Bad Feeling Friday

Friday Night at Citi Field was one of those nights that had all the makings...of abject disaster.

I was talking to a friend on Thursday night about how I'd be going to the game on Friday, and he was talking about the Mets going up against Max Scherzer and how it didn't look good, and I mused about how the Mets had, in fact, beaten Scherzer previously and actually roughed him up. He pointed out to me that Scherzer also threw a No Hitter against the Mets. Given the state of these two teams heading clearly in opposite directions, it seemed as though the latter was more likely. Still, I forged on, it was Friday, I'd already exchanged into the game, and, well, how bad could it be?

The upshot, of course, is that Scherzer did not no-hit the Mets again. Unfortunately, the Mets managed little of consequence against him through 8 innings. Steven Matz, making his home debut did his admirable best, but was victimized by three Home Runs, putting the Mets into a Scherzer-proof hole and the best they could muster was getting Scherzer out of the game after 8.

It was a pleasant night, if nothing else, and I was early enough to the game that I actually milled around downstairs and stopped at Fuku, which I enjoy but don't get to very often since it's not at all in my particular Citi Field path of choice. I suppose that was the highlight of the evening, and when the meal was the highlight of the evening, you know it wasn't a very good game.

Matz had already allowed back-to-back Home Runs to Matt Wieters and Michael Taylor when he led off the 3rd inning and banged a single up the middle, which was the Mets first hit, and thus ensured that Scherzer would not get a No Hitter. However, by that time he was strutting around the infield and generally keeping the Mets from doing anything meaningful. But at least at 2-0, the hope was that Matz could hold the Nationals and the bats could wear down Scherzer and give themselves a chance to come back against Washington's awful bullpen. Unfortunately, in the 6th, Anthony Rendon hit a 2-run Home Run to make the score 4-0, and just in case there was any suspense left in the game, the Nationals tacked on three more runs in the 9th inning in an excruciating procedure that turned what had been a brisk 2+ hour game into a 3-hour slog that ultimately ended in the same result.

Sigh. The Free Shirt Friday shirt wasn't even any good. That was depressing. So much for the positive vibes coming off of the Cubs series.