dozen rows over the 370-foot marker in left center. It was his second home run of the 2019 and the sixth of his career.

More from Empire Writes Back

• Caesars New York Promo Code: Win $250 Bonus GUARANTEED on ANY Bet!
• Last Chance Caesars Promo: Claim $1,250 Bonus for ANY MLB Bet!
• Caesars New York Promo Code Gives TWO Chances to Win Betting on Your Yankees!
• PointsBet New York Promo: FIVE $100 Bonus Bets to Back the Yankees or Mets!
• Caesars NY Promo: $1,250 Bonus to Celebrate the Return of Judge!

His home run was a great highlight, but the better story was Thor’s performance on the mound. For the first time all season, Syndergaard appeared to have command over his full arsenal of pitches. He mixed a dynamic sinker, with a hard slider and near 100 mile-per-hour fastball to keep opposing hitters at bay. Most importantly he kept the ball down in the strike zone.

There was a bit of drama at the end of the game. Leading off the ninth, Cincy left fielder Jesse Winkler was ejected for arguing a called strike. His manager David Bell fired out of the dugout to save his player and got tossed as well.

It looked as if Syndergaard would finish with under 100 pitches thrown, but two batters later Derek Dietrich grounded a single through the infield. Pitcher Michael Lorenzen came into pinch run and stole second base. It was the first time all game the Reds put a runner in scoring position. No problem, Yasiel Puig went down on three consecutive strikes to close out the contest.

Syndergaard’s pitching stat line tells the story. He threw a complete game four-hit shutout, struck out 10 while issuing a lone walk. 74 of his 104 pitches went for strikes. That’s about as dominating as it gets for Thor and the New York Mets.

As a rule, we generally don’t do game recaps at Empire Writes back, but this is an exception to commemorate an exceptional performance.