One Lazy Afternoon

Thursday's game, yet another of the fabled Radio Afternoon Specials for me, was, perhaps, a good example of a team just letting their frustrations out after a spell of misfortune. After a week where nothing went right for the Mets, between injuries, inconsistency and Miguel Cabrera, this 9-game homestand had seen the Mets go 2-6 and look really bad in the 6. But, with one chance to get it right and if nothing else split this interminably long 4-game series with the Phillies, the Mets went out, smacked around that Ethan Hawke fellow, scored 11 runs and came away with a resounding win in support of Carlos Torres, pitching in the now-vacated Matt Harvey spot in the rotation.

A majority of the people in my office cleared out early in the day yesterday, in anticipation of the holiday weekend. I, however, did not leave, opting instead to take advantage of a rare quiet day in the office. I used this opportunity to provide myself with the company of Howie Rose, along with replacement announcers Eddie Coleman and the always-dreary Jim Duquette. I don't like this particular combination, because often, I have a tendency to not listen, and then I realize I'm listening to Coleman and Duquette and wondering where the hell Howie Rose is (This happened today—even when there's not many people around, I can still lose myself in some work). I bring this up because, in the 4th inning, I heard Coleman announce that someone hit a Home Run. I missed who hit it, and I got excited for a second, because I knew that Matt den Dekker had been called up and was making his debut this afternoon. That would have been a hell of a start! But, no, it wasn't den Dekker. It was another guy who'd been recalled with him, Anthony Recker, who continues to hit very little, but make what hits he does get count.

In fact, it appeared as though just about everyone other than den Dekker was hitting for the Mets on this day, particularly Recker, Daniel Murphy (for once), Andrew Brown and Eric Young. Though I predictably drifted in and out of the game, I did hear the Mets scoring several runs, and it appeared that those 4 were particularly front and center in these rallies. And the rallies were plentiful. The Mets scored at least once in every inning from the 3rd to the 8th, which feels like something they haven't done in about 15 years, and they cruised—cruised—to a 11-3 victory.

Strange as it may seem, the Mets only have two road trips left this season. It feels as though it's snuck up on us, but all of a sudden, this season is almost over. This penultimate road trip takes the Mets to Washington, where they will make a rare appearance on The Biggest Game In The Galaxy on Sunday night, followed by, in one of the more asinine scheduling quirks ever, a Monday Afternoon game in Atlanta. Nice of MLB to do us that solid. After that, a visit to my relatives in Cleveland, which should be fun. Haven't been there in a while.