One-Man Band

You know, when things get crazy and out of hand, and it seems like things are about to totally implode on themselves, it's really nice to know that the Mets have this force of nature that can go out there, toy with his opponent and calm everyone down. That's what Bartolo Colon did last night.

I really have nothing particular to say about this whole Sandy Alderson/Matt Harvey/Scott Boras dog and pony show except to say that this whole thing smacks of a meddlesome agent and a player trying to please everyone but when push comes to shove, does anyone really, seriously think Harvey is not pitching in a playoff game? The Mets need to get there first but let's be real here. This will straighten itself out.

In the meantime, all the off-the-field insanity was quietly and efficiently shoved to the side by Bartolo Colon. In pitching the Mets' first CGShO of the season (and I believe their first since Zack Wheeler did so in this same building last year), Colon basically quieted everyone. He shut up the media that was too busy ripping Harvey a new asshole to pay attention to the game, and he also shut up everyone who keeps writing him off and assuming he's done. By all logic, I suppose, he should be done but what the hell. At age 42 and in the kind of shape generally reserved for people like David Wells or John Kruk, Colon keeps on getting the job done. Combine this start with the two he had previously (and the one-inning relief appearance), Colon is now up to 25 consecutive scoreless innings and has provided some much-needed stability at a point in time where the younger pitchers are sort of running out of steam a little bit. With Colon, there's no innings limit, there's no pitch count, it's just go do it, big guy and on Saturday night, he did just that.

The Mets offense clubbed around Brad Hand for 7 runs by the 2nd inning which was more than enough for Colon. Colon had things under such control that by the 6th inning, he'd decided to have a little fun and when Neanderthal infielder Justin Bour hit a tapper up the first base line with 2 outs (which represented solid contact against Bartolo), Colon delivered the showstopping play of the year with his now-legendary behind-the-back flip to 1st base.

Colon, then, finished off his 7-0 CGShO in 100 pitches and without breaking much of a sweat. In his last outing, he hit 100 pitches at the end of the 8th inning against the Phillies, with a 3-0 lead and ended up getting pulled in favor of Familia. This time, after making it through 8 innings on 90 pitches, Colon needed no such help. At this point, Colon now should be considered not simply for the rotation should the Mets maintain their lead and make the playoffs, but could you imagine him as a swing guy coming out of the bullpen for a few innings? He's shown that he clearly still has what it takes to make a difference here and he could really bring some order into absurd situations. That's both on and off the field.

Of Course They Did

The Mets have had an overwhelming number of things go right for them to this point this season, and that's been the primary reason they sit in 1st place here in early September. I've already talked this week about the Mets handling teams in their own division, and how the Mets needed to continue to do so on this road trip. One thing the Mets had been able to avoid was the "Stupid Marlins Game," which they usually fall victim to once or twice every year. You know what I'm talking about because it always happens. The Mets come into Miami, whether it's in the old Football Yard or now the Puke Green Hell Hole, fall behind early, battle back, usually peck and scrape and claw their way into a tying hit with 2 outs in the 9th inning, and then lose the damn game anyway on an annoying kind of hit by an annoying player and then the Mickey Mouse Marlins start running around having their little Pizza Party on the infield and act like they just won the World Series. Probably because when you're forever destined to be a third-rate franchise, beating a team that's in 1st place may as well be your World Series. Or because the Marlins always seem to take some absurd delight in beating the Mets, no matter who's on the team. I don't see Hanley Ramirez styling on a 3rd inning single or Cody Ross crying over inside pitches anymore but the Marlins are still the Marlins, and their existence serves to bug the shit out of me. I've now sidetracked myself out of general annoyance because that's what happens when I talk about the Marlins, and also because this kind of "Stupid Marlins Game" that the Mets had managed to avoid all season just happened to them tonight, because of course it did.

I got home slightly after the game started and instead of putting the TV on, I put the radio on and promptly fell asleep for a significant majority of the evening. So I missed Jacob deGrom's outing, in which he pitched well but had one bad inning that screwed everything up for him. When I did eventually wake up, Addison Reed was busy walking home the lead run in what had been a 3-0 Marlins lead and then a 4-3 Mets lead, and was now a 5-4 Marlins lead. Once again, the Mets were apparently having a 7th inning bullpen problem. This is now becoming a real cause for concern, not so much because every pitcher the Mets have is terrible, but because we all had to live through 2008 and the PTSD we're all suffering from has made us think that every relief pitcher the Mets have is terrible. That's not quite true, but every time something like this, or like what we had on Tuesday happens, alarm bells go off all over the place.

So, the Marlins led 5-4 going to the 9th, and A.J. Ramos, their hyperactive, annoying, Carlos Zambrano-like closer was in the game, and I've already talked about how he just seems like the kind of arrogant prick you just want to see have his face beaten in every time out. It did take the Mets a while to get it going, but eventually they did get to Ramos and after he got 2 outs, the Mets rallied and Kelly Johnson tied the game with an 87-hop single to center. But the Mets could draw no further and the game remained tied.  

Hansel Robles and Tyler Clippard held the line for the Mets as things moved into extra innings, and Erik Goeddel, who probably deserves some high-leverage work just to see what he's made of, pitched a clean 10th inning. But the Mets could do nothing against some no-name Marlin relievers (all I could tell you is that they weren't named Vic Darensbourg or Chris Seddon). Goeddel gave up a hit to start the 11th inning, and managed to induce Dee Gordon, who I believe is hitting .873 against the Mets this year to cement his place as a True Marlin, to pop up a bunt attempt. Then Goeddel was removed in favor of Eric O'Flaherty. I understand that O'Flaherty was in there simply to face Christian Yelich. And I realize that Collins is going to keep going to O'Flaherty in these spots because he has no other battle-tested lefty specialist available (Dario Alvarez I guess is just around to chew the scenery), and he's just hoping that one time he's going to throw O'Flaherty at a wall and he'll stick, but to this point it hasn't happened. So after O'Flaherty actually does his job and gets Yelich to ground into a Fielder's Choice, and we'll say he's lucky the ball didn't get past Johnson for a hit, Collins probably should have just removed O'Flaherty and counted his blessings. Right? Wrong. Collins LEAVES O'Flaherty in to face Martin Prado, Prado hits a screamer into the Right Field corner, Yelich comes running around the bases like a pimply-faced moppet running home on the last day of 7th grade, and break out the Pizza Pie boys, the Marlins win!

This is an annoying loss no matter how you look at it, considering that the Mets had every opportunity to win, and considering that they were playing the Stupid Marlins. To make matters worse, the Nationals now seem to have gotten themselves in order, because you knew that was coming. The fact that Washington is playing the Barves, who have basically lay down completely, helps, but when you beat up on teams you should beat, it begets some confidence. The Mets have been doing this all season. So Washington has now picked up 3 quick wins in a row and the Mets lead is now down to 5 games, and Washington still gets to play two more against the moribund Braves while the Mets have to play the Marlins who are a constant pain in the ass. On the upside, after the Mets/Nationals showdown next week, the Mets then play the Braves, but then again when has anything ever gone right for the Mets in Dixieland? Ugh. One series at a time. Maybe.

Run Out Of Town

Wednesday night was my 18th game of the year at Citi Field and at my current pace, I stand to top 20 games for the first time since the majestic 1999 season. That I've made it to a healthy number of games this year shouldn't be much of a surprise. But the way things have worked out, Wednesday night was the 5th Mets/Phillies game I attended, which is the most I've seen the Mets play one opponent in one season. Happily, the Mets won all 5 games. So think about that for a second, as the Mets continue to sit in 1st place on September 3rd. The Mets are now 11-7 in games I've attended in 2015, and 5 of the 11 were at the expense of the Phillies. This is an excellent example of the things the Mets have needed to do, specifically beat up on the lousy teams in their own division. On the year, the Mets are now 13-2 against the Phillies and went 8-1 in their matchups at Citi Field.

The Mets shook off the dismal performance they had on Tuesday and went out on Wednesday with Matt Harvey on the mound, and although Harvey sort of slogged through his 6+ innings of work, allowing 4 runs and not looking his best (and later, we found out, dehydrated), the Mets offense backed him with 16 hits and 9 runs, rallying early and often and ultimately overwhelming the Phillies and running them right out of Citi Field.

The Mets had already plated a run against Aaron Nola, the other highly-touted Phillies pitching prospect the Mets saw in this series, when Kelly Johnson doubled home David Wright. Ruben Tejada followed by hitting a bit of a bloop, a jam shot that didn't look like it would amount to much as it sailed out into Right Field. But it was falling quickly and Domonic Brown ran in to try to make a backhanded grab, and ultimately he couldn't catch the ball. This in and of itself wasn't quite so noteworthy, except that the ball bounced past Brown and down towards the corner. I was following the ball and when I saw it start to rattle around in the Right Field corner with nobody making any sort of attempt to pick it up, I realized that this could very well be one of "Those Plays." I'd lost track of Brown and thought he might have dove and hurt himself, because Cesar Hernandez, the 2nd baseman, was running into the Outfield to get the ball. By time he got it, he was chasing a fruitless play; Tejada had already rounded 3rd base and easily made it home for the Inside-The-Park Home Run.

What I didn't see, and what I didn't realize had happened until I saw a replay, was that Brown, after missing the ball, ended up running into the low wall and flipping over and into the seats altogether, which kind of explained why the ball kept rolling and nobody was there to pick it up. Sometimes, you get one of those rare plays that's the perfect storm of flukishness, and this certainly qualified. And, of course, after 28 seasons of going to games and never seeing an Inside-The-Park Home Run, I've now seen two in the past week, although Swihart's hit last Friday deserves an asterisk because that was a legitimate Home Run and if a replay was necessary, it would have been called as such. What Tejada did last night—now THAT was a real Inside-The-Parker.

It was 3-0 as the game moved to the 3rd and the Mets continued to pile on Nola, who just needed to take his lumps, I suppose. Daniel Murphy doubled home Granderson with 1 out, and with 2 out, Michael Conforto came up and hit a more conventional Home Run, this one a clean shot down the Left Field line for his 2nd Home Run of the series, and his 2nd such to the opposite field to give the Mets a 6-0 lead.

It wasn't until the 5th that the Phillies finally reached Harvey, as once his energy level dropped, he really started to become hittable. He seemed to be throwing fine but didn't have that extra little bit of oomph he usually does, and so he was giving up run-scoring hits to guys like Erik Kratz and all of a sudden 6-0 got a little hairy at 6-3. But the Phillies didn't make any legitimate threat to get much closer. In the last of the 5th, Nola was gone and replaced by a fellow named Dalier Hinojosa, who was wearing uniform #94. This, then, would be another rarity, because I don't think you're supposed to see guys wearing #94 unless it's Spring Training. Or they're really eccentric. I don't know what Hinojosa's story is but I surmised that if he was wearing #94, the Mets ought to eat him for breakfast, and although for a hot second it looked like they might, Hinojosa actually did a good job of getting out of a jam only allowing 1 run. In the 6th, Hinojosa looked even better. But, as most middle relievers go, 2 innings tends to be their limit. Adam Loewen entered the game in the 7th inning and gave up an RBI single to Tejada, which turned out to be Tejada's 4th RBI of the night, and in the 8th, Colton Murray came in and gave up a rocket of a Home Run to Yoenis Cespedes, who knew it was gone the moment he hit it and took his sweet time going around the bases.

In the meantime, Harvey departed in the 7th after allowing his own rocket Home Run, this one to Darnell Sweeney, but behind him, Sean Gilmartin, Tyler Clippard and Addison Reed did a fine job keeping the game where it was and ensuring that there would be no further drama on this night, which was just fine by me. After the way the Mets lit into Nola in the early going, it would have been rather poor form, and a poor indictment of an already-beleaguered Mets bullpen, if the Phillies had drawn any closer.

So, now, the Mets go back off on the road for 10 games, visiting some of my most favorite places, Miami, Washington and Atlanta. This is, of course, their second-to-last road trip of the season and it seems like it's snuck up on me once again. Of course, this year, it feels a little different. They have to keep their pace, yes, and hope Washington continues on theirs. It sort of seems like Washington is investing everything in this series next week and as loath as I am to sound too confident, the Mets have an excellent chance to wipe them out completely. We'll see.

Plan G

The Mets were due for a game like this, and they were particularly due a game like this based on the way they've junked the Phillies this season. That doesn't make it any easier to deal with, but if the Mets were going to lose to the Phillies, at least they got their asses handed to them in a manner that exposed some pretty severe weak links.

We've been through enough of Jon Niese to know that just about every time he looks like he might be ready to turn the corner and return to being the 2012 Jon Niese who was starting to draw ink as one of the best young lefties in the National League, he has an outing like he did last night, where he gives up a couple of hits, gets a bug up his ass, gets frustrated, gives up some runs, gets even more frustrated and ends up grooving an 0-2 pitch to a light-hitting backup infielder and said infielder mashes the pitch into the seats, and instead of being down 2-0, he's down 5-0 and we then have to see him screaming at himself on the bench. This is the inherent problem with Jon Niese and it's once again why he's teetering on the verge of getting knocked out of a crowded rotation. He's just not Pitcher enough to put it all together.

But that was only half of the problem on Tuesday night. After the Mets rallied against Aaron Harang to cut the Nieseified 6-0 deficit to 6-4 after 5 innings, Terry Collins was stuck in Bullpen Limbo. Here, he had more than his usual assortment of pitchers at his fingertips because of the expanded September rosters. Back on the team were Bobby Parnell and Erik Goeddel and more are probably on the way before too long. But in a situation where Collins really needed his bullpen to keep the game where it was, every move he made resulted in the Baseball equivalent of him stepping in gum. First, Parnell was brought in and really ever since he blew that game back in Washington in July, Parnell has been an unmitigated disaster. He's in dire need of completely making over his game at this point and if that doesn't work I just don't think he's Major League material anymore. He came into a game that needed to be held and instead walked two batters and then heaved a bunt attempt into Right Field allowing a run to score and basically opening the door for the Phillies to stampede over the Mets. Then again, Collins didn't do anyone any favors by removing Parnell and replacing him with Eric O'Flaherty, who's been even worse than Parnell and probably should have been booted off the team weeks ago, and yes, I know he's only been here a few weeks to begin with. I mean he should have been cut before he was even acquired. He comes in to face the lefty, walks the lefty and then gets taken out of the game. And then comes Carlos Torres, because at this point why not, the game is one long hit away from getting slammed down the toilet and who better to have the honor of giving up that hit but Torres? For good measure, Torres then allowed another 4 Philly runs after that, making it 8 for the inning and turning a 6-4 game that seemed to be tilting the Mets way into a 14-4 game that sent everyone running for the exits.

The Mets then made some perfunctory rallies late in the game and somehow made a total shit show look like slightly less than a shit show, but when you allow 14 runs, you haven't done much right and after some of the beatings the Mets have inflicted on recent opponents, well, turnabout is fair play. Still, a game like this is avoidable if, perhaps, Collins calls on Goeddel in the 7th. Or Gilmartin. You know, someone who's useful. Time to figure something else out.

Proper Colon Usage

I was right back out at Citi Field on Monday night to see the Mets take on the Phillies for the 4th time this season. This has been a more than favorable matchup for the Mets this season, since the Mets have pretty much dismantled the Phillies wherever they've met to this point this year and both times Philly came in to Citi Field they got swept.

Monday night held true to form. Bartolo Colon was the hero of the night as he fired 8 shutout innings at the Phillies, who looked mostly baffled and unable to generate much in the way of anything off of him. It's quite extraordinary, and I know everyone keeps saying this, but just when it appears that Colon is teetering on the precipice of disaster, he suddenly rights his ship and ends up firing off back-to-back great starts with a one-inning relief appearance in between. Again, Colon's caveat is that he just has games where nothing works for him and you're never sure when that's going to happen, but it seems like just about every time I've seen him pitch with the Mets, he's been great and because he's got that sage veteran presence and the ability to work deep into games he still just can't be counted out.

The 8 shutout innings are nice, of course, and much needed considering nobody seems to have any idea who the hell can pitch the 7th inning in front of Clippard and Familia, but really, who cares about that. The most exciting thing Colon did last night came with a bat in his hand. In the 3rd inning, Colon hit with a man on 2nd and 1 out and was up there hacking. And hacking. And hacking some more. He hacked at every pitch thrown to him but of course struck out. In his defense, however, he kept his helmet on. In the 5th, he came up hacking again and this time made contact, lining a single off of Jerad Eickhoff that sent the crowd into a tizzy. There's a certain kind of roar that the crowd makes whenever Colon makes contact really, and I would consider it akin to the roar that the crowd makes when, say, someone like Wilmer Flores parks one in the seats. For a brief second there, I looked down to make a note in my scorecard and heard that roar, and jolted up because for a nanosecond I thought I might see a ball flying toward the fence. If Colon did something like that, however, I fear Citi Field might collapse from excitement. But there Colon was on 1st and Curtis Granderson followed by parking a Home Run well into the bullpen, which meant Colon had the luxury of trotting home and of course nearly got lapped by Granderson in the process.

A lesser good story of this game would be Michael Conforto, who in the early going seemed to be the only Mets hitter who had Eickhoff figured out. I don't know much about Eickhoff, he certainly doesn't get the ink of the other Philly pitching prospect Aaron Nola (who we'll see Wednesday) but after the Mets fed him his lunch last week he looked much more in control. Except against Conforto, who was on top of pretty much everything Eickhoff threw him. Eickhoff tried busting him inside in his first AB and Conforto shot a ball deep down the right field line that hooked foul. So Eickhoff went away and Conforto singled. Eickhoff tried to do the same thing the next time up but was not quite as lucky as in the 5th inning, Conforto again went with what Eickhoff threw him and ripped an opposite field Home Run, a line drive in the gap that just did clear the fence whether a fan assisted it or not. This, of course, was the first run of the game and set the table for the rest of the inning. Conforto got a 3rd AB against Eickhoff in the 7th, and it appeared that Eickhoff had had enough because he threw Conforto nothing close and walked him on 5 pitches.

Jeurys Familia took over a 3 run lead in the 9th, which was slightly to my chagrin because Colon was dominating and probably would have thrown one of his sleeper pitches to the Phillies and knocked them all over. Of course, he was at that magic 100 pitch death plateau so he had to be removed, but maybe Collins should think about using Familia a little less and just let his guy finish the job he started. I can't imagine it would have taken him more than 10 pitches. But instead, we had to be subjected to Familia have an attack of John Franco and give up 2 hits and a walk before finally getting Jeff Francoeur to hit into a DP. This did score a run though, the first one Familia had allowed in a month, but, again, probably avoidable. He then struck out Andres Blanco after a sweaty 9-pitch At Bat where everyone did that thing where they stood up after two strikes and then had to go through the machinations of getting up, watching Blanco foul one off or take a ball and then juice themselves back up. Finally, though, Familia put Blanco away and the Mets had a 3-1 win, their 10th in a row over Philly and my 10th win of the season altogether (4 of which have been against Philly). It also allowed them to finish out the month of August with a record of 20-8 and with Washington once again pissing away a late-inning lead to the Cardinals, they more importantly go into September with a 6 1/2 game lead in the division. This is what happens when you win 20 games in a month. Important to keep it all in perspective.