Gremlins 2

It's worth noting that my other half and I are moving on Friday. Our lives at this point have essentially been reduced to boxes and more boxes, with a healthy dose of boxes.

As such, I haven't been able to watch these games in their entirety the last couple of days, and will probably see even less the next couple of days. This is just as well; it will spare my sanity the cost of having to deal with being subjected to the Subway Series and all the garbage that comes along with it.

I saw about two innings on Tuesday night and that was probably two innings too many. Jacob deGrom, whom I'd hoped might be above an attack of the Subway Series, instead succumbed to it in the 3rd inning. It was at that point that I remembered that deGrom actually began his career by having a Subway Series, so this was like coming full circle for him. At any rate, he gave up a double to Pepé Torreyes (who if you'll look closely at him, might just be the embodiment of Subway Series) to begin the 3rd inning, and he scooted up on one ground out and then scored on an Aaron Hicks single. Fortunately, Hicks did not stand there and preen this time. That was bad enough. One inning later, deGrom walked Franch Headley with two outs, and then gave up a line drive to Jacoby Ellsbury. Were this line drive hit in basically any other ballpark, it's probably a single, at most a double and not a long double at that. Of course, the environs being Steroid Field I, it landed in the Right Field seats for probably the biggest piece-of-crap 2-run Home Run I've ever seen. I would think most Mets fans reacted the same way deGrom did, by screaming and swearing into his mitt, and rightfully so because he knew. He knew he'd been done in by a Subway Series again.

Then, we were out, actually moving things to our new place of residence, and then a stop for dinner. So we didn't see the rest of the game, which again was just as well. Stubby Gray mowed down the Mets who looked mostly lifeless, until Dominic Smith hit his first Major League Home Run in the 7th inning. This made the score 4-2. deGrom worked into the 8th before departing, allowing a 6th inning Home Run to Gary Sanchez and a mess in the 8th that led to a 5th run. That 5th run of course being the Subway Series run, as in the 9th, Amed Rosario hit a 2-run Home Run off Aroldis Chapman that made the score 5-4...and thus ensured the Mets would lose by 1 run instead of 3 runs.

Had enough yet? I have. I'm actually glad I won't get to see much, if any, of the next two games and believe me, I had zero intention of actually going to those games. None for me, thanks. I'm driving.

New Guy Makes Good

I mentioned yesterday that it was good for Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith to be up and playing every day now, because it gives them a chance to get their sea legs in a mostly pressure-free situation. These two were both on display this evening in Philadelphia, where Smith was making his Major League debut, and picking up his first hit on a chopper single in the 4th inning. Meanwhile, Rosario, veteran of 10 ML games, had what could be looked at as one of those "arrival" games, picking up 3 hits, being central to a pair of rallies, and then capping his night by hitting his 1st Major League Home Run in the 9th inning of a tie game and giving the Mets a 7-6 victory.

Granted, I, of course, immediately thought of another instance where a Met wearing #1 hit a 9th inning, tie-breaking Home Run in Philadelphia, but I have a feeling Rosario has more staying power than Jordany Valdespin (unless you enjoy his being memorialized on the SNY pre-and post-game shows). I think we'll get a few more of these "feel-good" moments from Rosario before this season's out.

He'd already interjected himself into the game plenty by the 9th. After Seth Lugo spotted the Phillies a 3-0 lead, the Mets did what they usually do in Philadelphia and hit their way back into things. Michael Conforto led off the 2nd with a Home Run, and then after Rosario singled to lead off the 3rd and Neil Walker walked, Yoenis Cespedes hit a 3-run Home Run and the Mets had the lead off of Nick Pivetta, whom I'm not totally sure about because I don't follow the Phillies, but I suspect he may be a "Trades High/Great Stuff" guy.

But Philly re-tied the game against Lugo and things kind of went back-and-forth from there. Mets took the lead in the 5th—again after Rosario led off the inning with a hit—Phillies battled back and tied the game when Carlos Hernandez hit a Home Run off of Jerry Blevins in the 8th. But then that only set the stage for Rosario in the 9th, and this Mets win. The way this season has played out, I feel like Mets fans need a win like this just to get them off the ledge. At least for a few minutes.

New Found Energy

I realize there's not much that can be done to actually save the Mets this season, but the more you are able to find some bright spots for the future, you go with that.

Two such new faces played prominent roles in the Mets Coors Field-aided 10-5 comeback win over the Colorados on Wednesday night. The first was Chris Flexen, who may simply be in the rotation right now because he's not Tyler Pill, or Tommy Milone, or Aaron Laffey, or Chan Ho Park, or Brett Hinchcliffe, or any other such gap-filling pitcher with no particular hope. That's not to say he at this point does inspire a great deal of confidence, but if nothing else, he's young, he has a reasonably live arm and some decent chance of upside. That being said, he hasn't exactly looked ready for prime time in his first two Major League outings. I don't know just how much of it is the fact that he's two starts removed from AA ball and how much is that he's pitching in Coors Field against a strong Colorados lineup, but the 3rd inning got away from him real fast and as such, his night ended there dazed and in a 5-0 hole after a series of ringing hits.

But since it's Coors Field, 5-0 isn't impossible, even for the Mets right now. Facing Tyler Chatwood, who can be intermittently good and horrible, the Mets stormed right back and their other new face, Amed Rosario, was instrumental in pushing this along. The Mets had scored two in the 4th and Rosario came up in the 5th inning with Curtis Granderson on 2nd and lined a shot past Nolan Arenado and into the Left Field corner. Rosario flew around the bases and even though the ball was picked up by an ignorant fan, Rosario was awarded 3rd base anyway. How often do you see that? A ground rule triple. And he was home shortly thereafter as he scored on a Travis d'Arnaud groundout and very quickly, 5-2 became 5-4 almost solely because of Rosario.

The Mets then continued to attack in the 6th, scoring another 6 runs after I'd shut the game off and attempted to go to bed. Yoenis Cespedes doubled home the tying run, Curtis Granderson gave the Mets the lead with a 3-run Home Run, and the Mets continued on from there until they were the ones with the 5 run lead. Now, all they had to do was hope their bullpen could hold it, which is of course always a dicey proposition. But Paul Sewald did his job, and even Fernando Salas threw a scoreless inning, and then A.J. Ramos finished it off and the Mets had themselves a victory, one that feels primarily spurred on by this new fellow because he pushed the envelope and helped make the early deficit seem not so impossible. Or maybe it was just the rarefied air, silly!

Do Well

Presumably, when your team's top prospect ascends to make his Major League debut, you want a few things to happen. You want him to play well, and look relaxed even if he's about to jump through his uniform. You want him to get his first hit so that it's out of the way and doesn't drag out and become a thing. You want him to play well in the field and not make any errors, and not do anything to screw up the game.

We got almost all of that out of Amed Rosario in his Major League debut on Tuesday night. He looked collected and calm for the most part. He got his first hit on an 8th inning Infield Single. However, it was a mistake he made at a crucial moment in the 9th inning that opened the doors for the Colorados to score the winning run and take the series opener, 5-4.

Blame on these sorts of plays get passed out all over the place, and sure, there was probably some miscommunication between Neil Walker and Rosario on the pitch to D.J. LeMahieu. But it wasn't, as some seem to make it out to be, some egregious mistake. These things happen and, well, Jose Reyes or Asdrubal Cabrera are just as capable of doing the same thing and when they do it, they're old and creaky. Or they're old and creaky anyway.  Irregardless, it happened, and Nolan Arenado followed with a looping single to win the game for the Colorados.

All that being said, the game to that point seemed to be playing into the Colorados hands. It was one of those games that a good team will always win and a bad team will always find a way to lose and so it shouldn't be too terribly surprising. The Mets had an early lead, Steven Matz then allowed a 3-run Home Run to Arenado in the 6th. The Mets battle back to tie and then take the lead in the 8th on a Jay Bruce Home Run, and then Paul Sewald and Jerry Blevins allow the Colorados to tie the game back up. And, then, Hansel Robles enters the game and, well, Robles has inspired such confidence that when he enters a game, I often wonder not if he'll screw it up, but how. And if he doesn't walk Charlie McCharliemon to start the 9th, maybe we're not in this mess talking about a Rookie's misplay. Or maybe we're just talking about the Rookie's misplay because who wants to waste their time talking about Hansel Robles?

Next Generation

The Mets of course made news with two moves on Monday, one of which was expected and the other of which had been long anticipated.

The first was the departure of Addison Reed to Boston for a trio of Pitching prospects whom none of us have ever really heard of so we just let them marinate in the Minors for now and hope for the best, because the hope is that they turn out to be more useful than many of the relievers the Mets have blindly been trotting out this season. As for Reed, we wish him well. He did some excellent work here; in spite of being somewhat iffy in his brief cameo in 2015, he put it all together and was outstanding in 2016 and for the most part again this season when he was shoved into the Closer's role.

The other news, of greater import, was the promotion of Amed Rosario to the Major Leagues after months of clamoring and clanging and wondering when it would actually happen. Well, now that time is here and we can see just what, exactly, Rosario is or will be. I expect he'll take a few days to get his sea legs under him; it helps that he'll be debuting in Colorado, but nonetheless that he was ready skill-wise was not in doubt. Let's see how ready he is mentally. The hope with these guys is, as always, that you have someone who will grab the position and stay there for the next 10-15 years. Sort of like the guy he's basically replacing, Jose Reyes. We'll hear that comparison made a few times, I'd think.

So...yeah. Reed out, Rosario in. Excitement abound for the last two months of a basically lost season. Let's go.