NEW YORK _ Baseball is truly in the eye of the beholder.
The bottom of the fifth inning at Citi Field on Wednesday night was either the most beautiful thing you've ever seen (Mets fans) or the ugliest thing you've ever witnessed (Twins fans).
The Mets scored six two-out runs in the fifth en route to a 9-6 victory. They scored those six runs on two hits _ and only one of the hits contributed to the scoring.
Three Twins pitchers combined to walk six batters and hit another in a seven-batter span. The Mets, trailing 1-0, tied the score on a hit by pitch. Then came three consecutive bases-loaded walks. Then Wilson Ramos, perhaps turning down a potential fourth consecutive bases-loaded walk, grounded a 2-and-0 pitch into right field for a two-run single and a 6-1 Mets lead.
The Mets sent 11 batters to the plate. Three put the ball in play (Ramos twice).
To explain the beginning of the inning we have to start with the end.
The inning ended when Jeff McNeil struck out. McNeil, who was responsible for two outs in the inning, flung down his bat in disgust. He was the only unhappy Met in the building.
Ramos opened the inning with a groundout. McNeil followed with a single to left, the Mets' first hit against starter Jake Odorizzi, who then walked Amed Rosario and J.D. Davis to load the bases.
With Noah Syndergaard batting, McNeil was picked off third base when a would-be wild pitch banged off the backstop and back to catcher Mitch Garver, who threw to Odorizzi covering home plate.
McNeil, who Syndergaard recently nicknamed "Squirrel," stopped like a deer in the headlights. He was late scampering back to third and was nailed for the second out.
Then the beauty _ or the turn-your-head, don't-look carnage, depending on your point of view _ really began.
Syndergaard walked to re-load the bases. Rookie Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in rookie left-hander Andrew Vasquez, who was called up from Triple-A Rochester earlier in the day.
Vasquez threw two balls before hitting Brandon Nimmo in the back to tie the score at 1. Vasquez then bounced a 3-and-2 pitch to Pete Alonso to force in the go-ahead run.
Vasquez fell behind Robinson Cano 2-and-0 before throwing an up-and-in pitch to the backstop for ball three. Vasquez walked Cano on the next pitch to make it 3-1.
Baldelli brought in right-hander Trevor Hildenberger, who walked Michael Conforto on four pitches. 4-1. Ramos took the first two pitches for balls before grounding a two-run single to right to make it 6-1.
The Twins threw 37 pitches without the Mets putting a ball in play before Ramos' single. Overall, Minnesota pitchers threw 47 pitches (29 balls, 18 strikes).
McNeil ended the 35-minute half-inning by striking out.
The Mets added three runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Conforto and a run-scoring single by McNeil to make it 9-1.
Callaway removed Cano and Alonso for pinch runners, but the Twins were not done yet.
Syndergaard (1-1) allowed one run and two hits over the first seven innings. He was removed in the eighth after the Twins scored twice on a single (Garver), RBI double (Jonathan Schoop) and RBI triple (Byron Buxton) to pull to within 9-3.
Jeurys Familia entered and allowed a run-scoring infield single to pinch hitter Jake Cave. Syndergaard's final line was seven-plus innings, five hits, four runs, no walks and seven strikeouts.
Max Kepler followed with a double and Jorge Polanco walked to load the bases. Willians Astudillo grounded into a 5-4-3 double play as a run scored to make it 9-5. Familia got out of the jam by getting Eddie Rosario to ground out to second.
