Final Score: Mets 3, Nationals 1

According to all the Weather Channel fanatics a storm’s a -comin’. Some Hurricane/Tropical Storm is ripping down the east coast per all my second hand news sources. If that’s the case then maybe tonight’s game will be a washout. Or even worse, maybe it’ll be one of those ESPN televised games in the rain where the Mets make a million sloppy rain induced errors and guys slip and we embarrass ourselves on national television.

But if the storm veers off course and this game is playable, I really hope we win. Please God let us win! We need to beat the Nationals. A home series win against the Nationals won’t do a damn thing to impact the NL East race. The Nats locked that up long ago. A loss tonight won’t kill us in the Wild Card race. All the Wild Card contenders stink. We’ll still be in the playoff race no matter what happens. But I’ll feel great about our chances if we beat the Nats tonight on the big national stage. At least it would represent a little bit of vengeance after Daniel Murphy and Co. have embarrassed us so much in 2016.

Long Hair Equals Success: Robert Gsellman outdueled Tanner Roark. Gsellman pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 6 hits. He struggled in the first inning after giving up back to back singles to Jayson Werth and Daniel Murphy and then walked Bryce Harper to load the bases. But he limited the damage to an Anthony Rendon sac fly to make it 1-0 Nats. He wiggled out of a jam in the fourth inning and the sixth inning. He also held runners on base unlike Noah Syndergaard last night. He picked off Bryce Harper in the fifth inning. The long haired fill-in dude stepped up. I like what I’m seeing from him. Seemingly for the Mets, long hair has a Samson like effect. Long hair equals success.

Grandy and RISP: In the third inning with two outs Jose Reyes walked, Asdrubal Cabrera doubled, and Yoenis Cespedes was intentionally walked to load the bases. And of all people Curtis Granderson singled to drive in two runs. The guy has failed all season with runners in scoring position, but he came through last night to make it 2-1 Mets.

Stinko Loney: In the sixth inning with two outs, Travis d’Arnaud singled and then James Loney ripped a double down the right field line to score Travis from first base and make it 3-1 Mets. The Loney saga in 2016 has been an amazing storyline to follow on MetsTwitter and in my opinion really sums up why we struggle to compromise on important issues as a society. Here’s what happened in reality. The Mets took a flier on Loney on like June 1st. It was a no brainer move considering they were playing him over Eric Campbell. Anyway he’s essentially played everyday since. For about a month and a half he hit .285 and played dependable defense. And since early August he’s been a terrible hitter and has showed his flaws in the field as well. It’s become very obvious why he was in the Padres minor league system, and Terry probably should have benched him long ago.

The reason I say it’s been an interesting storyline on MetsTwitter is because initially some fans overreacted to Loney’s performance and said things like “he’s better than Duda” which is objectively wrong. Because of that reaction half the prominent writers were against Loney from day 1 and made it their business to point out how crappy he is and basically have rooted against him for months. And now that he’s playing poorly, we still have the same fans saying he’s better than Duda and the same beat writers rooting against him and hoping he gets released. Seemingly nobody can agree on all the objective facts I pointed out up front and would prefer to continue to argue about the same stupid issues. Ridiculous.

Big Smoke: In the 7th inning Jim Henderson retired a batter but then gave up a single to Jayson Werth. Terry brought in Josh Smoker to face Daniel Murphy and Bryce Harper. Murph lined a ball to center field and Michael Conforto made a diving catch. If the ball went past him it would have been a disaster. But Mikey made the big play. Then Smoker struck out Harper on a nasty 1-2 breaking ball to end the inning.

Big Pen Doggz: Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia shut down the Nats in the 8th and 9th inning. 2016 has been a tough season, but the reliable back end of the pen has been an incredible luxury. The Mets basically have 7 inning games when they have a lead. I hope that magically continues next year. If Reed matches his 2016 numbers next year he’ll go somewhere else and close for big money. So we better enjoy him now.

Duda Comeback: The Mets said Duda is swinging a bat and may be back before the end of the season. Yeah right. The next time Duda’s ready to suit up it’ll be as Santa Claus for the annual Christmas party.

Not What MLB Had In Mind: This Wild Card race can’t be what MLB had in mind. The Pirates, Marlins, Cardinals and Mets are just constantly losing and showing new weaknesses. It’s a race to be the last mediocre team standing.

Today: Seth Lugo goes tonight in the big night game on ESPN. Please God let us win this series.