Stroman's throw home earns Play of the Week

August 5th, 2019

Major League Baseball awarded new Mets starter with the Play of the Week Award presented by W.B. Mason, on Monday.

Stroman was laboring through the first inning of his start Saturday -- his first in a Mets uniform after he came to the club from the Blue Jays via trade July 28 -- surrendering singles to the first four Pirates hitters he faced and then walking in a run before Pittsburgh’s Kevin Newman came to the plate with the bases loaded and one out. Newman hit a swinging bunt to the left of the pitcher’s mound and to an awkward spot between Stroman and third baseman Todd Frazier, but Stroman pounced off the mound, grabbed the ball barehanded and made a shortstop-like, side-armed throw to home in one fluid motion.

Stroman’s fantastic play beat Starling Marte at home plate by a step for the forceout, and then he was able to get Jacob Stallings to pop out to first to escape the jam. The play partially turned around Stroman’s outing; he went 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs, keeping his offense within reach before it broke out for five runs in the eighth and ninth innings to give the Mets a 7-5 win.

“Best play I’ve ever seen a pitcher make,” said Mets manager Mickey Callaway, a former Major League pitcher and pitching coach. “After he made that play, he settled in nicely and threw the ball well.”

New York has won nine of its last 10 games and has a chance Monday to climb back to the .500 mark for the first time since May 28.

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Matt Kelly is a reporter for MLB.com based in New York.