Final Score: Marlins 6, Mets 4

For the third straight outing Jacob deGrom didn’t have his best stuff or his command. The Mets also rested Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera in this series finale. So they essentially conceded the game. The Mets may have won 3 out of 4 against the Marlins, but as I said yesterday another poor deGrom start is cause for concern.

DeGrumpy: Jacob struggled to get through 5 innings. He gave up 3 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks. That ain’t the Jake we all know and love. He waved for the trainer when he departed the game. Obviously the fans freaked out but he said after the game he was healthy. He said his problems were mechanical. That’s what Matt Harvey said for months.

The Bruce Is Loose?: With the Marlins up 3-0 in the 6th inning, Jay Bruce smashed a solo homer. Bruce is slowly starting to come out of his funk. He’s really exactly like Lucas Duda. He gets pull happy and looks lost at the plate for long stretches. Then he gets a couple of opposite field knocks. Before long he’s mashing dingers again.

Smoker For Two?: So Terry brought in Josh Smoker in the 6th inning and he pitched a 1-2-3 inning with 2 Ks. But then he brought him out for the 7th inning, and he was crushed. He gave up a single to Ichiro Suzuki, a walk to Martin Prado, and a three-run shot to Christian Yelich to make it 6-1 Marlins. Terry saw that Smoker throws 95+, and he’s overusing him like crazy. Back to back to back days and multi-inning appearances. The guy is a regular one inning type of late inning reliever Terry. Don’t kill him/put him in a position to fail.

Filling Stanton’s Shoes: Speaking of Christian Yelich, he really played the role of Giancarlo Stanton Metkiller in this series. And we were more than willing to let him beat us. At least all his hits and homers only equated to one Marlins win.

The Lost Inning: In the 8th inning, Curtis Granderson doubled, Kelly Johnson singled, and then Jay Bruce hit an opposite field single to score Grandy and make it 6-2. The Mets had a rally cooking. Then the Marlins made a pitching change and brought in Kyle Barraclough. He promptly walked Wilmer Flores to load the bases with nobody out. Michael Conforto came up and hit a ball right in front of home plate. The catcher stepped on home for one out and then threw Conforto out at first for the double play. It was the worst thing he could have done. Then the Mets pinch hit Cespedes with runners on second and third and he struck out. I suppose the Mets could have brought Yo in to pinch hit for Conforto with the bases loaded. But they both blew it. Whatever.

Out Of Position: Right after Yo pinch hit for James Loney, Terry brought in Rene Rivera to play first base. So we expand the rosters and now we have guys playing out of position? Right. Makes sense. Great roster management Terry.

Cabby So Hot Right Now: Asdrubal Cabrera pinch hit in the 9th inning and launched a two run homer to make it 6-4 Marlins. The Mets couldn’t spark a rally after that homer though, and they lost. Cabrera needs that knee to magically heal ASAP. He’s so hot he could hit a homer in his sleep right now.

Video Tribute: If the Mets fire Ray Ramirez at the end of the season I hope they give him a video tribute with all his best injury moments set to the song “O Fortuna”.

Stinko d’Arnaud: Has anyone figured out why Travis d’Arnaud stinks this year? Is he just hiding an injury? Is there a running theory?

Today: Well in the end it still comes down to beating the Nationals. Noah Syndergaard pitches tonight. The Mets must stay in the WC race and win 2 of 3. Let’s go Mets.