Tebow Gets First Hit As Mets Defeat Marlins 6-4
For Tim Tebow, it's all about a shot. A chance to perform for a Major League Baseball team. A former NFL player, now trying to make it in a different sport. Will Tebowmania finally get his chance to prove he's worth something in sports.
Tim Tebow collected his first hit of Grapefruit League play.
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In his first two games, it looked grim for the former New York Jets quarterback. He went 0fer in both games that he played. Terry Collins said that those would be his only two starts. However, Tebow got another chance against the Miami Marlins. After grounding out in the 2nd, a positive sign came for the Heisman Trophy winning quarterback in the 5th inning. Tebow grounded a ball through the hole and into left field to get his first hit in Grapefruit League play.
Besides the Tebowmania of this game, the Mets wound up beating the Marlins 6-4. Noah Syndergaard started and pitched 3 1/3 innings of pretty good ball considering the circumstances. Thor was pitching with bronchitis. He was able to get through the first 3 innings without giving up a run. Thor wound up giving up 3 runs, including a 2-run home run, in the 4th. His line was 3 runs, 3 hits, a walk and 4 strike outs. Syndergaard's ERA is at 3.52 for spring.
Despite illness, Thor was still able to have a decent start.
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As for the rest of the pitching, Josh Edgin went 2/3 of an inning and struck out both batters without giving up a walk, hit or run. Edgin's ERA is at 4.26. Robert Gsellman, who is battling for the 5th starter spot, went 3 scoreless innings, only giving up a hit. Gsellman's ERA is down to 2.57 while picking up his first win of spring (1-1). Ben Rowen pitched a 1-2-3 8th inning while picking up his 3rd hold. Rowen has still not given up a run in spring. Chasen Bradford got his first save despite giving up a run and 2 hits while striking out a batter. Bradford's ERA is at 4.70.
Gsellman's start etches his name closer to the 5th spot in the rotation.
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As for the hitting, the Mets continue with the high powered offense so far in spring. Neil Walker lead the offensive charge today going 2-3 with a 2-run home run and a double. Walker is batting .333 with 3 home runs and 10 RBIs in spring. Asdrubal Cabrera also went 2-3 with a solo home run. Cabrera is batting .304 with 3 home runs and 4 RBIs.
Asdrubal Cabrera blasted his third home run of spring.
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Curtis Granderson also had a good day going 1-3 hitting his first home run of spring. Granderson is batting .280. Lucas Duda also went 1-3 with a solo home run. Duda is batting .375 with 2 home runs and 6 RBIs. Kevin Plawecki went 1-3 with a run scored. Plawecki is batting .300. Meanwhile, Luis Guillorme went 0-1 with a run scored and an RBI. Guillorme is batting .259 with 5 RBIs.
In other news, Brandon Nimmo was sent back to the Mets after injuring his right hamstring while playing for Team Italy, Nimmo will sit out over the next few weeks to recover. Nimmo's Opening Day roster spot is now in jeopardy with the Mets. As stated above. Thor has been battling bronchitis since the beginning of spring. He was just trying to build stamina going into his 3rd start. Hall of Fame catcher Mike Piazza visited the Mets camp today and liked what he saw.
Tomorrow, the Mets travel to the Houston Astros to take on that team. Jacob deGrom will get the start for the Mets in this one. The game starts at 1:05pm.
