Too Little, Too Late

If I were a Washington Nationals fan, after I finished reading the Political section of the Washington Post and cleared the dishes from my Breakfast nook in my posh Dupont Circle apartment, I might go for a jog down Connecticut Avenue. Afterward, I'll come back home and take another glance at that dog-eared copy of the Post to see Max Scherzer celebrating his second No Hitter of the season, and think to myself, "Where was that when it mattered?"

Fortunately, I am not a Nationals fan, and when it mattered most, the Nationals couldn't beat the Mets. The Mets battered Scherzer when they faced him in early September, and though he's handed the Mets the ignominy of being no-hit for the second time this season, it's far too late for it to make much of a difference. The same can be said for Gio Gonzalez in the early game. Yes, he held the Mets down and the Nationals won the game, but when it mattered, Gio was awfully pedestrian.

That being said, the Mets continue to not make a very good case for themselves going into the Postseason. This little cold snap that's blown over the offense has now turned into a 5-game losing streak, and they've scored 1 run in their last 3 games. This has, unfortunately, led to the Dodgers clinching the home field advantage for the impending NLDS, but again, I'm still not certain that this bothers the Mets that much.

On the upside, and if there is such an upside to being no-hit, at least I wasn't there to see it like I was last time. Instead, I only got to find out about it after the fact. In the Mets' defense, Scherzer pulled off the feat in another game where the Mets ran out their "D" lineup, as a majority of the regular starters sat out the frigid nightcap and those who played found themselves totally declawed by Scherzer. Additionally, when it comes to teams getting no-hit twice in a season, the Mets will in fact be facing a team in the NLDS that's pulled off the same feat.

On the upside, the Mets pitching looks ready to rock and roll. Noah Syndergaard stepped on Washington's throat in the early game and the Mets only lost when Addison Reed faltered in the 8th. In the later game, Matt Harvey finished off his regular season with a stellar 6 innings of work, striking out 11 and probably would have been the story of the game had he not gone up against Washington's Small Time Hero. But, such is life.

One more, this afternoon, and then the Mets will have to pull their shit together. A win today would be nice, though.