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Norman Powell shot 7-of-12 from the field and 3-of-3 from the foul line in Thursday’s Game 3 win over the Nuggets, finishing with 20 points, one rebound, three assists, one steal and three three-pointers in 29 minutes.
After scoring 25 points on 10-of-26 shooting in the Clippers’ two games in Denver, Powell was much better in Game 3. Not only did he shoot over 50 percent from the field, but the Clippers’ guard finished one blocked shot shy of a complete stat line. Non-stars tend to play better at home than on the road, and that was undoubtedly true for Powell. Game 4 is scheduled for Saturday, with the Clippers aiming to take a 3-1 series lead.
Pete Alonso had a walkoff sac fly in the Mets’ 4-3 defeat of the Pirates on Monday.
Francisco Lindor reached on an error in a tie game, advanced to third on a Juan Soto single and then scored on Alonso’s flyball. Alonso also had an RBI single on a grounder in the seventh. He’s alone in second in the majors with 36 RBI, three behind Aaron Judge.
David Peterson gave up two runs in six innings and struck out seven Monday in a no-decision against the Pirates.
Peterson’s 100 pitches produced 17 whiffs and a 37% CSW, allowing him to overcome the Isiah Kiner-Falefa homer and seven other hard-hit balls he surrendered. Peterson still hasn’t allowed more than three earned runs in any of his eight starts this season. He deserves better than a 2-2 record, especially with the Mets being 6-2 in his starts. He’ll face the Yankees in the Bronx this weekend.
Huascar Brazobán took a blown save but recorded a win after allowing an unearned run in the ninth Monday against the Pirates.
The Mets turned to Brazobán with a one-run lead because Edwin Díaz had pitched the previous two days, and Brazobán got the grounders he wanted, but two turned into singles and a misplay from Francisco Lindor hurt the cause. Still, Brazobán was able to preserve the tie after giving up the tying run, and he notched the win in the bottom of the ninth. Brazobán has a 1.08 ERA in 25 innings while doing much of the dirty work in the Mets pen.
Paul Skenes was uninvolved in the decision Monday after limiting the Mets to one run over six innings.
Skenes allowed six hits, walked three and struck out six before departing with a one-run lead that disappeared immediately in the seventh. He has fallen short of dominance in giving up eight runs with a 14/11 K/BB in 17 innings this month, but there still doesn’t seem to be much of anything wrong here. This is just what a Paul Skenes slump looks like, apparently.
David Bednar lost to the Mets after giving up an unearned run in the bottom of the ninth on Monday.
Brought into a tie game, Bednar retired the first batter he faced before the second reached on an Isiah Kiner-Falefa error. A single and a game-ending sac fly followed. Bednar won’t get much blame for this one, but it can’t help matters as he contends with Dennis Santana for late-game opportunities.
Bryan Reynolds went 0-for-5 and grounded into a double play to end a threat in the ninth Monday against the Mets.
What a disaster of a season Reynolds is having. In his last at-bat, he had two on in a 3-3 game in the ninth and hit a weak grounder to Jeff McNeil at second, ending the inning. He had zero hard-hit balls tonight, and while Statcast says he’s been terribly unlucky, he’s hitting just .204/.266/.323 with 52 strikeouts in 184 plate appearances overall. He had his shoulder injury to blame early on, but he’s healthy now and still performing as one of the league’s worst players.