Not Sorry

Wednesday afternoon was one of those "working man's specials," and as such I didn't see any of the game, so I have to subject you to one of my "less informed" summaries.

It was good until it sucked.

That seems about the best way to sum this game up. The Mets had a perfectly good opportunity to steal a win with their Plan H starter Tommy Milone, sweep the Giants and hop over the .500 mark. They slogged their way through against Matt Cain, got a Home Run from Jay Bruce, an RBI single from Milone himself, and a 3-2 lead was handed to Jeurys Familia in the 9th.

Now, of course, I only know what transpired from there on Gamecast, so I don't know just how egregious Wilmer Flores' tide-turning error actually was. But it fucked everything up good and proper. Still, Familia ought to have been game enough to get out of this. We've seen him do it before. Then again, we've seen him come completely unglued against this opponent as well. Instead of getting another ground ball, he gave up a hit to Hunter Pence to tie the game, because, well, Hunter Pence was genetically engineered to get a hit in that spot, and then he gave up a 3 run double to Christian Arroyo to torch the whole thing. Flores then, of course, came within mere feet of atoning for his sins in the bottom of the inning but it was a day late and a bounce short and instead of a sweep, the Mets fell 6-5 and now go on the road once again a game under .500.

These do happen sometimes, irritating as it may be. If the Mets weren't so undermanned right now maybe they wouldn't have been in this situation in the first place but such are the vicissitudes of Baseball. It's still irksome. I'm not sorry I missed it.

Remember That Kid?

The Mets won again on Saturday in Washington, giving them the first two games of this weekend series and spread all sorts of good cheer around in the process. Mostly, this was done by Michael Conforto, who hit a pair of Home Runs to sort of bookend this 5-3 victory, and by Jeurys Familia, who either shook off the cobwebs or finally stopped pussyfooting around, stoned up, and pitched a solid inning for his first Save of the season. On April 29th.

Zack Wheeler should also get some credit here, as although he once again only managed to get through 5 innings and worked through several jams and threw tons of pitches, preventing him from getting any particular length to his outing, he still minimized damage and departed having only allowed two runs and with his team in the lead. Unfortunately, he didn't get through 5 innings and Hansel Robles subsequently took the mound and vultured a win from him (Robles' 4th of the year, if you can believe it). Still, these small success in the big picture have to be considered a positive since if nothing else he's starting to find some consistency in his outings. And pitch counts and jams were an issue for him even before he got hurt.

I feel more inclined to give more credit to Conforto, though. After basically having a wasted season because of management's refusal to just let him play and figure it out for himself, Conforto has shaken off his own cobwebs and has broken from the gate like gangbusters. He's been the only real consistent bat for the Mets to this point this season, and although he doesn't pose as such, he's actually not a terrible fit as a leadoff guy. He can work a count, he can take a walk, he can hit a line drive, or he can hit it out of the ballpark and who cares if he's not really a basestealer? Last season, he just needed to be in there and for whatever reason he kept getting blocked. This season, there's been enough injuries around him that he's had to play and as such the results speak for themselves. He's forcibly interjected himself into the conversation and Saturday continued to strengthen his case to remain in the lineup on a daily basis as he not only hit a Home Run off of Stephen Strasburg to put the Mets ahead in the 5th, but he added an insurance run with his second Home Run off the gate, off a tough lefthander in Enny Romero. This marked both his first regular season Home Run off a lefthander and his first regular season multi-Home Run game to boot and I have to note that it's the first time he's done this in the regular season because he also did it IN THE FREAKING WORLD SERIES AS A ROOKIE. In case you forgot. This kid's good. Remember him?

dEscape

The Mets won on Friday, in Washington, if you can believe it. I'm still sort of trying to process it myself. But it's true. They won 7-5, thanks to Travis d'Arnaud hitting a pair of long Home Runs off of Max Scherzer. They won thanks to Jacob deGrom ratcheting up another double-digit strikeout game. They won thanks to their offense stringing together some key hits and tacking on runs late in the game. Most notably, of course, they won because Terry Collins had the foresight to remove a struggling Jeurys Familia from a 9th inning jam, and replaced him with Josh Edgin, who managed to induce Bryce Harper to hit into a 1-2-3 double play to end the game.

This being a Friday evening game, it started with me getting home and falling asleep as opposed to turning on the game, and as such I didn't actually see either of d'Arnaud's Home Runs, and I didn't see deGrom have a 2nd inning hiccup and then go into lockdown mode from there. And that seems to be deGrom's season to this point. He's not the leading man like Syndergaard, he's not the ballyhooed reclamation project like Harvey or Wheeler and he's not a Rookie trying to prove himself like Gsellman. So it's easy for deGrom to fly under the radar and I think he likes it that way. Without anyone paying much attention, deGrom's had three very good starts in a row, he's throwing like he used to throw and he's been blowing guys out of the box outright.

So deGrom departed after 7 innings and 10 strikeouts and turned things over to the bullpen. By this point, I'd woken up and put the game on, and watched as the Mets had ran ahead to 7-3 and now had to try and negotiate through the final two innings of the game. Jerry Blevins got the first two outs and, in an indication of how much attention I've been paying or an indcation of how much the Mets have been struggling, or perhaps both, Addison Reed came in with 2 outs and a runner on and I thought "Jeez, Collins is going to him for the 4-out Save?" This feeling of course got a bit tenser after Reed gave up a 2-run Home Run to Ryan Zimmerman on his first pitch, and then a hit to Daniel Murphy, although the hit to Murphy seems to be a payment of penance for all Met transgressions nowadays, and I guess around this point I remembered that Jeurys Familia was the closer again and Reed was actually pitching where he was supposed to be pitching.

So Reed survived his hairy 8th and Familia came in for the 9th and started giving up hits and walks and then there was an infield hit by Adam Eaton in which Eaton tumbled over the bag in such a way that I couldn't watch the repeated replays, so whatever happened to him can't possibly be good, and then Familia finally stopped throwing his sinker or his slider, because it's just not working for him, and instead struck out Trea Turner with fastballs to finally get an out. And then Collins came and pulled him in favor of...Josh Edgin? I mean, I can get pulling Familia there. He's just not pitching well and it's been more than a week so I can't blame rust. He's struggling. He's pulling his sinker and burying it and hitters aren't buying that. And in a spot like that, well, I'm not sure how confident I felt in him going after Harper. I'm not certain that Edgin would have been my choice since he's basically been reeling from a Home Run he gave up to Howard 5 years ago, and of course if Harper got a winning hit the move would have been second-guessed for years, but instead Harper hit a comebacker to Edgin, who threw home, and d'Arnaud threw to 1st, and just like that the Mets had won. And of course with that everything was OK again.

Now, of course, the next thing would be to win another game and maybe use this as a springboard forward from the morass. 7 runs seems like a wealth of offense for this team so it's a start.

Static and Silence

Sometimes, all the superstitions, and good karma, and good omens and signs that you try to build up prior to a Baseball game can be no match for the irrepressible talent of the participants in the game itself. We got a bitter taste of this first hand last night as the Mets fell to Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants 3-0, losing the Wildcard game and rather abruptly ending their season for 2016.

I've been to more than plenty Postseason games over my years with the team, but I'm not sure I'd ever been to a game quite like this. I am, generally, nervous before these games, and I know I'm not the only one. But going in to Citi Field last night, I was a different kind of nervous. Generally, it's more like the need to jump around and release energy and scream a lot. Like last season against the Dodgers. Last night...I'm not sure. It was pretty close to legitimate fear, and probably because the Mets were going into a win-or-go-home game against a guy whose raison d'être is coming up big in these kind of games.

That was the mood in the audience all night. At introductions, they were roaring. As the game progressed and Noah Syndergaard matched Bumgarner zero for zero, everyone was with it. Fans were standing and jumping from the player introductions straight through the middle of the 1st inning. Up on every 2-strike pitch. Up for entire innings. I know. I have the knots in my calves to prove it.

This was a crowd of 44,747 that literally had their assholes tighten up every time a pitch was delivered, and I mean this was legitimate. Whether it was Syndergaard or Bumgarner, each time they wound up, 44,000 sphincters collectively went SHOONK! The entire stadium would go silent to the point where you could hear Noah's heat crack into Rene Rivera's glove all the way up in Section 509, row 16.

There is no shame in how this game played out. Bumgarner's track record speaks for itself and while the Mets approach early in the game—to be aggressive and try to attack him early—was well-intentioned, in execution it ultimately spelled disaster. Bumgarner sliced through the Mets on a paltry 21 pitches through the first 3 innings, and though the Mets did what they could to wait him out from there, they'd already played into his hands.

I'm not sure I could properly put into words just how good Noah Syndergaard was in this game. You can anoint guys, and give them a persona just based on potential, but as a capper to his first full season in the Majors, I'm not sure you could throw a much better game than Syndergaard did short of going the full 9 innings. There were days I'd watched Harvey go out and pitch like he had smoke coming out of his ears, and that's how Syndergaard looked in this game. Everything was working from the 1st inning. By the 6th, he still hadn't allowed a hit, but I don't know if anyone was cognizant or even cared about that—we just wanted him to keep striking guys out and keep the Giants scoreless. Only when Denard Span singled with 2 out in the 6th did the Giants notch one in the H column, and that went nowhere as Brandon Belt's horrifically scary-looking fly ball was run down by Curtis Granderson at the Center Field fence, sending everyone into a frenzy and eliciting screams of "Endy Chavez, JR!" from me, among others.

Syndergaard ended up with 10 strikeouts against a lineup that doesn't strike out all that much, which only illustrates just how on he was...but also illustrates the fragility of Pitching in this day and age, because by time he hit the 7th inning—and cracked 100 pitches—he was out of steam, and it wasn't really up for much debate. We'd already gone through sending the guy back out there and the ensuing chaos, but there wasn't any particular good use in sending Syndergaard back out there if he was starting to tire out. Particularly when you have Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia specifically to work these innings. Reed did his job, in spite of getting hosed by Mike Winters' erratic strike zone. Familia came in for the 9th and there was no reason to think he wouldn't do his job as well...

And that, of course, is where the clock struck midnight on the Mets for 2016. The Mets normally reliable closer had a bad night where he couldn't find the plate. He left a pitch up to a 8th-place hitting journeyman. The air was sucked right out of the building. Bumgarner came back out and finished what he started. And that, my friends, was that.

These Postseason games at Citi Field have sort of turned into a total Shit Show as far as egress is concerned, but maybe that's not a bad thing. It is helpful for me, at least, and George as well, to slowly exit the stadium after a game like this, process it all, and then start to get over it. Most people, I'd like to think, used this time to do that, but I think a game like this brought out some of the best, but also some of the worst in Mets fans. Some were anointing Familia as the new Benitez. Some blamed Terry Collins for not leaving Syndergaard in, or not taking Familia out, or using Eric Campbell and Ty Kelly as pinch hitters in the 8th inning. Or because they stepped in gum. Or Yoenis Cespedes for not hitting. Or whatever. I can understand that just making it to this Postseason Arena is enough to make you greedy, because if the Mets could overcome what they had to overcome just to get to this point, well, hell, let's see how far we can go. Especially on the heels of 2015. It makes it very easy to lose the perspective of just how miraculous it was to get her altogether. If 2015 was amazing because the team had a young core that gelled really quickly and sort of overachieved, I think 2016 is just as amazing because all the young core guys (and several other not-so-young guys) got hurt and the team basically had to rebuild itself on the fly...and still managed to make it to a Wildcard game. Blame blame whoever you want, everyone involved deserves some credit for keeping this thing going to this point.

But I am disappointed. By the 9th inning, I had visions of a walkoff, and pulling my hood over my head, wrinkling my face into a scowl and in my best Bill Belichick voice mutter "On to Chicago." And I was looking forward to having the opportunity to watch the Mets ruin the Cubs' Dream Season. But that's not going to happen, and that's really a shame. I know the Mets were undermanned and overmatched, but they managed to carry on.

There's ultimately a lot of pride that Mets fans should take away from a loss like this. First of all, as I said, the fact that they got to a Wildcard game in the first place is incredible given that they were trotting out 4th options in many places most games down the stretch. But these guys play, and more importantly they've now had that crucible. I said it before but the depth the Mets have developed in certain areas is pretty impressive all things considered. It's a privilege to be able to play in this Postseason arena and teams that make it every year might take this for granted, but this is only the second time the Mets have made it this far in consecutive years, and really, if you look at everything that's gone on this past season, between injuries and bad luck and more injuries, just think about what would have happened if the Mets were healthy all year. Hearsay, yes, but the way this roster is put together right now, is it so outlandish to think about 3 Postseason years in a row? Overly optimistic, perhaps, and it's very much a long way away from now, but that's how this team has been set up.

So, that's it for the Mets in 2016, about a month sooner than I would have liked. But, that's life on the Lower East Side. This year, I gave Citi Field my traditional farewell pound and said to the old joint that I'll see you again on April 3rd, 2017. When we'll start this story over. And hopefully, we'll get it right.

Impossible Is Possible

It's the general stance of the Mets fan to kind of keep their asshole extra tight during the final few days of a Pennant Chase. There's not much anyone can do to help this; it's just the side effect of too many seasons where they've been in close contention only to have something get screwed up and everything fall apart at the end. But the way this 2016 race has played out, with the Mets storming back from the fringes the way they have has been something else. I'm not sure that I've seen the Mets do what they've done this year before—the only thing remotely close I'd guess would have to be 1973—6 years before I was born—but dammit, the Mets keep cobbling together these victories. Their 5-2 win over the Marlins finished off their 6th series win in September, their 16th win of the month, and combined with the Cardinals losing, and the Giants losing, put them 1 1/2 games ahead of San Francisco and 2 1/2 games ahead of St. Louis...with only 3 games remaining.

I really hate to say this, but for the first time, I'm starting to think that the Mets might actually pull this off.

How they've managed to do this, I'm not sure. But it seems to be exemplified by guys like Seth Lugo, who aren't given much in the way of attention and who might have a real rude regression to the mean at some point, but they continue to play over their heads and surprise the hell out of everyone. Lugo gave up an early Home Run to Martin Prado, which for the Mets is about on par with giving up a Home Run to, say, Greg Dobbs, but nothing after that as he navigated his way through 5.1 innings and received plenty of backup, first on a second inning 2-run Home Run from James Loney, who seems to be Mr. Marlins Park, that tied the game, and later another 2-run Home Run from Jay Bruce, who all of a sudden has come back to life, and probably at just the right time.

The remainder of the game was bullpen and more bullpen, as Hansel Robles, Fernando Salas and Addison Reed bridged things up to Jeurys Familia, who closed out the 9th inning for his 50th Save of the season.

So, the Mets are now finished with the Marlins for the season, and after a really difficult and emotional 3 games in Miami the Mets could use the day off they've got on Thursday. St. Louis and San Francisco are both playing, but no matter what happens on either front, the Mets will go into the weekend still leading the chase, and if things break right, they could conceivably have this thing wrapped up by Friday night and actually get to relax for a couple of days over the weekend. But—again. I'm getting ahead of myself. But after all the crap that's gone on this season and everything the Mets have had to overcome, it's quite a story the way things have played out, isn't it?

Idiot Time Revisited

If you are able to find one good thing about Wednesday Night's Mets/Braves game, well, you probably couldn't find one, but just chew on this: At least the Mets don't have to play the Braves again this season.

Astonishingly, the Braves completed a 3-game sweep of the Mets, playing the role of villain or spoiler or turd sandwich to a tee as they came from out of nowhere to erase a 3-0 Mets lead, tie the game, take the lead and ultimately hang on to win when Ender Inciarte pulled a certain Game-winning Home Run from Yoenis Cespedes back from over the wall and with it put the finishing touches on a perfectly demoralizing 4-3 loss.

This is the kind of loss that they seem to have all too often when they're in the thick of a Pennant Race and have to scratch and claw their way to wins. I've been calling these last two weeks Idiot Time for the Mets for good reason, and it's because no matter what good they seem to be able to accomplish, it seems to abandon them at the worst possible moments and you end up with games like we saw last night, where the winning run gets yanked away from them in mind-boggling fashion by someone like Inciarte.

I know that these Braves are tough and spunky but they're also acting like a bunch of Marlins and enjoying this a little too much, and it seems like Inciarte is the poster boy for all of this. When the Braves swept three from the Mets here back in June, who was that punk in the middle of some key rallies? Inciarte. When the Braves stole one from the Mets down in Atlanta last weekend, who was in the middle of it? Inciarte. Who was being a pain in the ass on Monday and Tuesday? Inciarte. Who ran through a stop sign to score the tying run on Wednesday? Inciarte. Who robbed the Home Run? FUCKING INCIARTE!!! And the whole time he's whooping and jocking and pumping his fists and basically acting like a Marlin! Or Shane Victorino. Or Both. Either way, I know we've been picking on Freeman or Garcia as the "New" Met Killers on the Braves, but if there was ever a guy who just needed to be knocked on his ass, it's Inciarte. Mark my words. Inciarte. Just watch the tape.

And this was one of those games that seemed to be going wonderfully. Bartolo Colon was his usual mesmerizing self through 6 innings. Asdrubal Cabrera and Rene Rivera hit Home Runs off of non-kin Ryan Weber. It was great. And then it turned to shit and of all people Anthony Recker was the one who kicked that into motion by coming from out of nowhere to hit a 2-run Home Run off Colon. That began the unraveling. The Braves started getting guys on base, and stealing bases, and Addison Reed got rushed into the game, and Jeurys Familia was rushed into the game for a 5 out Save, and he blew it. And then the Braves took the lead in the 9th on a series of dinky hits and bleeders. Who else. Inciarte. And the Mets tried to mount that final, spirited comeback, and of course, what happened? Inciarte.

The Mets, perhaps, peaked too early in this spirited drive they've had over the last month, because now it seems like they've run out of steam a little bit these past several games. They could mask it against Minnesota. Maybe they can start masking it again, but who can be sure? The Phillies are a tough team too. But the Braves seem to have been their scourge this season. The Mets finished 9-10 against the Braves this season, which probably sounds like a shock to everyone because they were 2-7 against them at Citi Field. I've been saying this for a while now and whatever will happen to the Mets will happen. But if this is going to be the difference between the Mets playing beyond October 2nd and going home, well, the Mets are going to spend all winter ruing their inability to handle the Braves in 2016.

Drivera Me Crazy

Several years ago, during one of those years where the Mets were a contending team that wasn't really a contender, Braden Looper became the first Pitcher to successfully blow two Saves in the same game, in an instance where the Mets had a lead in the 9th inning, blew it, took the lead in the 10th inning, blew it again, and then lost the game altogether (I had to go to the internet to look it up, but I've successfully found it).

Last night's game had that sort of eerie reminiscent feeling. Fortunately, Jeurys Familia didn't equal Looper's feat (Terry Collins being slightly the wiser than Willie Randolph, Familia didn't actually get the chance to blow the Save again). But in a harrowing affair that ran into an Extra frame, the Mets managed to emerge victorious thanks to the exploits of T.J. Rivera. Rivera picked a fine moment to hit his first Major League Home Run, in the 10th inning of a tie game off Mark Melancon, which ultimately proved to be the winning run in the Mets 4-3 victory in Washington.

This was another one of those games where I was late in tuning in, and as such I missed Noah Syndergaard's 7 scintillating innings of work. This was April Syndergaard, where he basically stoned the Nationals cold, giving up 1 run and striking out 10, while the Mets scratched out a run here, a run there, and by time I'd tuned in, they had a 3-1 lead and everything seemed just fine.

Then, of course, the 9th inning happened and Daniel Murphy interjected himself into the proceedings and everything kind of turned to mush from there. It wasn't an especially hard hit ball, and lord knows that Murphy probably spent at least 25% of his Mets career hitting ground balls towards Second Base like that, and 9.75 times out of 10, he was thrown out. But this newfangled Daniel Murphy beats the play at 1st, and the next thing we know, Jose Reyes is airmailing throws and Ryan Zimmerman is bunting, and there's more hits, and Fire Hydrant Head is involved, and my head was spinning, and Keith Hernandez wasn't making sense, and the game was tied and I was waiting for Danny Espinosa to hit the Walkoff Grand Slam and put us all out of our misery. Except that Familia managed to induce someone to hit into a Double Play, and I think the Nationals hit for Espinosa. Regardless, the game hadn't ended, and the Mets were still alive. Barely.

Then, of course, there was Rivera hitting his first Major League Home Run to put the Mets back on top, which as I already mentioned was good timing on his part but just another in a string of fine performances he's had so far in the Major Leagues. He is, perhaps, Murphy-lite, in that we don't know very much about him other than he's from the Bronx, and he can hit a little bit, and nobody's really sure what his best position is in the field so we just have to throw him somewhere and hope for the best. But if he comes up with hits like this, it's all good.

Of course, the Mets had to survive the Nationals again, and Fernando Salas was in to try to pick up his 1st Save as a Met, and he got the first two guys easily enough, but then Jayson Werth singled, because Jayson Werth always singles at inopportune times, and that brought up Murphy. Of course it did. Jerry Blevins was then summoned to try to get his first Save as a Met, and I'm sure every Mets fan had some horrible image of Murphy getting a hold of one and skipping around the bases. That would be a fitting epitaph for this mess, wouldn't it. But it didn't happen. Blevins made it as hairy as possible before finally slipping a 3-2 curve past Murphy to end the game, and that, coupled with a late-night Giants loss has now sandwiched the Mets equidistant from their Wildcard competitors. Half a game up on St. Louis, half a game behind San Francisco. 17 to play, and after tomorrow afternoon, none of them against teams that are over .500. That's a mighty fine Pennant Race.

Make Yourself Useful

About 30 minutes in to tonight's Mets/Cardinals game, I was already formulating how I was going to once again rip into Jon Niese for another gutless performance, taking the mound injured, probably lying about it and pissing away a 3 run lead that was dropped in his lap in a crucial game that the Mets needed to win.

In reality, though, we really ought to thank Niese. Because he not only pitched poorly, but also got hurt (and again was probably hurt before he even hit the mound) in the 1st inning, he actually spared the Mets from an even greater disaster, and also allowed Fake deGrom Robert Gsellman to make his Major League Debut instead in what was tantamount to a start. Dropped into a virtually untenable situation, Gsellman buckled down in the sort of way we never see from Niese, stopped the Cardinals rally and kept them off the board for another 3 innings after that, allowing the Mets offense to rebuild a lead off of erratic Jaime Garcia and hold off the Cardinals late to win the opening game in St. Louis 7-4 and ruin the nights of the selfie-stick-waving Cardinal fans.

The conventional talk will focus on the Mets offense, which had a great night, taking advantage of Garcia early and Sam Tuivalala late, and got Home Runs from Wilmer Flores and Justin Ruggiano, but it really was the Pitching that won this game for the Mets. Never mind what Gsellman did, which ought to draw enough ink in and of itself (although whether or not it will remains to be seen), but following Gsellman, Josh Smoker threw two innings, allowing only a Randal Graves Home Run, and after that, Jerry Blevins, Jim Henderson (in his return to action following a lengthy injury), Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia held the Cardinals scoreless. That's not to say it was easy, because the Cardinals kept getting men on base all night, and we were essentially waiting for the Cardinals to do something typically Cardinal and annoying and caused their fans to slap each other with their seat cushions, but that never happened. Whenever a Mets pitcher needed to get a key out in this game, it seems that they were able to, and the end result is that the Cardinals were the ones left holding their jocks, leaving 11 men on base and not getting any closer than 6-4.

And, really, this is all because of Niese. I'd love to be able to rake him over the coals once again for basically pulling a Steve Trachsel and throwing the Mets further into the abyss and undoing all the good stuff they did over the weekend, but, you know, addition by subtraction. If Niese is hurt and has to miss some time, well, maybe that's not the worst thing in the world. And if Robert Gsellman really has the insides he displayed tonight, maybe we once again have something here. We could certainly use it.

So, Now What?

Well, if Wednesday night's game left a bad taste in everyone's mouth, the Mets made sure it stayed there on Thursday. After a game where they displayed minimal offensive ability, they somehow managed to outdo themselves against the Colorados, once again turning over a 1-run lead to Jeurys Familia and then watched him blow it again as the Mets lost 2-1.

The only upshot to all this is that I wasn't there, and because for some reason this series against the Colorados started with a weekday afternoon game, I didn't watch it, either. Who would want to watch a game like this? I know that Jacob deGrom was awesome and threw 7 shutout innings, but that can only take you so far. Against the Colorados, who it seems every year now comes in here late in the Summer, boasting some sub-.500 record and really, looking like a team that has absolutely no business coming in here and winning games. The past few years, the Mets have handled them. Right now, the Mets can't handle themselves.

Blah, blah, blah, 1-0 lead against Tyler Anderson. Jake McGee comes in, Mets load the bases with no outs and then Scott Oberg (you know, the great Scott Oberg) comes in and retires the next three batters with not so much as a cookie. And that was the game right there. Just like on Wednesday, the Mets had boatloads of opportunities to open up a lead and cruise home, because the Colorados weren't hitting deGrom, but they're just unable to do this and I can't understand it. All season long, the Mets have insistently played shorthanded on purpose because they insistently believe in carrying a dozen pitchers, most of whom they don't bother to use (anyone seen Seth Lugo recently? Antonio Bastardo still on the team?), and leave themselves with a 3-man bench because both Jose Reyes and Yoenis Cespedes are hurt. But because the offense is so putrid, I guess Collins must have begged Cespedes to pinch hit in this stagnant rally, except that he sent him up with men on 2nd and 3rd...the perfect situation for him to get intentionally walked.

This is the problem. The problem isn't Familia blowing two Saves in two days. Closers blow saves. That's normal behavior. What isn't normal is going 1-for-34 with men in scoring position like the Mets have the last two days. What isn't normal is essentially playing with a 20-man roster when you're allowed 25 for no good reason.

Self-Aggrandizing Pricks

Citi Field on Wednesday night was hot, sweaty and full of Cardinals fans. It was a perfect storm of awful and it seems that the Mets were all too happy to oblige in the misery. After mostly muddling their way through the early part of the game, the Mets exploded to life in the 7th, finally running Adam Wainwright out of gas and taking the lead on Yoenis Cespedes' absolute missile of a Home Run. But the roof ultimately caved in on the Mets in the 9th as Jeurys Familia blew his first save of the season, allowing the Cardinals to tie and ultimately take the lead. Instead of getting to revel in a steely victory, I was subjected to a bunch of Right-wing, underwear-sniffing Cardinals fans squealing and humping each other in the aisles. My Citi Field record for the season once again slipped under .500 in this 5-4 debacle of a game.

It was headed down a bad road from the start. Wainwright was eminently hittable all night, but for all the hitting the Mets did against him, nothing resulted in any runs. This is, of course, the ongoing problem. Neil Walker drove in a run in the 2nd inning and until the 7th, that was it. The Cardinals grabbed a lead in the 3rd because they, unlike the Mets, actually hit the ball with men on base and the result was a 3-run inning against Logan Verrett. So you think that Verrett somehow battled through the night. Wrong. Verrett, outside of that one inning, was just fine. The rest of the team just couldn't get out of their own way. Twice, Michael Conforto came up with a runner in scoring position and 2 outs, and even a measly single would have made some kind of a difference, but each time, he did nothing. It was so bad that Mets fans couldn't even muster the energy to react.

It took until the 7th for the Mets to finally get their asses in gear. Travis d'Arnaud singled, and Alejandro De Aza singled, and the Mets had their opportunity with men on the corners and no outs. But this hasn't been a sure thing by any stretch, and sure enough, Curtis Granderson struck out, and then Asdrubal Cabrera struck out, and George and I were just sitting there in muted agony, while the Cardinals fans were hooting and hollering. One fellow, in particular, was sitting in front of us, by himself, wearing headphones and after each strikeout, he jumped up and did some weird Frank Drebin strikeout impression. That left it up to Yoenis Cespedes, probably the only savior left in this godforsaken mess of a lineup. And Cespedes was game to a tiring Wainwright, and worked the count a bit instead of squeezing the bat into sawdust. Finally, on 2-2, Wainwright bounced his trademark curveball and it skipped past Yadier Molina, and d'Arnaud scored. Amazing. After all that, that was what it took to get a run home. I wasn't complaining, but this was beginning to border on the criminal. Two pitches later, Wainwright again tried to slip a curve in there. We've seen that before. But this time, Cespedes was in full hack mode and he just smoked it. And I mean he Smoked it. Off the 2nd deck, Home Run, and somehow the Mets had taken the lead. You know, after all that mess. As soon as the ball landed, the jerkoff with the headphones stood up, gave me a nasty look, and left. I assure you, for all the epithets I wanted to scream at this turd, I bit my tongue, because I'm far too diplomatic and I try my best to be a good host, even if the houseguest keeps doing things like leaving the toilet seat up and eating all the Frusen Gladje. So I said the nicest thing I could: "One pitch too many!"

In the 8th, Addison Reed did his job and retired the Cardinals without a peep. Now, the Cardinals fans were sitting on their hands, if they hadn't departed altogether. The Mets again had an opportunity to pad their lead in the 8th, but didn't, but that didn't bother me much. They had Familia in the 9th.

And, of course, we know what happened from there. It figures that Familia blows a Save for the first time in a year the night I'm there. It figures that Molina was the one that did it to him. It figures that instead of holding the Cardinals there and keeping the game tied, he gave up a double to Judy-hitting Kolten Wong to give the Cardinals the lead. It figures that the remaining Cardinals fans started standing and grab-assing again. It figures that the Mets went down meekly against Seung Hwan Oh once again. It figures that all the way down the stairs, and outside the building, and on the Subway, Cardinals fans were holding a virtual mosh pit.

The bitch of it all is that it didn't have to go this way. Pick any inning between the 1st and the 6th, and if the Mets could have managed one more hit, it would have meant another run and maybe we wouldn't be in this mess. But noooo. That seems to be too tall of an order for this group. I mean, this is the 4th year in a row I've been to a Mets/Cardinals game, and every year I have to deal with the Cardinals and their obnoxious fans who basically expect us to bow down to them. They really have no clue as to how they appear. Cubs fans are annoying like a 10 year old with bad manners. Fans of the other team in town are annoying like your generic frat bro. Cardinals fans are a different level of annoying and after last night I'm feeling more convinced that they might be the worst of the bunch. And if I say your fan base is worse than that other NY team, well, that's saying something. But at any rate, each of the last 3 seasons, I went to a Mets/Cardinals game and the Cardinals won 9-0, and if they didn't, it felt like 9-0. Sometimes, after games like this, I almost wonder if we're better off if the Mets just didn't score and lost 3-1. But that's besides the point. Then I'd just be writing about how the Mets were simply noncompetitive and the Cardinals Fans were jackasses. What's the use?

At least we're done with the Cardinals here for this season, but more importantly, we're done with their fans. I think I've seen enough of Cardinals fans for the next decade.

Magicians

I'm not quite certain that the Mets did anything, over a majority of the game last night, that would have made them deserving of a win, but somehow they did win. In one of those games that would have had Bob Murphy exclaim "They Win the Damn Thing!", they nursed Noah Syndergaard through 5.2 innings, they survived a seemingly rejuvenated GOLDEN JAKE, they grabbed a late lead thanks to a replay challenge and a 2-out hit by Rene Rivera, and then closed it out when Jeurys Familia somehow managed to escape a bases loaded, no-out jam, inducing a game-ending Double Play from Baseball Jesus to finish off a harrowing 2-1 victory.

Really, this seemed to be nothing but a gloom and doom game from the get-go. Syndergaard, whose arm I suppose may fall off at any second, kind of weaved his way in and out of trouble throughout the early part of the game. He allowed a run kind of by accident, when in the 3rd inning Willson Contreras, who's got a little bit of Marlins Spirit in him, doubled, went to 3rd on a Wild Pitch that Rene Rivera couldn't corral, and then scored when Rivera made an ill-advised desperation heave into Left Field. I mean, if that's not a Marlin-style run, what is?

Meanwhile, the Mets were doing nothing against GOLDEN JAKE, which I suppose is to be expected from him. GOLDEN JAKE even attempted to widen his own lead in the 4th when he doubled with 2 outs and tried to score on a Tommy LaStella single. In fact, according to Home Plate Umpire Eric Cooper, he did score, much to my chagrin, except for the rather obvious tag that Rivera got on him before he actually touched the plate. Replay, reversal, score remains 1-0.

And then it was tied, somehow, in the 6th, when Jose Reyes turned the clock back to 2006 and hit a triple, which is something we used to see with regularity in another time and place, and then scored on a Curtis Granderson sacrifice fly.

So Syndergaard was done in the 6th and GOLDEN JAKE got through 7, and you figured it was just a matter of time before something dumb happened and, well, while plenty of dumb things did happen, it somehow didn't manage to sink the Mets. Jerry Blevins finished the 6th and Hansel Robles worked a clean 7th and then an 8th for good measure, and so the game remained tied going to the 9th.

The Cubs went to their closer, Hector Rondon, another guy who looks like he'd fit in well as a Marlin, and the Mets mounted an excruciatingly slow rally. James Loney led off with a single, but Neil Walker grounded into a Double Play, except he didn't because he beat the throw to 1st and Umpire Ratso McGillicuddy blew the call. Replay, reversal, Mets have 1 on and 1 out. Cabrera follows with a single to bring up Michael Conforto, who has quietly returned to the lineup but still appears to be pressing. In a key spot, a hit here would have been enormous, symbolically, but Conforto appeared overanxious and struck out. This wasn't good BUT OH RENE RIVERA GOT A HIT TO DRIVE IN THE LEAD RUN! Somehow the Mets didn't screw it up!

To the bottom of the 9th and Jeurys Familia, who quickly got ahead of Addison Russell, didn't get a call and subsequently lost the plate, not finding it until he not only walked Russell, but Miguel Montero behind him, sending Cubs fans into a tizzy. Javier Baez followed by laying down a bunt that was obviously going foul except that Jose Reyes decided to field it and make a throw to 1st not especially close to getting Baez. So, bases loaded, no outs, Cubs fans peeing themselves over in glee and, of course, Matt Szczur coming up, and if you figured there was one guy ripe to spoil Familia's Save streak and drive a 2-run double into the Right Field corner, it's Szczur. And Syzygy did pull the ball, but right to Loney, who threw home for the out. No matter. Up came the Baseball Jesus himself, and again, there were visions of him hitting one to Waukegan and Cubs fans uniting for a giant collective orgasm. Except that Bryant slapped a shot right to Reyes, who started the 5-4-3 DP and somehow, the Mets escaped imminent disaster. Twice. Three times if you figure they had to face GOLDEN JAKE.

So it goes. The Mets alternately look awful and lose, or look great and win, and sometimes they manage to do both at the same time, like tonight. They didn't especially look like they were going to win this game most of the night, but somehow they did and at this point I'll take wins however I can get them.

Back To Game Speed

I didn't have much to say this week, even as far as assessing the state of the Mets after the first half of the season. There's not much to say. They're hanging in, in spite of some injuries and a lot of inconsistencies, and a general lack of situational hitting. The goal for the second half: Be better.

Friday night in Philadelphia was a good start as they beat the Phillies, 5-3, taking out a team that they need to do a better job against since they're going to see each other 12 times (at least) over the remainder of the season. Though Yoenis Cespedes was still out, recovering from his leg injury, Juan Lagares did a good job in his place, hitting a Home Run and generally being in the middle of things. Neil Walker, who also could be better, hit a 3-run Home Run off Jeremy Hellickson, and this was enough in support of Bartolo Colon and company.

This was, in essence, a night for the Mets snubbed All Stars to shine. Yes, the Mets lost 2 of their 4 All Stars to injury, and so I had no problem with Cespedes or Syndergaard not appearing (even though Syndergaard was there to tip his cap and do Syndergaard things). I was, however, puzzled over the disappearance of Colon and Jeurys Familia in the game. Especially since Terry Collins was managing the game. Now, I care very little about the All Star Game in general. I'll usually watch the game, if only to root for the National League, which more often than not has been a losing cause, and also to see the Mets, in the hope that they will represent themselves well. David Wright was usually very good at this, since he played in 7 games and almost always got a hit. Few Mets All Stars did better to this particular end than Jacob deGrom did last year, of course. So I watched, halfheartedly, some of the later innings to see Colon and Familia. But they never showed up. And that's a bit of a shame. Familia is one thing, but Bartolo Colon making the All Star Team at age 43 is almost like a Lifetime Achievement award. How many more times will this happen? So they were both apparently pissed off and I can't blame them. Their own manager couldn't get them in the damn game? It wasn't right.

That's all I have to say about that, but if nothing else the first game back last night was their night to prove themselves worthy, and they both did well, Colon picking up his 8th win of the season, Familia got his 32nd Save, the Mets were back in business and now I have to start paying attention every day again, which was tough after a few days off, and I ended up sleeping through the first 6 innings. But in the end all is well, and here we go.

Golden Guys

Apparently, all the Mets needed to fix their problems was to see the Cubs. It doesn't seem to matter how many games the Cubs have won, or how big a lead they have in their division, or what kind of wins record or runs record they're on pace to break, or how many No Hitters GOLDEN JAKE has thrown, the Mets seem to look awfully comfortable against these guys.

Winning the first two games of the series was pretty good, but it was sneered to us on FOX, who carried last night's game, the Mets did the damage against the good Cubs pitchers, but now they have to face GOLDEN JAKE, who in case you hadn't heard is the second coming of Nolan Ryan.

So, of course, in keeping with recent trends, the Mets jumped on Arrieta early. Brandon Nimmo walked to lead off, Neil Walker followed with a 2-run Home Run and the Mets were on their way. It seemed as though the Mets were ready to blow the doors off Arrieta as they kept laying off the junk he was throwing up there, worked a bunch of deep counts and ultimately made him throw 35 pitches, but they didn't score any further.

Bartolo Colon on the other hand just chugged along as he usually does. He only hiccuped in the 4th inning when Anthony Rizzo tied the game with a 2-run Home Run (and odd how this is the first time I've mentioned Rizzo all weekend--he's probably been carrying the team the most this season and the Mets had just stoned him to that point). No matter. The Mets went right back out against GOLDEN JAKE and got the runs back, thanks to a dying quail from Travis d'Arnaud that plated a pair of 2-out runs in the last of the 4th. This was one of those parachute hits, that managed to elude Javier Baez, the Shortstop who's playing 2nd Base in Joe Maddon's weird lineup (not to be confused with Ben Zobrist, the 2nd Baseman who's playing Right Field).

This got the Mets back ahead 4-2 over Arrieta and basically put a giant turd in his kale juice. I've already talked about how I've basically decided that Arrieta is just a total stick in the mud, whether it's because of the mutant beard he has, or the milquetoast interviews he always gives, or the Yoga, he just seems like he's no fun at all, and he basically proved my point last night, since after the Mets jumped on him in the first and he didn't get some close calls, he spent most of his 5.1 innings of work stomping around the mound with a giant puss on his face. Bartolo, by comparison, looked like Bartolo. He finished 6 innings and allowed 2 runs on 4 hits.

And, Erik Goeddel came in for the 7th and immediately gave up a 2-out Home Run to Zobrist and made everyone rather nervous. Jerry Blevins followed and walked Jason Heyward and got everyone more nervous. However, Addison Reed came in and restored order, first by striking out Baseball Jesus, and then by striking out everyone in the 8th, looking very much like the guy who'd been pitching so well over the first two months of the season. In the 9th, Jeurys Familia had a similarly easy time of things.

The best part of this, of course, was taking down GOLDEN JAKE in front of a National TV audience on FOX, with wonderful Joe Buck and chuckling jackass Ken Rosenthal in the building. Usually, this is a combination that leads to the Mets doing stupid things and getting sneered at some more. Instead, the Mets threw it back in their faces with aplomb. The Mets have now taken the first 3 games against the Cubs and looked especially sharp in doing so. The Cubs have sort of been this unsolvable nut for a majority of Major League teams over the first half of the season, but the Mets, in spite of every dopey issue they've had, have been able to crack the code. Now, amazingly, the Mets can sweep the Cubs right out of town altogether this afternoon.

Knocked Down A Peg

Thursday night's Mets/Cubs game was, of course, the first time I'd watched the Mets in several days, and it figured that it ended up being one of those "clenched teeth" affairs, where the journey of the game seems to be more of a struggle than Baseball in general ought to be worth. But after spotting the Cubs a 3-0 lead, something that seems to spell instant disaster for the Mets, they managed to battle back, take the lead and survive a hair-raising finish to take the series opener from the Cubs, 4-3.

This entire season has essentially been a Cubs Pee-pants Party. I've never seen the national media bury their heads so far up an entire team's ass like this, and I live in the same city as a celebrated American League franchise. I have, in a very tongue-in-cheek manner, talked about how it feels like the Cubs have not only already won the 2016 World Series, but they also won it in 2015, even though the actual records will indicate something different. Regardless, the Cubs have been anointed, and for the most part they've lived up to their expectations, laying waste to most everyone that's gotten in their way and not showing any signs of slowing down. Unlike the Mets, when they lose a player, it seems like there's another young stud that slides in and starts bopping the ball all over the place.

And, you know, then we have Cubs fans, who were a pretty insufferable bunch to begin with. I wasn't at Thursday's game, and I haven't made a final decision on tonight, but I have a feeling that if I decide to show up, I'll have plenty of unwelcome company in my way.

So when Baseball Jesus took Steven Matz deep in the 1st inning to put the Cubs up 2-0 two batters into the game, I figured this was just the beginning of the end for the Mets. But they surprised me. Matz settled down and held the line for as long as he possibly could, in spite of an elevated pitch count and a constant spate of runners on base. One weakness the Cubs seem to have is a propensity to strike out, and they certainly did it in spades against the Mets pitching; Matz himself netted 6 in 5.1 innings of work.

Meanwhile, the Mets offense sputtered, as has been the case for weeks now. John Lackey was ripe for the taking on several occasions, but it seemed like every time, a Mets batter was hitting a line drive that Baseball Jesus stabbed, or went into a shift, or was run down in the gap by Albert Almora Jr, who it seems likes to do this obnoxious little hop when he catches a ball like he's preparing to crash into a wall that's not there. In case you needed further fodder to dislike the Cubs.

The Mets eventually broke through in the 6th, when, down 3-0, Yoenis Cespedes did what he usually does and hit a skyscraper of a Home Run, this one landing in the Promenade level. Cespedes is, as far as I'm aware, the only person on the planet to have hit a ball up there. He accomplished this several times in the 2013 Home Run Derby, but this was his first in an actual game, which I believe qualifies him as the Tommie Agee of Citi Field.

This appeared likely to be the Mets sole highlight of the evening, but Lackey eventually broke in the 7th and the Mets finally caught some breaks. With 2 men on and 1 out, Brandon Nimmo, who we haven't had much to say about here simply because we haven't yet seen him in person, came to bat against Joel Peralta. Neil Walker was seen feeding Nimmo tips on Peralta, but regardless, the kid in his 5th Major League game still has to figure it out. And damned if Nimmo didn't get himself down 2-strikes and start wasting pitches, and wasting pitches, and wasting more pitches before finally singling to drive home a run and move up to 2nd on a bad relay throw to 3rd base. One batter later, Nimmo scored the lead run when Javier Baez decided to Daniel Murphy on Neil Walker's chopper to 2nd. The play, while well-intentioned, was poorly-executed. Rather than take the sure out or set himself before throwing, Baez tried to do everything in one motion and when Baseball Jesus didn't catch his lousy throw to 3rd, not only did Alejandro De Aza score the tying run, but Nimmo scored the lead run.

Catch your breath, right? The Mets had a lead! And, you know, you look to these young guys to try to bring some kind of a spark and in this key spot. When it was needed most, Nimmo delivered the jolt.

So, then, the Mets had to nurse a 1-run lead home against these turkeys, and when Addison Reed lost the battle of the Addisons when Russell drew a walk, he departed the game in the 8th inning in favor of Jerry Blevins, in to face the Struggling Jason Heyward and his .234 average and $184 million contract. Heyward grounded out.

In the 9th, Jeurys Familia came in and was all over the map. He gave up a walk to Miguel Montero after being up 2 strikes, and a double to Ben Zobrist, who is just Met Kryptonite and it seemed like the roof was ready to cave in. But, again, these Cubs love to hack away and sometimes this can bite you in the ass at the worst moment. When a simple fly ball, or even a ground ball, might have brought the tying run home and put the lead run on 3rd with 1 out, Baseball Jesus instead swung for the 6-run Home Run and struck out. An intentional walk later, Willson Contreras, who's hitting cleanup in spite of having 2 weeks' experience in the Majors, also struck out. Baez followed by not striking out, but his popup was just as effective as James Loney caught it and Familia had somehow Houdini'd himself out of this mess.

I keep saying these are "building block" wins but the Mets never seem to build on these things. Regardless, kicking the Cubs in the teeth like this is pretty gratifying, and it might be enough to get me out to Flushing this evening in the hopes that the Mets can will themselves to a similar result. If there's any team that deserves to get dialed back a little bit, it's definitely the Cubs.

Or perhaps it will just rain all night. That seems to be a possibility as well.

More Like The Prior Version

I'd heard some rumbling at some point over the weekend that the Mets had "pinpointed" Matt Harvey's mechanical issue and were working on correcting it. You take these things with a grain of salt. I'd also read something else somewhere that said that if Harvey didn't pitch at least a halfway decent game against the White Sox on Monday, that the Mets were considering sending him down to the Minor Leagues altogether. But as I'd said last week, all this talk surrounding Harvey is pretty cheap. We just have to let him work through it and if it means sitting through some games that are decidedly un-Harvey-like, so be it. He's not yakking these games on purpose.

So, of course, on Monday afternoon against the Chicago White Sox, he went out and threw 7 shutout innings, looking very much like his old self again.

Now, it could be the opponent. The White Sox, still led by Ballclub Favorite Robin Ventura, have been slumping of late after a hot start. The last time Harvey faced the White Sox, way back in 2013, he of course damn near threw a Perfect Game at them. But Harvey has had some lousy games against teams he should have dominated this season, so nobody really knew what to expect. But he worked through things, got through the middle innings, and when he got into a 7th inning jam, he managed to get himself through that as well. 7 innings, no runs, 2 hits, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts? That seems like the old Harvey to me. If nothing else it's a step in the right direction.

The other thing, of course, that made this like an old school Harvey game was the lack of run support. His "Imperfect" Game in 2013 was undercut by the fact that he didn't get a win, because the offense couldn't score a run. This game seemed headed down a similar track as Jose Quintana allowed the Mets nothing until the 7th, when Neil Walker hit a Home Run. Some days, one run is all you need. This would have to be one of those days.

Then, there was Jeurys Familia, coming back after a miserable weekend and getting the White Sox in order in the 9th for the Save. So he remains perfect in Save situations in spite of himself and I'm not sure if this outing proves anything for him except for that fact. Maybe he just decided to stop cocking around with the sinker or the splitter and just throw more fastballs. It works for Bartolo.

The story of course remains Harvey, though, and while it's nice to see him have a solid outing, finally, we have to remember that it's still a process. He could come back against Miami over the weekend and pitch terribly again, especially considering Miami usually sticks it to him more than anyone. Baby steps. At least he didn't get blasted out of the building again.

Seek Professional Help

And, once again, the Mets find a way to lose and look like schmucks on National TV. It seems like this always happens when they play a game broadcast by someone other than Gary, Keith and Ron. After spending 8 innings battling uphill against an actual Bear of a Pitcher, Jeurys Familia once again shit the bed in a non-Save situation and sent the Mets to a 4-2 defeat in front of a nationwide audience.

Sunday, the Mets made their second appearance on The Biggest Game In The Galaxy on ESPN. Having to sit through an inning and a half of Joe Buck and his non-entity color guy was bad enough. ESPN's announcers, though not as anti-Met as Buck, are so vanilla it's not even funny. This game literally put me to sleep in the 2nd inning and when I finally woke up, the Dodgers had a 2-0 lead and with Clayton Kershaw cruising, the game may as well have been over.

Unlike when they met in  Los Angeles, Bartolo Colon had a reasonably good outing this time around, yes, he gave up those two runs but he kept the Mets within shouting distance, which is about all you can hope for against Kershaw. Asdrubal Cabrera reached him for a Home Run in the 6th, and it certainly seemed as though that was going to be it for the Mets unless lightning struck somewhere.

Amazingly, lightning did strike, because somehow the Mets got Kershaw's pitch count up enough that they cajoled Dave Roberts to take him out of the game with 2 outs and a runner on 1st in the 8th inning. Conventional wisdom would have him go right to his closer, Kenley Jansen. Back when Celebrity Manager was in charge, he would have gone to Jansen, and he was constantly blinded by his own adoration. But for whatever reason, Roberts went to Adam Liberatore, who subsequently allowed Curtis Granderson to hit a triple over the head of a discombobulated Yasiel Puig to tie the game.

Given new life, the Mets went to Jeurys Familia in the 9th to hold the line...and Familia did a wonderful job of handing the game right back to the Dodgers. No sugarcoating on this one. No 9th inning bailout like on Friday. Familia gave up a hit and two walks and probably should have been removed from the game before he could let Adrian Gonzalez hit a jam shot into Center Field to score the winning runs. It's not as egregious as Friday, when he blew a 4-run lead and shouldn't have been in the game, but that's not taking away from it being really bad. Because this time, he should have been on the mound, and he STILL couldn't get the Dodgers out. I don't know if this is a hiccup or something more symbolic, but maybe he needs to visit the team Psychiatrist. If Familia has that big of an issue going out there in a non-save situation, there's something larger at work here. He hasn't blown a Save all season but he blew two games in 3 days. And there's other instances of him not being especially crisp on those odd days. I don't know and perhaps I'm not meant to understand it.

Coming Up Roses!

I'm not quite sure what to make of tonight's game. I didn't watch it—other items of importance precluded me from doing so, but as I was able, I was updated via assorted means of mobile technology. I saw that the Mets bombarded the Dodgers' teenage rookie Julio Urias early. It is, I suppose, debatable as to whether or not the Dodgers using Urias in this particular spot was a good idea, but then again, I'm not writing a Dodgers blog, I'm writing a Mets blog and so who cares? Urias clearly was suffering from stage fright, the Mets took advantage, and the kid was gone in the 3rd inning.

By that point, the Mets had a healthy lead, and Jacob deGrom was cruising along mostly unimpeded. David Wright hit a Home Run, which seems to be about all he can do anymore, and Juan Lagares hit a Home Run, and the Mets led 5-1 in the late innings.

And so for whatever reason, Jeurys Familia was allowed to come in in the 9th inning and allow 4 runs to let the Dodgers tie the game. Familia already has a well-documented "Thing" about pitching in non-save situations. Now, yes, this is something he just needs to suck up and get over already. But when you have a situation begin to spiral out of control like that, there needs to be a backup plan. I get giving him the shot there; that's why you have a closer. But this is the sort of spot that could also have been handled by, say, Addison Reed or Jerry Blevins, especially when Chase Utley came to the plate and everyone wanted his head. And, you know, after all the hostility, is anyone really that surprised that Utley smoked a 3-run double to tie the game? I didn't even watch the game and I could have seen something like that happening.

So, yeah. A nice, uneventful evening for the Mets was about to turn into a complete disaster. A 5-1 game was now a 5-5 game and usually when something like this happens, the Mets end up imploding sometime around the 12th inning. But then Curtis Granderson hit Pedro Baez's second pitch into the Right Field seats for a game-winning Home Run and all was right once again. It always comes out positive if the Mets win. Familia has a bad day? Eyyy, fuhgeddaboutit! Mets win anyway! We can spend the rest of the night focusing on deGrom's strong outing, and Granderson's clutch hitting, and the Mets in 1st place. Everything's lovely!

Stop the Presses.

Yes, if you can believe it, the Mets actually swept a series in Atlanta, finishing off their weekend with a 3-2 victory on one of those painfully sunny Atlanta afternoons when the Mets almost never win because I guess that Atlanta sun bakes everyone to the point that the equilibrium just tilts in Atlanta's favor. It almost happened again on Sunday, as Jeurys Familia had to survive a bit of a hair-raising 9th inning, but in the end the Mets ended up victorious.

This was a completely lost weekend for me Baseball-wise. I watched none of the games, and in fact I didn't even watch part of any of the games. Like Saturday evening, I was stuck in front of a computer again for the proceedings and even then, I didn't get going with that until the 8th inning. By that point, Jacob deGrom had finished out his work for the day, a regroup outing for him after missing two weeks for personal matters, but if nothing else it seems like his fastball was in a bit better shape. The Braves dinged him for 8 hits, but just like against Matz on Saturday, it seemed to be of little consequence as he only allowed 1 run in 5.2 innings. He also only struck out 3 batters, a low number for him, but if deGrom can still throw a quality outing out there with less than his best stuff, that's OK with me. There will be better days and hopefully those will happen against better opponents.

So the Mets now return home after a 7-2 road trip, and considering the teams they were playing, 7-2 was about the minimum I would have expected. Really, they could have easily swept all three series they played, but for a momentary lapse in Cleveland and a night when nothing worked in Philadelphia. Now, let's see if this can carry back home, where they'll see a couple of lesser teams in Cincinnati and Atlanta sandwiched around the Giants over the weekend, which ought to be an interesting matchup.

Is Anyone Really Surprised?

So, the Mets go on the road and in their first game hit 4 Home Runs en route to a win over the Cleveland Indians. Surprise, surprise.

It's not often that the Mets find themselves in Cleveland, a city that bears the reputation of bad weather and poor luck, but is also the home of several relatives (which I feel obligated to mention every time the Mets go to Cleveland), and is also the home of Progressive (nee Jacobs) field, one of the few out-of-town ballparks I have actually been to.

Friday's game seemed to be full of some incongruities for the Mets, never mind the show of strength that had eluded them over the season's first 8 games. First of all, I wasn't watching, which can happen on a Friday. After a long work week, I have been known to get home and immediately fall asleep with the radio on, thereby omitting any attention I could be paying to the first several innings of the game. Also, everyone was wearing 42, in honor of Jackie Robinson, a nice symbolic gesture that nonetheless makes every Met remind me of Butch Huskey (some other fans are reminded of other 42s, but this is where my mind goes). Then, there was the whole American League park thing. For one, the Mets start their road season this season playing 5 games in AL parks before ever playing in an NL park, which means everyone's favorite, the DH. And, finally, there was a lineup shuffling that resulted in, among other things, Michael Conforto landing in the #3 spot in the lineup, which I think is where he'll eventually end up on a permanent basis should he continue his current career arc.

Conforto warmed to this particular change rather quickly, blasting his 1st Home Run of the season in his first AB, staking the Mets to an early lead. Bartolo Colon, returning to the stadium where his career began 19 years prior, gave up the tying run in the bottom of the 1st but settled in from there and had his usual Bartolo Colon outing. This was, of course, a much different Colon from the sleek, young fireballer that initially appeared for the Indians way back in 1997, and in wearing #42 Colon was one of the rare Major Leaguers who actually got to wear his age on this day, but results are results and Colon continues to get them no matter what shape he's in.

The game remained tied at 1 until the Mets exploded in the 5th for a trio of Home Runs, which, if you're counting, gave them 4 for the game and increased the team's total for the season by 300%. Alejandro De Aza, who was given a rare start, started the inning with a Home Run, and both Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker followed with 2-run Homers and suddenly the Mets had broken open the game with this sudden, road-trip induced avalanche of offense.

It was 6-2 by time I turned in, and all-time Yankee Great Joba Chamberlain was on the mound for Cleveland without a swarm of bugs sticking to him. The Mets had ample opportunities to tack on runs, but didn't do so and it seemed to matter little. Or at least it mattered little until the 9th inning, when Addison Reed, in trying to will his way through a 2nd inning, tired and allowed a 2-out, 2-run Home Run to Carlos Santana to make a 6-2 game a 6-4 game. This, again, shouldn't have mattered; with 1 out to go, Reed probably could have ground out one more batter. But in this era of by-the-book relief pitching, Terry Collins HAD to go to Jeurys Familia for that 1-out Save, in spite of the fact that Familia had a) already worked in every game of the Florida series, including a hairy 5-out Save on Wednesday, and b) was sick. This was pretty stupid and it almost bit Collins in the ass when he gave up a hit to Yan Gomes (Yan Can Hit!) before falling into a vortex of old friends. With Marlon Byrd at the plate, Familia wild pitched Gomes to 2nd before allowing an RBI single to Byrd. Byrd was then pinch-run for by Collin Cowgill. Juan Uribe (who by the way had a 3-hit revenge game) followed and drew a 4-pitch walk. I half-expected someone like Scott Hairston or  Anthony Recker to emerge next as a pinch hitter (and only later did I discover Recker apparently is an Indian now), but instead it was Jose Ramirez, and Familia did manage to get Ramirez to fly out and end the game, which unnecessarily ended with a 6-5 score and a bit of a buzzkill for the good feelings that were flying around most of the night.

Ultimately, a win is a win and since it was the offense that supplied it on this night that's an even better thing to see. Conforto seems to like that #3 spot in the lineup, or at least I like seeing him there and maybe this will stick for a while. Cespedes looks like he's about to go on one of his raging hot streaks, which is even better to see. Mostly, it's just good to see the Mets actually playing like they mean it, which we knew would happen eventually.