JD Davis and Robinson Cano don’t have the whole game to be productive.
The Mets have been aggressive in replacing both players defensively at the end of games and did so again in Tuesday’s 8-3 win over the Red Sox at Fenway Park.
But each one made its presence felt on the plate.
Davis, who nearly had his first home run of this bizarre season on Monday night, but was the victim of a questionable question when his left shot was declared a foul, attempted the other side of the field on Tuesday with greater success. His fly ball to right field sounded annoying on the post for a two-run homer.
“I got the ball and it has a bit of annoying paint,” Davis said.
Davis’ one-shot from Austin Brice in the top of the fifth gave the Mets a 5-1 lead and was just part of a strong overall game in which he added a solid defensive play in the bottom of the first.
With left-hander David Peterson making his MLB debut on the mound, José Peraza headed for the Red Sox with a line drive that hit the Green Monster high on the left. Davis played the ball perfectly and Peraza made a brutal decision to try to stretch the shot to double.
Davis, who worked for two days with field instructor Tony DeFrancesco for two days removing balls from the Monster, got Peraza about 10 feet and Peraza didn’t even make it to the bag.
Davis also helped spark the Mets’ first rally of the night against Boston starter Matt Hall. Davis started the top of the second with a single to center against the left-hander. He came in to score the Mets ‘first run on Cano’s double RBI in the Mets’ second three-run run.
Cano, who went 2 for 3, also walked and hit an error. He had entered the game on a 1 for 12 skid.
Manager Luis Rojas said he was “not concerned” with Cano.
Cano added after the game: “It was just four games. I always start slow. Today was one of the days he clicks and I hope we move on from there. ”
Cano and Davis are part of a puzzle Rojas is putting together each game as the rookie manager tries to combine the correct lineup with the best possible defensive setup.
So far, he’s always had Cano in second, Jeff McNeil in third, and Davis on the left. McNeil made his third young error of the season on Tuesday, a shooting error on a Kevin Plawecki infield single in the fifth that gave the Red Sox two-for-one, but Peterson came out of the jam with an unorthodox double play. .
Davis was eliminated by Jake Marisnick before the end of the seventh, while Cano was eliminated by pinch hitter Andrés Giménez in the eighth after Cano’s second hit of the night.
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