Wilson Ramos arrived at his stall in the Mets’ clubhouse to a cluster of balloons jokingly commemorating his 50th birthday, an exaggeration of 18 years by whoever pulled the prank on the veteran catcher.
Ramos received a far more important designation from manager Mickey Callaway for Saturday’s game against Washington — another chance to catch starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard.
The reunited pairing hit it off, with Syndergaard lasting seven innings after allowing a two-run homer to Anthony Rendon in the first. Ramos also belted a game-tying blast in the fourth of the rolling Mets’ eighth straight win, 4-3, over the Nats at Citi Field.
“I know how he likes to throw, power pitch and all that, but I know I haven’t been catching him for a couple of starts,” Ramos said after the game. “I always concentrate on my approach behind the plate and what he likes to do … and he threw a pretty good game.”
Defensive-minded backup Tomas Nido had started for Syndergaard’s previous seven appearances since the righty returned from the injured list on June 30. After Syndergaard departed a 2-2 game after seven innings and 97 pitches thrown, Juan Soto and Luis Guillorme traded solo shots in the eighth, with the Mets going ahead later in the inning on J.D. Davis’ sacrifice fly.
Syndergaard now has worked at least seven innings in each of his past six outings (1.91 ERA). His overall ERA in nine games started by Nido is 3.35, still more than a full run better (4.50) in 12 games with Ramos as his batterymate.
“When Noah is Noah, it doesn’t matter who’s catching him,” Callaway said.
Ramos, of course, is vastly superior offensively to Nido. His fourth-inning homer into the second deck in left — the tail end of back-to-back blasts with Davis to tie the game — moved Ramos back into a tie with Gary Sanchez for the major-league lead among catchers with 59 RBIs.
“I’m very excited for that. I concentrate a lot on bringing runners in every time I get an opportunity to do it,” Ramos said.
Callaway also said he believes the 32-year-old backstop’s defense has improved significantly over the course of the season. Ramos has been behind the plate for four staff shutouts during the Mets’ 21-5 surge into postseason contention.
“He’s obviously catching the majority of the games,” Callaway said. “You need his bat in the middle of the lineup.”
Afterward, the 32-year-old Ramos also admitted with a smile that he was “really pissed” about the 50th birthday balloons, which still hovered above his locker. “I am not 50,” he said.
“That was the real reason he caught today. You can’t sit anybody on their birthday,” Callaway said jokingly. “But he’s done a tremendous job and he deserves to catch as often as possible.”
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The post Mets’ Wilson Ramos thrives in rare Noah Syndergaard team-up appeared first on Fox USA Live.
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