Final Score: Mets 3, Tigers 1

The Mets won on a clutch two-run homer off the bat of Neil Walker in the 9th inning. A clutch late hit by the 2016 New York Mets? Unfathomable. I’ll just ignore the inning before when the Tigers handed us the game by committing Little League base running gaffes.

Conforto Bomb: In the 7th inning, Michael Conforto hit a solo homer off of Anibal Sanchez for the first run of the game. It was an opposite field shot. I really wish 2016 wasn’t a complete waste of a season for our stud sophomore. I hope the challenges and experience help him take his game to the next level.

Poor deGrom: They really need to create a new stat for Jacob deGrom. Quality start doesn’t really cut it because he’s always better than 6 innings and 3 runs. Maybe they could give him a NP (Near Perfect)? If he goes 6+ and gives up 1 run, he’s credited with a NP. He’d probably be among the league leaders in NPs over the last few years. Anyway, he went 6.2 innings in this game and gave up 1 run. He was pulled in a questionable spot, but all in all he had another NP performance. Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez has had a bad season, but not in this game. He went 8 innings, gave up 1 run on 4 hits, and he struck out 10 Mets.

Terry’s Going Full Costanza: In the 7th inning, deGrom gave up a one out single to Justin Upton and a two out walk to James McCann. Then Andrew Romine hit a little BS infield hit to load the bases. Terry decided to yank deGrom in that spot instead of letting him face outfielder Ty Collins (who’s hitting .250). Yup. Terry elected to have lefty Jerry Blevins face pinch-hitter and right-handed hitting star Ian Kinsler. Terry has been making some awful decisions lately. I really hope he’s not going full Costanza and just trying to get canned. Anyway, Blevins gave up another little infield hit to Neil Walker that scored a run to tie the game at 1-1. Addison Reed was then summoned, and he was able to get out of the jam.

Little League Disgrace: The Tigers literally handed the Mets a Little League break in the bottom of the 8th inning. With two outs Addison Reed gave up a double to J.D. Martinez and then intentionally walked Justin Upton to face Casey McGehee. As a side note, I thought McGehee was playing in Japan or something. That guy really keeps finding a way to stick around MLB. Anyway he hit a ball that James Loney should have fielded cleanly, but instead he deflected it into right field past Neil Walker at second base. The Loney blunder should have created a bases loaded situation for the Tigers. But Justin Upton decided to keep running to third base even though J.D. Martinez was just staying on the bag. Martinez then realized Upton was approaching third base, and he took off for home. The Mets easily tagged Martinez out in a brief rundown. It was a pathetic base running blunder by Upton. Something out of the Mets playbook. That mistake kept the score tied at 1.

They’re All Dead: In the 9th inning, Alejandro De Aza was nailed by a pitch in the hand to start the inning. X-Rays were negative, but for a second I thought he would join Yoenis Cespedes and Juan Lagares in our center fielder burial ground.

A Late Clutch Hit: The next batter was Neil Walker, and he launched the game winning two-run homer! A late clutch hit. Unbelievable. We had some luck in this game? This word l-u-c-k that you say. What does it mean? It was a huge hit by Walker, and now you can fully expect to start hearing all the fans and talking heads calling for the Mets to re-sign him. If you missed it, I said that over a week ago.

Gary Apple: Gary Apple was calling the shots in the booth for the Mets. We may be in the Wild Card race, but putting Apple in the booth is essentially waving the white flag. Bring back Cohen ASAP.

Tomorrow: Mets play the D-backs and Steven Matz will face Zack Greinke. Let’s win two in a row. That will literally be the greatest accomplishment of the summer for the Mets. Let’s do it.