Jeff McNeil won one of three games to keep himself in the playoff hunt of the “MLB The Show” players league.
Jeff McNeil has all but solidified his place in the “MLB The Show” players league postseason despite his New York Mets losing two of three on Thursday night.
More importantly, on Friday night he caught his first glimpse of the players league frontrunner Joey Gallo of the Texas Rangers.
Game One
In game one, McNeil faced off against the “MLB The Show” powerhouse that is Joey Gallo.
He went down almost immediately. In the top of the first, Gallo launched a two-run homer with himself to take a 2-0 lead, but McNeil settled down. He escaped the first inning and managed to keep the deficit to two runs until the third inning.
Unfortunately, Gallo was fully warmed up by that point. He launched another homer with himself to make it a 3-0 lead. Home runs by Kole Calhoun, Rougned Odor, and pretty much half the lineup led to a 9-0 lead for Gallo.
McNeil managed to put two runs on the board with a Pete Alonso single. Obviously, that wasn’t nearly enough as Gallo cruised to a victory.
Game Two
McNeil found his rhythm in game two. He jumped ahead in the first inning with an RBI single by Robinson Cano.
That run would prove to be all McNeil needed with Noah Syndergaard on the mound, who threw two scoreless innings and secured the win.
McNeil hit a two-run shot with Michael Conforto in the third to give Dellin Betances enough breathing room to lock down the save.
Game Three
Game three was a frustrating one for McNeil. He scored all three of his runs in the first inning on a bases-loaded fielders choice and an Amed Rosario single.
With three runs on the board, McNeil’s winning prospects were looking good.
However, in the bottom of the first, Matt Olson launched a two-run home run before his opponent, Jesus Luzardo, ripped a pinch-hit RBI double with Khris Davis.
Knotted up at three, the game went into extra innings. Tragically in the fifth, McNeil forgot to warm up a reliever after pinch-hitting in the top of the inning. That mistake proved costly as Luzardo ended the game on a walk-off homer with Marcus Semien.
Luckily for McNeil, he’s still in good shape for the players league postseason. There are still a few games to be played but if he can play .500 ball the rest of the way, he should be just fine.
