Former Pottsville High standout Travis Blankenhorn is back with the New York Mets for another cup of coffee.
But if he puts more charges into the ball like he did Saturday night in Pittsburgh, maybe he can find a way to stick around a little longer.
Blankenhorn Gets First Big League RBI
Blankenhorn recorded his first RBI at the Major League level in the 7th inning of the Mets 9-7 loss to the Pirates. Pinch hitting for Mets starting pitcher Tylor Megill in the top of the 7th, Blankenhorn sent a drive to deep right center field of PNC Park.
The liner smashed off the top of the wall and careened back toward the outfield. Blankenhorn reached 2nd on the hit and drove in Luis Guillorme to give the Mets a 5-0 lead.
Here’s a clip of the hit courtesy of the Mets and WPIX-TV. You can hear temporary Mets announcer Gary Thorne botch Blankenhorn’s big moment by calling him Guillorme:
First career RBI for Travis Blankenhorn. 👏 #LGM pic.twitter.com/7KDXSlabR3
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 18, 2021
This was the second double of Blankenhorn’s big-league career, both this season. Actually, both of Blankenhorn’s hits this year are doubles. He’s now 2-for-12 at the plate.
Blankenhorn advanced to 3rd on Pete Alonso’s fielder’s choice and then scored New York’s 6th run on Jeff McNeil’s single.
Mets manager Luis Rojas did not use Blankenhorn outside of that one plate appearance. After holding the Pirates scoreless in the 7th, the bottom fell out on the NL East leaders. The Bucs scored 5 runs in the 8th and got a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the 9th inning to top the Mets, 9-7.
This was Blankenhorn’s first game with the Mets since June 30, when he got 2 at-bats in a 20-2 blowout loss to the Braves. He was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse earlier in the day when the Mets placed superstar Francisco Lindor on the 15-day injured list.
At Syracuse, Blankenhorn is crushing the ball this year, with 4 homers and 14 RBI. He’s drawn 10 walks and struck out just 7 times in 49 plate appearances.
He’s appeared in 12 games with the big club since being acquired by New York off waivers earlier this season.
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