Don't Get Swept

The Mets somehow managed to score some runs and win on Sunday, thereby avoiding getting swept at home by the Colorados. The last time the Mets were swept at home in a 4-game series by the Colorados, the whole season fell into the abyss and signaled the continuation of Year 4 of the Six Years Of Misery. So the operative thing here was to find a way to beat the Colorados. Because when you play the Colorados, and you're at home, the one thing you need to do is NOT GET SWEPT! Otherwise, everything is terrible.

The Mets won, yes, but I'm still unconvinced that things are not terrible. There were some pretty painful things going on in this game from the get-go. First, Noah Syndergaard. I know that Syndergaard is just working through some growing pains and dealing with the increased workload and demand of his first full Major League season. But he's sort of unraveled into a little bit of Al Leiter-ness, in which he's throwing fine, but he's not putting hitters away. This was apparent from the start when he went 11 pitches deep on Charlie McCharlieman, the first batter of the game. All in all, Syndergaard somehow gritted his teeth and got through 6 innings, but in those 6 innings he snapped off 118 pitches, and I believe about 64 of them were fouled off.

Meanwhile, the Mets kind of hit against Chad Bettis, which they should do since he leads the league in hits allowed, but because it's the Mets, they hit for 3 innings, took a 3-1 lead, and then stopped. So the Colorados came back against Syndergaard and tied the game, and then took the lead in the 7th when Jerry Blevins came in and threw pitches not especially close to the strike zone. So now, the Mets were losing to the Colorados once again, and once again they were playing with a 3-man bench, because Yoenis Cespedes was out once again (and clearly the Mets couldn't cajole him into the lineup on this day) and Asdrubal Cabrera got some of Cortisone Shot Ramirez's stink on him while coming around 3rd in the 1st inning, hurt his knee, and so don't expect to see him again until Spring Training 2017. Those three were, of course, the Struggling Travis d'Arnaud, the Struggling Curtis Granderson and Justin Ruggiano, who mysteriously has appeared on the team without anyone paying much attention. So the guys in there already needed to figure this one out for themselves. They got a couple of guys on against Boone Logan, which is normal for them, but you figured it was a matter of time before someone swung out of their shoes and hit a pop fly. Neil Walker seemed the culprit with 2 on and 2 out, and he did swing, but his fly ball somehow managed to land in the seats, and not just any seats, seats behind an Outfield fence for a 3-run Home Run to give the Mets a 6-4 lead.

After a few days of not having to worry about blowing a save because there wasn't a lead to be blown, Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia worked clean innings to finish out the Colorados and salvage the series finale. And, believe me, this game was about as excruciating as it seems. But, somehow, the Mets managed to come away with a win, which is quite fortunate. This upcoming week, of course, is Baseball Shit Show Week here in New York and I wouldn't want to have to go into the 4-game Hyperbolic Chamber that is the Subway Series on a 5-game losing streak. The opposing team's fans are bad enough, but you could tell they're licking their chops to hose the Mets down given everything that's happened over the past 12 months (snort slobber drool). Regardless, I can't tell you how much I'm not looking forward to these next 4 games because of the inevitable stupid that's just waiting to happen. Much like what happens when you play the Colorados, the operative thing once again is DON'T GET SWEPT!