Robert Stock can sleep well Monday night knowing he accomplished something against the Tampa Bay Rays that he had never done before in his MLB career: pitch into the sixth inning.
Not only that, but after going a career-long 5.1 scoreless innings against the American League’s best team, the right-hander earned his first win since 2019 and his first as a starting pitcher following the Mets’ 3-2 win over the Rays.
“It’s really cool,” Stock said about getting the win. “It takes a whole team to win the game and we saw that tonight with how great the defense was, how good the hitters were in the second half of the game. It’s great when you step back and you look at how long it’s been and I can both feel good about the team and myself.”
Yes, the defense made some nice plays behind him like Christopher Morel‘s leaping catch with the bases loaded to end the fifth inning, but Stock was in total control against Tampa Bay and was the best version of himself that New York has seen this season.
Even more impressive? The outing came with the Mets in a 1-0 pitcher’s duel for most of the night and right after a rough start against the Milwaukee Brewers (MLB’s best team) where Stock allowed 10 hits and seven runs.
“The stuff’s really good. It’s always been really good,” said interim manager Andy Green. “It’s strikes. When he forces them to swing he does really well. I think he maybe ran into Milwaukee where some balls found holes, but more or less when he’s in the strike zone he’s been really good for us.”
Overall, Stock owns a 5.88 ERA in six starts for New York this season. However, if his two worst starts are removed, the right-hander has allowed two earned runs in 19 innings, more than acceptable for a 36-year-old journeyman who hadn’t started a major league game since 2021 (ironically with the Mets).
Of course, Stock would love to go deeper in some of those starts, but at least now he “finally” knows what that feels like and perhaps has it in him again in the future.
“That’s the job you’re getting paid to do so I finally did it one time,” he said.
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