Box Them Up Too

Because, as I mentioned, I'm in the process of moving (and will later this morning actually go through with the process) I haven't had much opportunity to watch any of these games this week, and I feel somewhat the better for it. I feel bad enough having to recap things but man, imagine if I'd subjected myself to a full game this week? Or worse, if I'd gone?

The Mets getting totally swept in the Subway Series sort of signifies the nadir of an era, although since the only time it's happened was in 2003, and that was certainly a nadir, there's not much "evidence" to back that up. I'm not sure that 2017 qualifies as a nadir, although given the way this season has played out, it's felt that way. This series already featured a neutered version of the Mets, who have been sort of lagging along and playing out the string. Wednesday night, both Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores got hurt before the game started in probably the most Subway Series thing to happen ever, resulting in the folly of Asdrubal Cabrera and Travis d'Arnaud playing musical infield. Then, of course, Steven Matz, who's more resembled a 2003 Met than an 2017 Met, took the mound and was lit on fire, departing after 3.1 noncompetitive innings down 7-0 and basically sealing the fate on this nightmare. A 9th inning Grand Slam from Curtis Granderson did little more than simply delay the miserable end.

I mean, this probably should have happened to the Mets in 2011, not in 2017. I know this interview with Gary Cohen on Mike Francesa the other day has been making the rounds and, well, he's right. Going into this season, I was calling for Mets fans to pound their chests and be overconfident because it begets attitude. There are seasons I over-romanticize because of how the Mets fought down to the end, but years like this? 2017 is going to get tossed in the tire fire with 1992 or 2009 as years we should never speak of again.

Groundhog Day

Wednesday night's Subway Series game was basically the antithesis of how stupid this chore of a series has become. The Mets scratch out an early run, the Yankees tie the game. The teams then trade 1-2 runs back and forth. The Mets are usually battling and clawing and score runs on ground outs and Sac flies. The Yankees score on monumental Home Runs by their biggest names. The game gets late, the bullpens take over, some Mets reliever gets attacked by Subway Series gremlins, the Mets try to rally and then someone else has their own Subway Series and the Mets lose again.

I saw maybe an inning or two of last night's game and I already knew how to sum it up. The Mets had an early lead, Robert Gsellman gave up an 800 foot Home Run to Mike Judge that broke Baseball, the game was tied late because the Mets scored two runs on Sac flies, and then Paul Sewald came in for the 7th, was one strike from getting out of a jam and instead gave up a 2-run double to Didi Brontasaurius and the Mets had no recourse in a 5-3 loss.

I throw up my hands at these games now. I said on Monday just don't get swept and now I'm not sure that that's not better for them. Probably because I have no confidence in them winning, particularly when you have to throw the Gremlins on top of the odds.

Gremlins 2

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

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

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

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

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

Night of the Gremlins

There are few things in Baseball I've grown to loathe more than the annual Subway Series. It used to be something I'd get excited for, but now it feels like a chore in the midst of an already arduous season. And I feel this way even when the Mets are going well. These games always seem to happen at the worst time of the season, and nothing good ever happens. In fact, usually it's just full of dumb shit and generally it's the Mets who end up looking stupid. I talked about this last season, but it's like they become haunted by a gremlin whenever the Subway Series comes to town.

It happened again last night. I mean, it's bad enough that this season started with all this talk about New York becoming a Mets town again, followed immediately by the Mets turning to mush. But now we have to be subjected to four days of the new masturbatory fantasy of Baseball, Aaron Judge, thrown in our faces. We get it. He's the new now and the Mets are duh stoopid slobs. He hits 800 foot Home Runs and snaps trees in half with his bare hands. I feel like every time he comes to the plate, their fans break into this Stromboli-esque chant, pounding their fists on the table, yelling "JUDGE! JUDGE! JUDGE! JUDGE! WIN! WIN! WIN! WIN! NOW! NOW! NOW! NOW! JUDGE! JUDGE! JUDGE!" He already broke the Home Run record before the All Star break, in case you weren't aware, and you wouldn't notice that he's slumped substantially since then, but of course the Subway Series is here so you can expect him to hit 8 Home Runs this week. He got one down in the 6th inning off Rafael Montero, which erased an early 2-0 Mets lead and tied the score, and set off this amateurish, vertigo-inducing disco light show at Steroid Field I.

To his credit, Montero pitched surprisingly well in a ballpark that has a 200' Right Field line, only allowing 2 runs in his 6 innings of work. The Mets got a pair of Home Runs from Yoenis Cespedes and Curtis Granderson in the 3rd off of Luis Cessa (because you knew Granderson would hit a Home Run in SF1) but nothing further and so when the game went late and the Mets summoned Hansel Robles, well, you knew it was a matter of time before the gremlins got him.

Robles pitched a fine 7th and really it would have been fine to get him there, but noooooo. Collins sent him back for the 8th where predictably he gave up a leadoff Home Run to Aaron Hicks, who blasted it and stood and styled while Robles stood there with that dopey puss on his face because the Subway Series got him again. Robles was then replaced with Erik Goeddel which isn't quite an improvement, as evidenced by the fact that Gary Sanchez, who will spend the rest of his career trading high on two hot months last season, hit another Home Run and that pretty much threw the game down the toilet.

I'd say we should just throw the rest of the week down the toilet. I just hope the Mets don't get swept this week. Tonight's deGrom, so that's probably our best chance. Hopefully he's immune to the Subway Series. Otherwise, we're screwed.

It's Finally Over

So, finally, the Subway Series nonsense is finally over. Predictably, the Mets split the 4 games with the Yankees, keeping with their recent tradition of total inconsistency. It's only a slight step up from the total mediocrity they have, at times, displayed.

It seems fitting that Bartolo Colon was centrally involved in this win. I don't know why, but it does. Probably because it just seems like he comes through in spots like this. And he did, throwing 6.2 innings, allowing the Yankees very little and becoming the first Pitcher to win a Subway Series game for both sides. So, perhaps, it could be said that when the Subway Series Goblins come to visit, Bartolo is impervious. He just gives it some chewing gum and waves it away.

The Mets offense didn't exactly light Nathan Eovaldi on fire, and I'm not sure why, because Eovaldi has that Marlins pedigree, which means that he has all this ability, and he throws really hard, and everyone talks about how "He's such a goood pitcher!" and yet he's consistently awful. I don't recall when Eovaldi landed with the Yankees, but he's done very little to impress anybody and I believe was only starting because he can and the Yankees needed someone to make the start. Unlike Colon, Eovaldi strikes me as very susceptible to a Subway Series. But the Mets didn't hit him, which bothered me, at least until the 5th, when Kelly Johnson hit the Trademark Yankee Stadium Home Run, a line drive that probably would have been a fly out or, at best, a single at Citi Field that snuck into the 1st row of the Right Field Seats for a Home Run to put the Mets ahead. Two outs and a Subway Series later, it was Jay Bruce connecting for a 3-run Home Run to put the Mets ahead 4-0. This, of course, was Bruce's Official Joe Buck WELCOME TO NEW YORK! moment, and certainly in good timing, being in a close game in the Subway Series and in a 2-out situation. So that probably got everyone feeling better.

But, of course, the most important thing is that the Mets are finally done with this Circus. I know I said it already but it will be good to get back to normal, inobtrusive Baseball. Yes, I know the Mets are playing in an AL park in Detroit this weekend. No, I don't care, because at least it's not the Subway Series.

Giant Puss

I was once again late in putting on the Mets game, which has been a recurring theme most of the season. Tonight, I was so late that by time I'd put the game on, most of the bullshit had already occurred, although I was treated to the cherry on top of this shit stew. Steven Matz had a Subway Series early, the Mets hit into double plays in every inning, Bitch Mark Teixeira petulantly tried to posture and instigate World War III after taking a pitch off his ankle and then tried to pull some Vulcan mind prank on Hansel Robles, and once that happened everything just melted down from there. The day was a total loss on all levels for the Mets as they not only lost 9-4, but lost more players to injuries in the process.

The day started with bad news, which is ominous enough to begin with. Lucas Duda, who at this point has been little more than a rumor, re-injured his back to the point where his season is essentially done. Not that this was much of a surprise, since he'd barely begun starting "Baseball activities." But if Baseball Activities were too much for him, well, why push it. Then, they had to play 9 innings of turd, and then came the news that Yoenis Cespedes was going on the Disabled List with this quad injury that won't go away and the Mets won't allow to heal. This is Cortisone Shot Ramirez's fault, I know it. I'm sure Cespedes has been in need of a DL stay ever since this happened, and maybe if the Mets had done this 3 weeks ago, they would have been able to sidestep this whole "Cespedes tweaked his quad and will miss a few days" masquerade. I'm not at all surprised that this is how it ended up. But of course with all the crotch grabbing they did, they've cost themselves time and time is something the Mets really are beginning to run short of. My patience is another thing they're running short of, but that's another story.

Then, there was a game, and the Mets jumped on Chad Green from the opening gun. Curtis Granderson led off with a Home Run, and the Mets had the bases loaded and no outs, and when they only scored 1 more run, you knew that this was a bad sign. Then, of course, Steven Matz gave the runs right back and then some, allowing 3 in the first, thanks to a long hit from Franch Headley, and then allowed a galling Home Run to Bitch Teixeira and gave him the opportunity to do his drummer boy home run trot.

Then came the whole shit fit he threw in the 5th, when Matz deigned to throw a pitch low and inside, and of course Tex hit the dirt and then did the tough guy "I'M GONNA FIGHT'CHA! I'M GONNA FIGHT'CHA!" thing where he takes a step but doesn't charge the mound, as Matz stared at him with a look on his face that said something like "Yo, seriously, b? That hit you on the shoelaces." Pretty sure that if Matz really wanted to hit him, he wouldn't have hit him in the feet. And if he hit him in the ribs, well, Tex usually deserves it. Both for behaving like a little bitch on this night, and for behaving like a little bitch for his entire career. Tex then was forced out at 2nd on the next play, and once again did the tough guy thing and tried to take out Neil Walker, but he missed.

Tex further made spectacle of himself by pulling some more Little League shit and yelling "PITCHER'S GOT A BIG BUTT" at Hansel Robles in the 7th inning, and although I don't like that Robles essentially came unglued because of it, part of me really wanted to see Robles turn around and just peg the ball at him, or maybe cap him in the teeth as he was removed from the game. I know Robles is just unpredictable enough to make it happen, and honestly, after the way things have unfolded to this point this season, the ensuing brawl might have been enough to wake the team up, and the suspension Robles would certainly incur would totally have been worth it just to see that smug sack of shit take one in the puss.

But, that didn't happen. The Mets took the "high road," and of course look what happened. They looked like jackasses against the Yankees once again, they lost another key player to injury, and everything is, once again, horrible. Fortunately, there's only one more Subway Series game to be played and then we can be done with this nonsense until next season. Can't. Wait.

The Welcome Wagon

The Mets reversed the Subway Series story on Tuesday night, where they gave the Subway Series instead of received it, which is a storyline I like much better than what we saw on Monday night. Alejandro De Aza and Travis d'Arnaud both hit Home Runs in support of Jacob deGrom, who was absolutely brilliant over 7 innings of work, making the Yankees look mostly foolish and keeping them off the scoreboard as they cruised to a 7-1 victory.

This game was mostly shrouded for me by events that conspired to keep me out of the house and away from the TV, so unfortunately I didn't see it, but I had plenty of opportunities to see what was going on via phone, so my heart was warmed by what was happening. This was, of course, in stark contrast to Monday night or it seems many Subway Series' past. But this seems to be what deGrom has been doing to most teams of late. Aside from his one hiccup against Miami, where I can only assume he'd fallen victim to some sort of Jeffrey Loria-induced hallucination, deGrom has rather quietly been the best pitcher on the team over the past couple of months.

The Yankees got a taste of this in full effect last night, as deGrom allowed 4 hits and 1 walk over his 7 innings of work, striking out 8 and sending multiple Yankee hitters into full-scale bitch fits over their inability to hit. One such strikeout saw Fire Hydrant Head fling his bat into the ground like a damn 6th grader. I'll let you draw your own conclusions from there.

The offense also woke up, as for the 3rd consecutive game, the Mets managed to score more than 5 runs in a game, and actually hit the magic number 6 for the 2nd time in 3 days. An utter avalanche as compared to the past week. They ambushed Maa Tanaka for a pair of Home Runs, by De Aza in the 3rd and d'Arnaud in the 5th to run out to a 3-0 lead, and then just ran him off the mound altogether in the 7th inning. I still consider it a minor miracle that Tanaka is pitching altogether, since it seems like he's been teetering on the edge of the Big Boy Surgery ever since he arrived in the Major Leagues, but he's still here and as such has been a bit of a neutered version of himself. I know that he came here and everyone expected him to go 24-0 every season, or perhaps that might just be how Yankee fans behave in general. I don't know. But everyone was contributing. Michael Conforto hit an RBI double, Matt Reynolds drove in a run, and even Yoenis Cespedes picked up a Pinch Hit in his cameo appearance.

Jay Bruce, in his Mets debut, did not get a hit, but that was OK because basically everyone else did. The hot word, as far as what I was able to grok, was that his presence in the lineup, in the cleanup spot, got everyone else to relax a little bit. If this is what Bruce will bring here, well, I'm all for it. More than anything, this team needs to relax. But first, they just need to get through the two games at Chicken Sacrifice Stadium without much incident.

Shit Show Week

Imagine, if you will, that the Subway Series is not simply a set of games between the two New York teams. Instead, picture the Subway Series as some horrible, demented green, or perhaps eggplant-colored blob, something like a cross between Shrek and Mr. Bighead. It isn't present except during these games this week, and usually it causes things that rarely, if ever, happen in a Baseball game to occur. Or it makes a player do something totally out-of-character. Or it makes a baseball bounce in such a way that defies general logic. Once again, the Mets and Yankees proved why the Subway Series is a horrible, wretched thing and needs to be stopped.

In spite of the fact that for a hot second, the Mets had a lead and things looked to be in a steady place, the Subway Series reared its ugly head and a series of dumb shit began happening to the Mets, culminating in the Yankees tying and eventually winning the game 6-5 in a miserable, predictable 10-inning crapfest.

The game had that dumb Subway Series thing going right from the start. Fire Hydrant Head hit Logan Verrett's second pitch of the game over the head of Justin Ruggiano and off the wall, and ultimately the ball caromed back towards the infield. Gardner appeared to have an easy triple, but he had an attack of Subway Series and decided to score, and fortuitously, Curtis Granderson and Neil Walker made perfect relay throws home to Travis d'Arnaud, who blocked the plate and tagged Gardner out.

But the tone had been set. The game was one of those back-and-forth affairs. Wilmer Flores homered of C.C. Sabathia in the 2nd. The Yankees struck back tied it in the 4th on a Verrett Wild Pitch. In the 5th, the Yankees grabbed the lead when they started hitting a string of 2-out doubles. At 3-1, conventional wisdom would have it that the Mets were going to fold their tents, but they can have an Attack of Subway Series too, and after a Michael Conforto RBI double cut the deficit to 3-2, Matt Reynolds had his Kaz Matsui moment by hitting a 3-run Home Run in the 6th to turn the game in the Mets favor, and everything, for the moment, was great.

But, lest we forget, this is still the Subway Series, which meant that even if the Mets were ahead 8-3, they weren't immune from the Subway Series. By this point, Erik Goeddel and Hansel Robles had worked clean innings, and Jerry Blevins came in to start the 8th, and of course he walked Fire Hydrant Head to start the inning, because Subway Series. With 1 out, Addison Reed came in and appeared to restore order by striking out Mark Teixeira's Carcass. Mr. Morality singled, and then was run for by Ronald Torreyes, who nobody's ever heard of, and appears to be no taller than 5'3" and of course is the embodiment of Subway Series so you knew he was going to do something to screw things up. It appears his mere presence gave Addison a Subway Series, because he then labored through an 8-pitch At Bat by Didi Gregorious, in the midst of which Torreyes predictably stole 2nd, before Gregorious hit a dying quail of a single to left to score both runs and tie the game.

The Mets, at this point, had packed up their bats for the night, since 5 I guess was more than enough for them. The game, however, was not over. Jeurys Familia came in for the 9th and somehow managed to fight off the Subway Series, but in the 10th, Seth Lugo, oddly the last man in the Bullpen for the Mets on this night, entered the game and the Subway Series literally ate him alive.

First, Lugo dug his own grave by walking Ellsbury on 4 pitches, which is just about unconscionable in that spot. Then he got 2 strikes on Teixeira's carcass, before he singled to left. Then some dude with a mullet was batting, which instantly meant that a Subway Series was about to attack, and of course it did because Mullet laid down a bunt back to Lugo, and instead of at least trying to get the sure out, Lugo threw to 3rd, and of course Ellsbury was safe because THAT PLAY NEVER WORKS AND IT ESPECIALLY NEVER WORKS IN THE SUBWAY SERIES!

You know what happened from there. Yankees take the lead, Yankee fans start smacking Mets fans with rubber chickens, the Mets get James Loney to 3rd with 1 out in the last of the 10th and strand him there when Curtis Granderson has a Subway Series and takes a pitch that Dellin Betances basically set on a tee for him to hit out of the ballpark.

So, I mentioned that Lugo was the last man in the bullpen for the Mets and that's of course because the roster was totally cocked up by this afternoon's trade deadline, which saw the Mets make a pair of deals, which were both totally necessary and completely puzzling at the same time.

First, there's the Jay Bruce trade, which seemed to unfold in typical Metsian fashion: complete, then almost dead, then done in totally backwards fashion. Initially, the deal included Brandon Nimmo, who I like but could understand moving here. Somewhere, the Reds balked at some medical records and so the Mets had to go back and figure out something else, eventually closing the deal at around 3:45 by sending Dilson Herrera and youngster Max Wotell to Cincinnati. I like moving Herrera even less, just based on the fact that he's so young and has, I think, a ton of upside. But then again, he also strikes me as one of those guys that the Mets just don't like, because they never gave him a real chance to earn his keep in the Majors and then kept blocking his path. Then again, the perfect scenario would have involved Neil Walker leaving and Herrera taking over next season. We won't see that now, which is a shame, but again, the Mets need something resembling a legitimate bat in the lineup right now, someone who will hit behind Cespedes and provide some protection. Is it a perfect fit? Hardly. But I also trust Sandy Alderson to make trades that have a purpose, so I'm going with it. And as far as the Herrera situation, well, Gavin Cecchini appears poised to ascend soon, too, and could slide over to 2nd Base. So, too, could Jose Reyes if he sticks around.

Then, of course, there's the trade the Mets made with Pittsburgh that somehow ended up with Jon Niese coming BACK to the Mets. Once you're done laughing your ass off over this one, you can shrug, and then laugh some more. I don't know if I can even call this trade addition by subtraction. Yes, the Mets got rid of Antonio Bastardo, which is probably the most operative thing here, but I guess the moral to this story is that sometimes, you have to take something lousy back in order to get rid of something lousy. So...yeah. After leaving and running his mouth a little bit, Niese is back and I believe the first thing he's going to do is sit down with Terry Collins, and Collins is going to give him a towel so that he can wipe all the egg off his face.

And then Bruce and Niese can turn around and dive right into the shit show.

Feeling Surly

Given everything that's been going on and going haywire for the Mets lately, you'd think that the team had either just blown a 7-game lead or, worse, playing out the string on another 74-88 season. It's enough of a distraction when you're focusing on a pennant race and you have your ace pitcher's meddlesome agent cocking up the team's mellow. Add The Biggest Game In The Galaxy against that other team from the same town and, well, it seems like a recipe for disaster.

For 5 innings, on Sunday night, everything was going wonderfully. Matt Harvey was pitching great and looked like he could have stopped the Yankees cold for another dozen innings if he needed to. His location wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, not that anyone really noticed, but all things considered, he looked great. But, of course, we all knew that turd in the punchbowl was going to come up, and when Dan Sveum interviewed Terry Collins in the 4th inning, Collins pulled no punches in saying that Harvey was done after the 5th.

And, of course, everything went to shit from there.

Collins, I'm sure, had a set lineup of how he wanted to get through the remainder of the game and maintain his lead, which was slim at 1-0 and probably should have been more since C.C. Sabathia was ripe for the taking all night. Hansel Robles got the first call, and his first batter, Jacoby Ellsbury, hit a ground ball behind second base that Daniel Murphy picked and probably should have put in his pocket. But, of course, this was the perfect Daniel Murphy storm, because with the whole world watching, Murphy tried to be a hero and bare hand the ball and throw in one motion. And, of course, the result was that Ellsbury ended up on 2nd. Fire Hydrant Head followed and his bunt was fielded by Hansel Robles, and what ensued was basically the exact moment I knew the Mets were screwed. Robles fielded the bunt cleanly, but much like Murphy, Robles decided HE needed to be a hero and instead of taking the sure out at 1st base, he wheeled and threw to 3rd base. This play probably works about 1 in 50 tries, and that's when it's a force play at 3rd. When it's a tag play, well, you do the math. Either way, you know what happened, and from that point forward everything was one long nightmare.

I've sort of tried to avoid reading anything beyond a recap of the game, but even that seems to take a dig at basically everyone involved in this Harvey mess. I'm tired of hearing about it but it's one of those stories that just isn't going to go away, particularly as the season has dwindled down to its final 13 games and nobody knows what will happen from there. The fault lies with Scott Boras. He's the one who made this whole thing public and I'm sure he wanted it that way. Now he and Harvey get all the attention and the Mets look like schmucks.

Well, everyone on the Mets did a fine job of looking like a schmuck tonight, probably everyone except for Harvey since he did his job, but nobody else did theirs. The best part, of course, was that this was in front of a National TV audience so everyone got treated to one more episode of "The Mets Look Like Schmucks" in eye-popping HD.

You're All Pains In The Ass

After a nice, solid win over the Yankees on Friday night, the Mets fell back to earth on Saturday as the Yankees reared their ugly heads and took advantage of ostensibly the two bad pitches Noah Syndergaard made all afternoon in pulling off a Subway Series-evening 5-0 victory on Saturday afternoon.

The game had all the makings of disaster, and not simply because it was a Subway Series game in an instance where the Mets had to be riding high. First of all, you knew it was trouble when you had to put on FOX to watch the game. FOX, over the years, has abandoned any sort of substance in their Baseball coverage in favor of glamour, which is why the Mets have only been on FOX twice this season. You know, because they're not sexy enough for FOX. They would have preferred to pretend they didn't exist at the All Star game except that Jacob deGrom forced them to acknowledge the team. Otherwise, they get noticed because they're playing a "Marquee" team, not because of their own exploits. Even though they're a 1st Place team. Even though FOX may end up eating their words when the calendar flips to October.

But I digress. Unfortunately, the Mets have this annoying habit of looking like asses in front of National audiences and that sort of happened to them today. A look deeper within the game reveals that they were simply a little unlucky, but if you're Joey Bagodonuts sitting on your couch with your Bud Light and Dorito crumbs on your shirt, with your two kids with oversized Mike Trout/Bryce Harper/Baseball Jesus jerseys covered in chocolate ice cream stains, you watched this game and thought "DERP DERP DERP METS SUCK HA HA." That, as far as I can tell, is the typical FOX audience.

The Mets were unlucky in this game. They were unlucky from the first batter, when Jacoby Ellsbury got jammed by Noah Syndergaard and floated a little dunker over 2nd base that fell in for a hit. Brett Gardner, who the more I see him the more I think he's just a taller Shane Victorini and he needs to be hit in the ribs repeatedly, did the exact same thing. Jam shot over 2nd for a hit. Syndergaard was making his pitches and he got ahead of Carlos Beltran 0-2 but then he just missed his location with a fastball, and it caught too much plate, and Beltran golfed it into the seats. Just listening to that happy-talking schmuck Matt Vasgersian's call, "And it's 3-0 YANKEEEEES!!!" put me in a foul mood. Why not just put on an entire Yankee uniform and make sure they show you in it in the booth before the game if you're going to pull crap like that. John Smoltz, who at least is sort of respectable, looked like he wanted no part of having to sit next to that clown but he had to suck it up, I guess, because we all gots to get paid somehow (fortunately, bow-tied jackass Ken Rosenthal wasn't at the game, I suspect if he was he would have spent the entire afternoon talking about how "the Mets haven't beat a team with a winning record since 2008" or something similarly inane).

So, yeah, that took me out of the game. Then, the Mets singled Michael Pineda to death but couldn't drag themselves back into things, and in the 6th, Syndergaard again missed on a pitch to Mr. Morality that resulted in another Home Run, and things were pretty much toast from there. Sure, the Mets loaded the bases in the 6th and loaded the bases in the 9th, but since the Yankees were bringing in Jeff Nelson, Mike Stanton, Goose Gossage, John Wetteland and The Great Rivera from their bullpen, the game was already over. Or at least that's what we were told by FOX.

Perhaps I take these things a little too personally, because this sort of game kind of wrecked what was otherwise a peaceful Saturday for me, but then again, I'm kind of tired of the Mets being treated like Baseball's armpit. Have I mentioned that this is a 1st place team? Nobody seems to want to give them any kind of credit and, honestly, I've had enough. If I were a player on the team, I'd have had enough too. The best way to stop it, however, is to go out and stick it in their ears. The Mets didn't do that today, but they'll have more chances.

The Hyperbolic Chamber

I've dropped several barbs here and there about just how much it bothers me that the Mets have to play the Yankees now, at this time in the season when these teams should be worrying about their own business and not worrying about making some sort of weird statement and trying to "take back the city." The Subway Series is a charming little diversion in the midst of a long season that should be held in June or July, when it's really hot out and nobody cares.

But, the schedule gods decided to throw everyone a little shitburger here in mid-September and scheduled the second half of the Subway Series here. In the grand scheme of things, no, it doesn't matter very much because at this point the Mets just need to pull the Baseball equivalent of running out the clock and just win enough to offset whatever Washington does until eventually they run out of games to make up their deficit. Still, having to play the Yankees while doing this isn't helpful, because the Subway Series games are always played under this weird microscope where more pressure is placed on the players than normally occurs and the fans become especially stupid.

Nonetheless, as much as I dislike it, the games must go on. And in an instance where the Mets just have to shut up and win games, they shut up and won the game on Friday 5-1, behind a solid effort in the pressure cooker from Steven Matz. Matz once again had a hard 1st inning, when the Yankees scored their lone run, but eventually he settled down and gutted his way through 6 innings, giving up 7 hits and striking out 4. Lucas Duda tied the game with a 2nd inning Home Run off of Maa Tanaka, Daniel Murphy gave the Mets the lead in the 6th with another Home Run, and in the 7th, Juan Uribe did what he usually does and come up with a big hit, this time with a pinch hit Home Run to extend the lead.

These were all quite nice but perhaps most useful were the bridge innings put in by Hansel Robles, who's really come on strong down the stretch as a serviceable arm, and Addison Reed, who pitched the 8th inning as Tyler Clippard was out with a "sore back (or the need for about 4-5 days of rest and not pitching)." Jeurys Familia had a rather scary 9th inning, as the Yankees loaded the bases on about 40 feet worth of hits and a walk but he eventually finished the deal, getting annoying Brett Gardner to fly out and Franch Headley to strike out to end the game.

All in all, this actually wasn't a particularly exciting game, start to finish. 5-1 games usually aren't. Obviously, because it's the Mets and Yankees and the Subway Series Hype Machine was well in play, things get blown up to be a little more than they are. Steven Matz pitched a good game and was the winning pitcher. Since it's the Subway Series, Steven Matz is now a Big Game Pitcher who comes through with a clutch performance. Lucas Duda lights it up when the lights are brightest. Juan Uribe gets...well,  Juan Uribe gets big hits whenever he wants, it seems, Subway Series or not. But that's the point. As much as we want these to be "just another game," it never will be. When something big happens in one of these games, it's remembered forever whether we want to remember it or not. And that's why I don't like that the Mets have to play these games now, at this time of the year. It's a distraction, and right now the Mets don't need an unnecessary distraction. If that wasn't bad enough, Saturday's game is the FOX game of the week, which means we're going to be treated to an afternoon of Stepford Baseball, and then, of course, Sunday's game will be The Biggest Game In The Galaxy on ESPN. Trust me, I know the Mets to a man could care less, and maybe it's good preparation for what's coming up, but Mets and Mets fans need to worry about the Mets winning, and not the Mets beating the Yankees in mid-September.

New Flog City

The lights were on their brightest in the Bronx on Sunday night, as the Mets and Yankees met up for the finale of the April portion of the Subway Series in The Biggest Game In The Galaxy. ESPN, no longer featuring Jon Miller and Joe Morgan were out in full force. This goes to show just how long it's been since I've actually watched The Biggest Game In The Galaxy (the Mets have managed to avoid one in a few years), but while the announcers have changed, the content has not. ESPN's broadcasts are usually more style than substance, with their overproduced graphics and unnecessary bells and whistles that take away from just about everyone's enjoyment of the game. I'm not sure who the lead announcer is other than it's not Joe Buck, but he may as well be Joe Buck since he presents the Pepsi-Cola version of MLB announcing. Color commentary is now provided by the comedic duo of Curt Schilling and John Kruk, because they're silly and irreverent and people like that, I guess. I used to get up for the Sunday night game, but that was a different era when I was younger and wilier and I didn't have to be at work until Monday afternoon. Now, I've come around to the nuisances of Sunday Night Baseball. It's become too sugarcoated. It seems like every week, they're cramming Yankees vs. Red Sox, or Braves vs. Nationals, or Dodgers vs. Giants down our throats. That's bad enough if you don't like those teams, but for some reason, when it's the Mets and the Yankees, I find it even more of a nuisance.

The Mets and Yankees treated the viewing public to something less than the top-quality Baseball that ESPN prides itself on showing, which may serve them right, but the joke was on the Mets on Sunday night. Though the Mets still came out of the weekend with one win in three games, they kind of looked like schmucks on Sunday and in losing the series this weekend, have now ensured that Mets fans will be treated to an entire summer of "DERP DERP DERP SAME OLD MUTTS (GOBBLE SNORT DROOL)" from the mouth-breathing faction of fans of the other team. For as far as we've come, and as much as we'd like to think we're the better team, and from top to bottom we probably are, we still can't get it over on the Yankees, and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't somewhat frustrating. I shouldn't care about the Yankees or their fans, and for the most part, I don't. Except when the Mets play them and things don't go well, which has been often. It's the main reason I've become completely turned off to the annual Subway Series Shit Show, to the point where I won't go to the games. It's just not worth the anxiety. It was better the last two years when we only had to go through this 4 times a year, but now it's back to six, and for some asinine reason, it's broken up so that we have the Subway Series in April, and now we get the high pleasure of playing them again in September, probably in the middle of a pennant race when the last thing we need to worry about is the Goddamn Subway Series.

So...yeah. The Mets went out and made asses of themselves in front of a national TV audience. Things started out well enough, Curtis Granderson led off the game with a Home Run off of Nathan Eovaldi, the hotshot pitcher who throws really hard but isn't any good—we remember him from his time with the Mickey Mouse Marlins. The Mets had plenty of chances to get Eovaldi on the ropes but couldn't cash in. Still, Daniel Murphy poked a 2-out double to score Juan Lagares and the Mets were on their way.

Except that Jon Niese had one of those annoying Jon Niese outings. He got through the 1st inning well enough, except that he gave up a Home Run to Captain Pariah Alex Rodriguez with 2 outs. A-Rod seems like his usual self, he clapped his hands and hot-dogged around the bases like he'd just hit a walk-off Home Run, and maybe he thought he did for all I know. He's never been one to be aware of his surroundings much. That was fine, but then everything came unglued in the 2nd inning. Niese was primed to work around a leadoff double, but with 2 outs, he gave up another double to Gregorio Petit and everything basically went to hell from there. There was another double, and a hit that was basically where Daniel Murphy was supposed to be, and another double, and a Michael Cuddyer relay throw that he basically spiked into the ground...and all of a sudden it was 5-2 and I was ready to shut things off.

The Mets didn't have much trouble with Eovaldi, as they got back to within 5-4 in the 3rd, but that was it for them. A parade of Yankee relievers, most of whom I've never heard of, kept the Mets from getting any closer. On the other side, they slipped and slopped around, and made a bunch of errors, mostly by Daniel Murphy, who ole'd a ball that led to a run, didn't slide on a close play at 2nd and instead was tagged out, and generally had one of those Daniel Murphy days where he looks about as coordinated as a nerdy 11-year old. And as the game went on, I got to thinking if maybe this is the year that Daniel Murphy becomes my #1 flog. We all know that I have one good flog per season. Usually it was a worthless pitcher like Manny Acosta or Pat Misch, and for several seasons it was Lucas Duda until he proved himself useful, but maybe it's now Murphy's turn to be in my doghouse. You know, it's Murph's walk year. You always want to start out your walk year hitting .172 with 6 errors. Now, he's probably made himself untradeable, in addition to being a general nuisance. And I like the guy, so it pains me to say this. But there's only so many years you can watch a guy play second base with the tenacity of a scalded dog until you realize it's just not going to get better. He's worked really hard to get to this point and still he makes the same absurd mental errors because I don't know why. He's a decent hitter, but he's still a streaky hitter and for all the years he's started off hitting .320 after April, he's more than often gone on to hit .246 in every month until September. Point is, we've reached the ceiling on Daniel Murphy, and if it's still so underwhelming, you have to start to think beyond him. Paging...Dilson Herrera....

Jon Niese is also a good candidate for a flogging considering he's still sort of trading high on a good season he had back in 2012, but he's never quite duplicated the numbers he had that season. When he's good, he could be one of the best lefties in the NL. Problem is, he runs in patterns of one really good start, followed by 2 passably good starts, followed by a complete stink bomb. Tonight was the stink bomb. We need to see less stink bomb from Niese if he's going to stick it out here. There's too many good pitchers itching for the opportunity to crack this rotation for him to pitch like an idiot too many times, and I'd like to think he knows that and isn't resting on the idea that he's the only lefty around here. Paging...Steven Matz...

All right. Enough Subway Series. It's getting me unnecessarily stressed out and making me forget that the Mets are still 14-5 in the early going this season. But, they're back to the NL East grind this week as they head down to Fraud Stadium in Miami before coming back to play Washington this weekend. Just get back to the kind of Baseball they were playing at home, before they had to go across town and get themselves all cocked up.

R33pect

You didn't have to be a lip reader in the 9th inning yesterday afternoon to see just how in control Matt Harvey was in shutting down the Yankees and evening up this early-season Subway Series matchup.

"C'mon!" he yelled to Terry Collins, who'd presumably come to remove him from the game with 2 outs in the 9th inning. "Lemme get this guy."

Though Harvey ultimately lost the battle against his manager, by that point he'd already won the war, whipping off a mostly effortless 107-pitch effort that saw him rather economically shut down the Yankees, going deeper than he'd gone into a game this season while only allowing 6 hits, 2 runs, 2 walks and 7 strikeouts. The Mets offense backed him with plenty of runs and Mr. Man went and did the rest as the Mets shook off the Friday night doledrums and responded with a rather easy 8-2 victory in the Bronx Mausoleum.

This game was certainly in stark contrast to the last time Harvey faced the Yankees. Not so much in Harvey's effort—he allowed 1 run in 8 innings in a Mets win—but in that game, the Mets gave him nothing to work with in the way of run support, and only a 9th inning comeback off of some closer dude saved Harvey from being hung with a loss.

Saturday, the Mets scored early and often off of C.C. Sabathia, whose years are starting to catch up to him. Lucas Duda kicked off the scoring with a 1st inning Home Run, a shot over the 260-foot fence in Right Field. Though the Yankees tied the game thanks more to Daniel Murphy having one of his Daniel Murphy moments and not covering 1st on a bunt play, the Mets struck right back with an extended 2-out rally in the 4th inning. Juan Lagares drilled an RBI triple to plate Murphy, and this was followed by a Wilmer Flores RBI single, and finished off by Kevin Plawecki's first Major League Home Run, a real laser beam of a line drive that landed in the Left Field seats. Very quickly, as the Mets have been wont to do, the Mets grabbed a lead and tacked on, putting necessary distance between themselves and the Yankees.

But the Mets didn't stop after the 4th. In the 6th, Eric Campbell, who's been sneaky good in the absence of Wright, led off with the Mets 3rd Home Run of the afternoon, a poke shot to right that was advantageously placed just over that short fence to extend the lead to 6-1. Later, Juan Lagares knocked out the 3rd of his 4th hits on the day, and then relied on his baserunning savvy to advance round the bases and score on an Esmil Rogers Wild Pitch. Plawecki bookended his fine day with another 2-out RBI, this time an 8th inning single that scored Lagares and capped off the Mets scoring.

Lagares' 4-hit day was nice, and Plawecki's Home Run was even nicer, but Harvey was obviously the story of the day. Where deGrom had failed on Friday night by not really adjusting to the Yankees attacking his pitches early in the count, Harvey instead used his entire arsenal to counter the Yankee approach. Instead of trying to blow everyone away with fastballs, which he's certainly capable of doing, Harvey instead mixed in his curve and his slider and watches as the Yankees tapped harmless ground balls all over the place. This was not only effective, but economical and essentially gave Harvey the opportunity to work deeper into the game because he just wasn't throwing that many pitches. By the 6th inning, he'd only registered an un-Harvey-like 2 strikeouts, and only then did he dial it up and start gassing guys. By the 9th inning, he'd only thrown 90 pitches, and although this would have been the perfect place to get him out of the game, Collins gave him a shot to finish things off. He certainly came close, and his whipsaw strikeout of A-Rod nearly brought the house down, but at that point, being over 100 pitches, he'd finally run out of gas and couldn't quite finish things off.

Still, I can't imagine anyone other than Harvey himself is going to complain about his inability to finish the game. When innings are supposedly a concern, maybe it's going to make a difference later in the season. Maybe not. But after this outing, he'll be rewarded with an extra day of rest before his return to the mound at Citi Field on Friday night, where everyone will certainly be keyed up. First, though, the Mets have to finish up the madness that is the Subway Series tonight on The Biggest Game in the Galaxy on ESPN. That should be flashy.

The Wrong Night

The prevailing thoughts among Mets fans following their streak-snapping 6-1 loss last night pretty much used logic to ease the internal pain they were undoubtedly suffering.

There will, in the span of a 162-game Baseball season, be nights like this, where Jacob deGrom doesn't have it, his pitches are up and hittable and the opponent has professional enough hitters to take advantage of that.

There will be nights where they play in a stadium that's clearly skewed towards generating more offenses, and balls will be hit there that sail over the fence, when in Citi Field, the same ball usually lands in Juan Lagares' mitt somewhere in Right Center Field.

There will be nights where the opposing team's pitcher, maligned and often injured, puts it together and simply dominates the Mets, whipping demon fastballs and hellacious sliders that nobody can catch up with, and will make the Mets 4-day old Catcher look like he's back in the sandlot.

There will be nights where the Mets enter the game with a modest winning streak, or perhaps a historic winning streak and all these kinds of things will conspire to the end of a Mets loss. It happens. That's just baseball and even the best teams tend to lose 60-65 games a season. This sort of thing is unavoidable. When a game like this happens now, with the Mets on a 11-game rampage, you just kind of lick your wounds and say "come back tomorrow," especially given the panache of the next day's starting pitcher. And at 13-4, the Mets still look pretty damn good in the grand scheme of things.

But if they had to have a night like this, and yes, I know they had to have a night like this eventually, why the hell did it have to happen at Yankees Stadium against the Yankees, thereby giving every mullet-headed mouth-breather that roots for that team the opportunity to hang that over us and say things like "duh slobber drool SEE YOU STILL CAN'T BEAT US. SAME OLD MUTS werp warp worp." The loss, I can accept. The Mets weren't going to finish out the season on a 157-game winning streak (as nice a thought as that might be). But if they were going to just not have it like that, I wish it didn't have to happen against the Yankees. That's what every Met fan is trying to not say this morning.

Ragamuffins

It was unfortunate that moppish, muppet-like Rookie Jacob deGrom had to make his debut tonight, on a night when the Mets would provide him with nothing in the way of offensive support, leaving him to take the collar of defeat when he was finally reached for one measly run in the last of his 7 innings of work. He deserved a better fate.

In a matchup of two guys making their Major League Debuts in the pressure cooker of the Subway Series, it was deGrom who shined, throwing shutout ball into the 7th inning, but Chase Whitley matched him in his 5 innings of work, and was followed by an even more eye-popping outing from faded prospect Dellin Betances and finished off by not Mariano Rivera (because the Mets might have beaten him). Daniel Murphy and David Wright couldn't turn an overshift-induced Double Play in the top of the 7th, and Alfonso Soriano subsequently made the Mets pay by hitting a double so far up the alley in Left-Center that glue-shoed Mr. Morality Brian McCann all the way from 1st base with the game's only run. After scoring 21 runs in 2 games in the Bronx, the Mets came home and scored 0 runs in 2 games, and looked pretty silly in doing so.

Yet, though they lost both games in Citi Field, the Mets have to have emerged with a bit of enhanced regard based on the way their two young starters performed. Rafael Montero acquitted himself well enough on Wednesday night, but tonight, Jacob deGrom was great. deGrom hasn't had quite the panache of the Harvey/Wheeler prospect line, and even Montero has drawn more attention then him. And perhaps he may end up being little more than a talented trade chip, but if he's going to pitch like he did tonight, he's going to be here for a while. He seems very much out of the Bronson Arroyo mold, the kind of pitcher who sports a flowing mop of hair and an array of pitches that can get him through games and probably allow him to eat plenty of innings along the way. He also accomplished the one thing no Mets pitcher had managed to do this season and get a hit. So, once again, even though the Mets lost the game and their hitters looked foolish, at least there's something positive that can be taken away from it.

So, finally, the Subway Series excitement is done for 2014, and that's just as well. At least the Mets split the series this season instead of something worse happening.

Attack Mode

Strange as it may sound, perhaps playing the Yankees is the best thing for the Mets these days.

In another excruciatingly long game that fell mere minutes short of 4 hours, the Mets slogged their way through a muddled mess of walks, full counts, foul balls and the like. Aesthetically, this was probably the exact opposite of Monday night's game, which was a crisp, clean affair that featured the best of what both teams had to offer. Tonight was 4 hours of pure ugly. Regardless, the Mets came out on top, and really, that's all that matters in the end. With their 12-7 victory (at least I think that's what the final was, since I started nodding out towards the end of the game), the Mets swept the Bronx portion of the Subway Series for the 2nd year in a row, and additionally extended their winning streak in the Subway Series to 6 consecutive games. It's a nice feeling to have, after so many years of getting pushed around.

Whereas last night, the game was a back and forth affair that saw the Mets get up and fight back multiple times, tonight, the Mets stormed the gates from the beginning and really didn't look back. They attacked Vidal Nuno immediately, starting with Eric Young, Jr getting hit by a pitch, Daniel Murphy working a walk out of a 10-pitch At Bat, David Wright following with an RBI single and Curtis Granderson continuing to make himself at home in his former home by nailing a 3-run Home Run. Jumping out like that, one would have to think that this game would be smooth sailing.

Unfortunately, staked to a 4-run lead before he set foot on the mound, Zack Wheeler came out and had what was probably his worst outing of the season. Before the paint had dried on Granderson's Home Run, Wheeler had allowed a Home Run to Mr. Morality himself, cutting the lead down to 4-3. Wheeler's night would be punctuated by poor control, too many deep counts, too many walks, and generally looking out of sorts on the mound. A young pitcher like Wheeler will have days like this, but when his teammates actually went out and scored him a bunch of runs, it would have been nice if he'd been able to get himself through 5 innings. David Wright and Daniel Murphy drove home runs in the 4th, and in the 5th, Murphy for all intents and purposes put the nails in the coffin of this game by smoking a 3-run Home Run off the Right Field foul pole. With a now-7 run lead, Wheeler was sent back to the mound for the last of the 5th to see if he could get himself a win, if nothing else. He couldn't do that; after the Mets offense had piled up runs for him, he still couldn't throw a strike and ended up departing in favor of Daisuke Matsuzaka after only getting one out in the 5th, surrounded by more walks and an RBI hit from Alfonso Soriano.

Matsuzaka, who's no stranger to the Yankees or their ugly hats, not only rescued Wheeler but also accelerated a game that had crept past 3 hours with no end in sight. His 3.2 innings of work featured all of 2 walks, and 1 hit, a meaningless solo Home Run by Flavor of the Month Yangervis Solarte (Greatest Yankees rookie since Oscar Azocar, they said), and certainly earned the Win he got for his efforts. He kept the Yankees in check and more importantly saved the Mets bullpen by taking the game all the way to the 9th inning, where Jeurys Familia made things unnecessarily hairy before closing the game out.

Tonight's game might have lacked the starch that Monday's did, both from an ambient perspective (the crowd was much livelier on Monday--tonight they were mostly asleep and mostly gone by the 7th inning), but I doubt any Mets fan is going to complain about the results. Now, the teams move to Queens for the Citi Field leg of the Subway Series, replete with the Major League debut of Rafael Montero on tap for Wednesday night. We shall see what kind of intrigue develops.

Launching Pad

I guess going to that other, much smaller ballpark in this city was what the Mets needed to finally have a breakout offensive performance. After a good 10 day stretch where they couldn't hit anything, they went to the Bronx and staged one of those classic Subway Series games that will probably get replayed on "Mets Classics" forever. The Mets banged out 14 hits and a season-high 4 Home Runs, which allowed them to overcome two three-run deficits en route to a rousing (perhaps arousing for some) 9-7 victory in the opener of the annual Subway Series.

The Mets victory was punctuated with several instances of clutch hitting and clutch defense to go along with the outburst of power. For a while, it looked like this might be one of those run-of-the-mill games where the Mets fall behind and just don't have the juice to catch up. Bartolo Colon made one bad pitch, unfortunately he threw that bad pitch with the bases loaded, and Brett Gardner summarily popped it into the seats in Right Field for a Grand Slam. In Citi Field, that's a fly out to right. But this isn't Citi Field and the Mets found themselves instantly behind 4-1.

But, two can play at this game. The Mets, who for all their foibles do have hitters who can hit, and they set out to chip away at their deficit. Hiroki Kuroda, who's become sort of a stopper, in spite of the fact that I can only remember him breaking down and crying on the mound at Shea Stadium way back when, kept the Mets in check until the 5th, when Travis d'Arnaud played a little Home Run Derby of his own and hit a pop fly of his own that landed in the seats, another ball that's a fly out to right in Citi Field. One inning later, the Mets were even, thanks to Curtis Granderson, who returned to the place where made a name for himself smacking Home Runs over that particular Right Field fence and decided to welcome himself back by hitting one more, this one a two-run shot that evened the score 4-4.

Colon's luck ran out in the last of the 6th. The enemy started flaring hits all over the place, starting with Flavor of the Week Yangervis Solarte, and followed by dear old Kelly Johnson and finished off by what used to be Brian Roberts, and once again the Mets found themselves in a 3-run hole. But the Mets had succeeded in getting Kuroda out of the game, and into a bullpen that's often struggled just as much as their own has.

Alfredo Aceves, who's made a career out of bouncing around the AL East, took the mound in the 7th and after walking d'Arnaud, was victimized by the Mets 3rd Home Run of the night, this one by Eric Young Jr, who hit what was essentially a line drive that flew over that short Right Field wall for his 1st Home Run of the season. Daniel Murphy followed with a hit, and with Granderson up, the Mets were primed to strike for more, until Murphy decided to be a hero and steal second, where he was thrown out with relative ease.

No matter. The Mets stormed back once again in the 8th inning, and brought the game home thanks to a universal effort of clutch performances. Lucas Duda, who'd been mostly quiet to that point, kind of stole the show; his broken-bat single drove home Eric Campbell, whose slide to get around Mr. Morality was just as clutch. Duda subsequently scored when Chris Young hit the Mets 4th Home Run of the night, which was an actual Home Run that probably would have been out of most ballparks.

The Mets offense was done for the night, but Lucas Duda was just getting warmed up. In the bottom of the 8th, he made a diving stop to rob Olde Kelly Johnson and start a 3-6-3 Double Play that got Jenrry Mejia, now in the bullpen, through the inning without much trouble. Duda's play in the 9th ended up saving the game altogether. Kyle Farnsworth, who may be hitting the Met Closer Wall, came in and immediately allowed two runners aboard, setting the stage for Mr. Morality himself, Brian McCann. Mr. Morality has certainly done his share of damage to the Mets, and even though he's now old and creaky, he can still pop one out of this particular ballpark, and don't think that wasn't flashing through every Mets fan's mind. And he hit it hard, but he hit it right where Duda could dive, glove the ball and start the overshift-induced 3-5-3 Double Play to finish off a magnificent Mets victory, the kind of game that might have been begat by the comeback yesterday afternoon.

Whatever it was, the Mets proved that they are indeed capable of getting up off the mat and shoving back when the situation calls for them to do so. It would have been easy enough, the way things had been going of late, for them to just lie down and call it a night once they fell behind. But at least on this night, against this particular opponent, the Mets found a way to push back and beat said opponent at their own game.

Gee Whiz!

It is a pretty significant night for the Mets and their fans, who have, for the past 17 seasons have been playing these games against the Yankees, and although they've had plenty of nice moments over the years, they've also had some pretty lousy ones too, and more often than not, the Yankees and their fans have been all too happy to kick the Mets while they're down in these instances.

But tonight, the Yankees can't say much of anything (even if the TYFI response is something like "DUH! 27 to 2! (garble drool grunt)"). Particularly since the Mets came into this 4-game series in about as bad a shape as you could possibly be, not hitting, barely pitching and generally looking listless, and somehow the entire team decided to wake up and beat the Yankees in all 4 games. Though just about everyone contributed, this sweep was accomplished primarily by 4 consecutive outstanding pitching performances, one of which was expected, since Matt Harvey has done it all season, but the other three were rather surprising.

Tonight, Dillon Gee was the culprit, coming out of nowhere to post his best start in close to a year, pitching 7 1/3 innings, allowing only a Robinson Cano Home Run and striking out a career-high 12 batters. This from the same pitcher whose line has been something like 5 innings, 8 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks and 3 strikeouts every time out for the past month. Gee didn't allow a baserunner after Cano's Home Run and when he got pulled in the 8th, after only 88 pitches, there was sort of an uproar. When the hell did you ever think Dillon Gee being removed from a game would cause an uproar?! That's how good he pitched tonight.

But as has been the story this week, pretty much anything anybody expected out of the Mets ended up turning out exactly the opposite. Most Mets fans probably would have accepted it if the Mets had won 1 of the 4 games and not gotten totally embarrassed in the process. Instead, the Mets played with a chip on their shoulder all week. They fell behind on Monday and Tuesday and came back. Last night and again tonight, they got an early lead and made it hold up. The offense wasn't gangbusters against Vidal Nuno, but they made their hits count. Marlon Byrd hit a real Yankee Stadium Home Run last night and tonight he hit one that would have been a Home Run in Citi Field, too, accounting for the first two Mets runs early on. Late, it would be the Mets small-balling their way to an insurance run, as a pair of walks and a Wild Pitch from Hobo Chamberlain set the stage for John Buck to take a mighty swing...and tap a roller up the 3rd base line that kept rolling and rolling and rolling, but stayed fair, giving Buck a rare Infield Hit and plating Omar Quintanilla with the 3rd run.

In the hands of Gee, Scott Rice, who has become the Pedro Feliciano of the current era, and Bobby Parnell, this lead appeared plenty secure. Rice picked up after Gee left and allowed nothing, and Parnell, who has really begun to enhance his stature as he's grown more and more comfortable in the closer's role, buzzsawed the Yankees in the 9th inning to finish off a most impressive series sweep.

There have been plenty of 3-game sweeps in the 17-year Subway Series history on both sides. But only once had an entire season series ended in a sweep, when the Yankees did it in 2003. That was a pretty humbling moment which I don't care to remember. It's taken 10 years, but the Mets have finally returned the favor. And, as such, it's a fine time for the Mets fan to take a little pride in this moment, because it's not something that comes along very often. It's too bad that Big Stein isn't alive to see this. Can you imagine? He probably would have gone to the mound on Wednesday night and fired David Phelps on the spot. I can only hope he's turning over in his grave multiple times. Sure, the Yankee fan might offer some pithy response spoken mostly in lower case, but they can't take anything away from us this week or this season. Particularly when you consider that there's a very good chance that this is the high point of the Mets season, unless this now 5-game winning streak ends up turning the tide completely. Time will tell, but for right now, this is pretty awesome.