The Dodgefather, Part III

You know, I kept talking about the Hex of The Hot Team coming back to bite the Mets this week in Los Angeles as if it were a joke, but the way these games played out this week, It's hard to not think there's something to it, like some higher order is at work that's willing the Dodgers to win all these games. It's not just the Mets that have fallen victim to this, it seems to be every team that the Dodgers have played. The Rays had been on a pretty good run themselves, and they came to LA last weekend and got swept out of the building. And for a majority of last night's game, I thought I was wrong. The Mets jumped out to a lead, Dillon Gee and the Bullpen were keeping the Dodgers at bay for the most part. But in the end, this game turned out just like the two games that preceded it, like it was the almost unwatchable 3rd part to a trilogy that was good enough after the first two versions. And when Andre Ethier's pinch hit Home Run tied the game in the 9th inning, I could only think that somewhere, Al Pacino was screaming "Every time I think I'm out...THEY PULL ME BACK IN!!!"

I suppose there was good reason for optimism after Marlon Byrd hit a 3-run Home Run and the Mets were up 4-0 with Dillon Gee cruising along. Gee has been in a great groove of late, but if Matt Harvey isn't immune to The Hot Team, then nobody is. The fact is, the Mets could have been ahead 10-0 and it probably would have been hard for me to feel comfortable about this game. I heard some talk about the injuries that have struck the Mets over the past few weeks coming back to bite them, but I don't know if David Wright and Bobby Parnell could have stopped the Dodgers from roaring back in any of these games.

It's unfortunate for Gee, who didn't so much run out of steam as much as he just ran into the Dodgers, because you knew they had a rally in them to make the game close, and after watching the Mets fail to tack on runs on offense in every game this week, I can't imagine it's the bats not hitting (particularly after they knocked Arizona around last weekend), but the bullpen of The Hot Team just getting every key out they needed to get. And so, when the Dodgers ultimately tied the game in the 9th and things moved into Extra Innings, I gave up. I shut the game off, knowing that it was only going to be a matter of time before the Dodgers found a way to do it to the Mets once again (the fact that it was closing in on 1:30am didn't help either). And, sure enough, when I woke up this morning, I saw the ESPN notice on my phone that the Dodgers had indeed won in the 12th, with Yasiel Puig hopping around the bases as a central figure to the winning rally.

So, nothing to be done for the Mets. Even if they sucked us in and gave us hope for a little while last night (and every night, really), they really had no logical chance to stop the Dodgers, not with the voodoo hex working its nauseating magic, turning the Mets to Jell-O at every avenue, making them look silly and ultimately sweeping them right out of town. So, just lick your wounds and move south to San Diego, and hope that maybe they can get over those Petco Park problems they always seem to have and get this road trip back on track.

Complete Opposite

Last August, the Mets met their Waterloo in a home series against the Colorados where they neither hit, pitched, fielded or performed any particular actions consistent with the acceptable play of a Major League Baseball team. The end result was a Thursday afternoon affair that saw the Major League debut of Collin McHugh where McHugh mysteriously struck out 9 batters and threw 7 shutout innings. But the Mets didn't hit and in the end some poor fielding ended up costing them the game in a 1-0 loss. I listened to this game with contempt on the radio, and if the disgust in Howie Rose's voice wasn't enough, immediately following was one of Mike Francesa's most vitriolic rants against the team. He summed it up by simply saying "NNNNNEY STINK!" and he was right. Ney did stink.

One year later, we're seeing just how different the attitude is around the team. Today, the Mets played the Colorados in a Thursday afternoon finale to a series in which they played smart, heady baseball, they hit, pitched and (mostly) fielded well against a Colorado team completely decimated by injuries and general malaise, and the end result was that they scratched out enough runs to take a lead and the pitching, led by Dillon Gee and capped by LaTroy Hawkins, put the Colorados AAA lineup in their place in a 2-1 victory that finished off a series sweep. They are doing the sorts of things that you expect to see out of a young team that's only starting to learn how to win. The puzzle is complete, but you see the signs and the talent is certainly starting to surface. They didn't play outstanding baseball against the Colorados; they only hit sporadically, but they made their hits count. The pitching just stepped on the Colorados' throats, only allowing 3 runs in 3 games. Last season, 3 runs in 3 games might have been enough to beat the Mets in all 3. This year, the results are different.

Having a series like this against the Colorados isn't going to save this season, and had it happened last season it wouldn't have done anything to make that year more worthwhile either, but if nothing else, it's shown that the Mets now have a pulse. They have some direction and they have talented pieces that are useable going forward. They got great performances from their starters each time out, they played fundamentally sound, made productive outs, got productive hits when they needed them most, and parlayed some heads-up baserunning plays into important runs that ultimately won games. This is the sort of inspired play that makes fans want to show up and watch the team, even if they're hopelessly out of any sort of real contention for a playoff spot. Because it inspires HOPE for the future. Last year, at this time, there was no hope. There were islands of talent in a wasteland. Earlier this season, there were still islands, but the roster has been tinkered with and changed around until finally, a cohesive mix has begun to form. Guys who weren't on the team or weren't in anyone's consciousness at this time last year are now the guys making the plays, like Juan Lagares, or Eric Young, Jr, or Jenrry Mejia, or Marlon Byrd. Hell, they got two Saves this week from LaTroy Hawkins in a pinch.

The upcoming West Coast trip could prove to be the Mets' Waterloo, given the standing of some of the teams they're playing or, in the case of San Diego, the general bad luck they have in that stadium, but for whatever reason, I don't think that will be the case. They have, in general, been playing too well as a whole of late to think they will just roll over and die on the West Coast.

Mets For Sale

The Cardiac Mets were at work once again on Tuesday night, having moved their show to Chicago for the 2nd time this season. However, unlike when they play the Cubs, this time I was around and able to watch the game, so, odd as it may seem, I now have more of a recollection of the Mets playing the White Sox in Chicago than I do them playing the Cubs. Yes, it may also help that I saw the Mets play the White Sox when they came to New York earlier this season. But this is purely backstory to another bizarre game.

The attraction for the Mets, of course, was Zack Wheeler's second Major League start. The real attraction ended up being his opponent, Chris Sale. Sale, who appears sort of wild-looking and wire, poses as sort of an Oliver Perez/Ubaldo Jimenez type pitcher, except that he has control and smarts. He was, at some point, actually scheduled to face Matt Harvey when these teams met in New York, and given how well Harvey handled the White Sox, one can only wonder what sort of hijinx would have ensued had Sale opposed him that night.

The Mets, fresh off their explosion in Philadelphia on Sunday, actually came out guns blazing against Sale. Eric Young, Jr was the catalyst, which is basically what he's been ever since he showed up last week, and his leadoff double and steal of 3rd set the stage for him to score on a shallow sacrifice fly from Marlon Byrd. It was a ballsy play by Young; I would think that most would have given pause to tagging up, but Young took off, and scored when Alex Rios sort of lollygagged the ball back to the infield. A second run scored thanks to David Wright stealing second and scoring on a hit from Josh Satin.

So, the Mets gave Zack Wheeler a lead for his second start. Last time, he didn't get any runs until after he left the game, so this may have felt like a wealth of riches for him. Wheeler, as I heard was requested of him by Dan Warthen, was throwing more off-speed pitches this time out; the result this time out was that he managed to keep in the strike zone a bit more than he did his first start, but at the cost of strikeouts (he had 1 in his 5.1 innings), and he also kept getting pinged to death by the Sox hitters, so his pitch count was still less than economical. This isn't to say that Wheeler was ineffective, but my feeling is that if he's going to find success, he's probably going to get it when he's throwing smoke and mixing the off-speed pitches with "effective" wildness.

The White Sox really didn't kill him, but they made their hits, and outs, count. In the 1st, it was Alejandro De Aza reaching on an infield hit, stealing a base, moving up on a ground out and scoring on a Sac Fly. Tyler Flowers' Home Run in the 3rd was their best legit shot; the Sox plated two more in the 5th with more small ball—a walk, a steal, a hit batter, a wild pitch and a pair of run-scoring outs—ultimately taking a 4-3 lead. After that particular battle, I'd figured Wheeler done after 5 innings. But surprisingly, Collins sent him out for the 6th. After another walk, however, he was done, 5.1 innings, 4 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 1 strikeout.

After his rough first inning, Chris Sale settled in and looked every bit the pitcher he's hyped to be. Andrew Brown reached him for a 5th inning Home Run, but other than that, the Mets got nothing off Sale. At one point, Sale had K'd 8 of 10, and allowed all of 2 hits and a walk between the 2nd and 8th innings. But, he too had his limits, and after he topped the 100 pitch mark, he seemed to go away from his fastball and start nibbling with changeups. Not that the Mets could do much with that, but if nothing else, it got him out of the game, because the way he was looking through the middle innings, a complete game seemed a real possibility. Fortunately for the Mets, it's not 1976 and the Complete Game isn't as prevalent as it was back in that bygone era.

So, it went to the 9th, with the Mets trailing 4-3 and the White Sox closer David Addison in the game as opposed to Sale. Remember, for a majority of the season, the Mets could usually be counted on to go down in order without much of a peep. But the re-energized Mets of late June don't seem to follow this path. David Wright, who continues to hit everything, singled to lead off, and promptly stole second. But after Marlon Byrd struck out and Josh Satin's well-struck shot was tracked down by the other Danks brother, it appeared it wasn't their night. I'd already questioned why Daniel Murphy hadn't hit for Satin, but here he was, hitting for John Buck. And here he was, popping up on the first pitch. Defeat sealed, Wheeler's first loss in the books.

The flashbacks evoked by the ensuing play need not be mentioned here, but sometimes, you have a feeling about a play when the ball goes up in the air and seems to hang there a little longer than you're used to. And that's sort of what I felt when Murphy's popup went up in the air. I saw Addison clear out of the way, sort of, and Dizzy Gillaspie charging in from 3rd base, and then Gordon Beckham charging in as well. But it appeared that Gillaspie had it lined up. For whatever reason, this didn't seem to matter to Beckham and in a blink, there was Beckham tripping over Addison, crashing into Gillaspie, both players crumpling to the turf and the ball bouncing safely on the ground, and David Wright across home plate with the tying run. Never mind the obvious thought, but the real comeback comparison might have been to Saturday's game, with the same cast of characters getting the job done for the Mets, under similarly bizarre circumstances. Whatever it is, the Mets had managed to get up off the mat and tie the game when defeat appeared certain.

Unfortunately, also like Saturday's game, the Mets got off the mat, tied the game...and ultimately lost. This was a bit more excruciating than Saturday, which was over in 2 pitches. This involved LaTroy Hawkins giving up an infield hit, then gagging horribly on Beckham's bunt, which I know has one of those foreign psychological terms that I'm not thinking of at this late hour, but that's what it was, a thing of a thing, and, sure, Hawkins almost got out of it by getting a force out and a pop up, but in the end, there was the 2-out, game winning hit and the loss that was a loss all along just got delayed by a few minutes.

Silver linings? Sure, there's a couple. Once again, as I said, the Mets didn't just take it lying down. Zack Wheeler didn't take the loss, and although he wasn't as good as he was in Atlanty, he certainly wasn't bad and it certainly gives us what to look forward to, particularly in his home debut on Sunday. And they continue to make slight strides forward offensively, which I think can mostly be attributed to Eric Young, Jr, who, even if he's lousy is still a better option in the leadoff spot than anyone else the Mets have put there this season. A month ago, they likely would have been shut out on 2 hits by Sale, but they're starting to make things slightly more respectable. In a lost year, I suppose that's all we can ask for.

Full Team Effort

I was making dinner in the 4th inning, so I didn't really see what exactly happened to Jonathon Niese until a replay was shown. All I know is that while tending to something on the stove, I heard Gary Cohen say something about "He's coming out of the game," and turned around to see Niese scowling and walking off the field.

Already down 3-2 at this point, and playing in Atlanta, where as I've said nothing good ever happens to the Mets, I figured this was probably the perfect point for the Mets to lay down and die. Needing the bullpen to cobble together the remainder of the game was, at best, a dicey proposition, and even if they managed to get through, was there any guarantee that the Mets would come back and generate enough runs to offset their deficit? David Wright, the lone Met who could be counted on, had already hit a pair of Home Runs, which was more than his quota for the day. Someone else had to step up.

I finished making my dinner and was sitting down to eat when one of my questions was answered, in the form of Andrew Brown, whom I derided yesterday as basically cannon fodder, but in this particular moment picked a good time to show his worth, socking a game-tying Home Run off Mike Minor, a parabolic shot that Ratso Upton looked like he had lined up until he ran out of room. Brown was up pinch hitting for David Aardsma, who, since mysteriously surfacing with the Mets a few weeks ago (and replacing Don Aase at the top of the Mets alphabetical roster), has pitched rather well, in spite of it often coming in a hopeless situation. Aardsma was the first man out of the bullpen Thursday, getting out of a minor jam after relieving Niese.

LaTroy Hawkins followed Brown and Aardsma and, after starting out the season looking like he'd be one of my daily flogs, has actually done a reasonably good job of shutting me up. I can't say he's been especially flashy, but for the most part he's been effective (although when he's ineffective, he's patently awful). His two innings of work, the 5th and 6th, featured two singles of little consequence, which was good for two reasons: a) It kept the game tied and b) it allowed me to enjoy my dinner.

Still, all these good pitching performances stood to go for naught if the Mets offense continued to not hit. Omar Quintanilla led off the 7th inning with a double, and he was followed by another Pinch Hitter, Josh Satin. Josh Satin has been another player I've deemed a useless spare part, and for the most part, that's kind of what he is, but, much like Andrew Brown, he had his shining moment in this game by slicing a line drive down the right field line that looked for all the world to be curling foul, but fell to the ground just soon enough to tap the foul line and bounce into the corner for the tie-breaking hit. So now, not only have the Mets been getting lights out work from the bullpen, but their offense managed to get them a lead. Satin then got thrown out at 3rd on a boneheaded baserunning play later in the inning, proving that even the least common denominator on a 25-man roster can sometimes shit a diamond.

Now working with a lead, Brandon Lyon took the mound and immediately walked Ratso Upton. Fortuitously, however, Fredo Upton immediately followed by hitting into a double play, allowing Lyon to get through the 7th with relative ease (and a minor note, I goofed the other night, mistakenly referring to the elder Upton brother as "Cheech," forgetting that he should properly be known as "Fredo"). Things got slightly hairy in the 8th, however, courtesy of a David Wright error. Lyon still appeared primed to get out of the inning, but for a broken bat bloop from Tyler Pastornicky (who appears to be one of those guys that is always going to annoy the hell out of you) that fell in with 2 outs, putting runners at the corners, Jason Heyward at the plate and Lyon in the dugout.

Josh Edgin was where I figured the Mets luck was going to run out. Edgin was miserable early in the season and no better since he's returned. But, given one shot, and after working the count full, he did manage to get Heyward to ground to Duda, who made the maddest of dashes to beat Heyward to 1st Base.

The Mets, of course, didn't tack on any runs, so Bobby Parnell was summoned to protect a 1-run lead against the vaunted middle of the Braves Lineup, Bitch McFreeman, Ratso Upton and Fredo Upton. But, after so many innings of being lulled to sleep by the variety of relievers the Mets had been running out to the mound all night, Parnell simply carved the lot of them up, capping off a mettle-testing 4-3 victory by posting the only 1-2-3 inning of the night.

So, after all that, the Mets actually won this ridiculously extended 5-game series in Atlanta 3 games to 2, becoming the first road team to win a series in Atlanta. Given the Mets history at Turner Field, and the way the first 4 innings of the game Thursday night unfolded, you probably would not have figured that likely, but it actually happened. And after everything that's gone on to this point this season, the Mets are, in fact, beginning to show some signs of life. Maybe.