Brett Baty's bases-clearing triple 'sets the tone' for Mets, Kodai Senga in win over Rockies

Brett Baty is starting to become a dangerous hitter in the Mets’ lineup, and Saturday was just another notch in the young infielder’s belt this season.

With the bases loaded and one out in the first inning, Baty — hitting in the No. 5 hole — stepped up to the plate. Pete Alonso came up empty with the bases loaded by striking out, and the Rockies were one pitch away from getting out of the early jam. But this is a different Baty, a more confident hitter.

After swinging through a fastball for a foul and taking a curveball for a ball, he stayed back on another Antonio Senzatela curve and lofted it to left-center field. Rockies center fielder Brenton Doyle ran toward the wall but the ball kept traveling, and it ultimately hit the top of the padding and away from him.

Baty had cleared the bases with a triple to put the Mets ahead 3-1, en route to an eventual 8-2 win against Colorado.

“I thought I hit it pretty hard, but it looked like [Doyle] had a beat on it,” Baty said after the game. “I thought, at least I’ll get one run in. It ended up hitting the wall. It was huge.”

Baty said he was looking heater but wanted to just hit any ball hard that was over the plate, and he did. The ball went 398 feet, just a couple of feet from a grand slam. But more impressively, it was hit 104.1 mph off the bat.

“I like the aggressiveness,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of Baty’s at-bat. “First pitch went out there and swung through a fastball and he kept attacking. Put a really good swing on it and went left-center. Starts with the aggressiveness in the strikezone and he continues to do that.”

With the Mets’ issues with runners in scoring position well-documented and the team trailing 1-0 before coming to the plate, Baty’s bases-clearing triple came at the best time for everyone, especially starter Kodai Senga.

Once Senga got the lead, the right-hander dominated, retiring 17 straight Rockies and pitching into the seventh inning. Baty, the catalyst for the Mets’ offense on Saturday, said he believes it helped Senga get into rhythm.

“Four runs in the first is always big and I think it gave Kodai the confidence to just go out there and pump strikes and let his stuff play,” he said.

Mendoza went a step further and called Baty’s hit a tone-setter.

“[Baty] came through right away with the bases loaded to set the tone with a bases-clearing triple there,” Mendoza said. “Not only offensively but defensively. Made a couple of plays, the line drive right at him, but the slow roller was really good the way he charged it, got rid of it.

“Pretty good play by Pete with the good footwork, with the stretch and the pick. But Brett, the defense, the at-bats, the conviction. Confident player. He’s hitting fifth today, first inning gets an opportunity and comes through.”

Baty’s second triple of the season rewarded his manager for moving him up in the lineup. And although it was his only hit on Saturday, it was obviously a big one, and another example of the young hitter’s maturation in the majors. His hit was his fifth RBI to put the Mets in the lead this season, tied for the fourth-most on the team. He recorded 16 RBI over 21 games in May.

In 16 starts since being recalled from Triple-A on May 5, Baty is slashing .304/.350/.625 with 10 runs, one double, one triple, five homers and a .975 OPS.

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