Final Score (in 10 innings): Mets 4, Nationals 3

I’ve seen the Mets blueprint for a big game against a division rival many times before last night. The Mets give you the impression they can win, hold a late lead, squander said lead, and ultimately lose due to a huge hit by some known Metkiller. The Mets were totally on script last night including the blown lead in the 9th inning due to a huge error by Jose Reyes and some infield hits off of Jeurys Familia. They were on script until T.J. Rivera launched a 10th inning solo home run off of Mark Melancon. Then we watched the Mets flip the script as Jerry Blevins struck out Metkiller Daniel Murphy when he came up to bat in the 10th inning with the tying run on base. A shocking turn of events due to a resilient Mets team led to the big win!

From Start To Finish: T.J. Rivera randomly received a start from Terry because Terry wanted to split up lefties in the lineup or some nonsensical crap. Well Terry’s random move worked out. I wrote earlier in the season that I wish the Mets had some random luck and promoted a non-prospect from the minors that turned out to be an impact major leaguer. I really hope T.J. is that guy. He was the star last night from start to finish. He had an RBI single in the third inning and a sac fly in the fifth inning. 3 hits and 3 RBIs for Rivera.

Lucky Break: Yoenis Cespedes singled in the fifth inning and then Curtis Granderson smoked what could have been a double play ball if Ryan Zimmerman fielded it cleanly at first base. Instead it went down the line for an RBI triple to make it 3-1 Mets.

They Choked: As I said above, Familia entered for the 9th and surrendered a Murph single. Then Reyes made an ugly throwing error at third base that left Bryce Harper and Murph standing at second and third with no outs. Anthony Rendon hit an RBI single between third and short, and then Wilson Ramos hit a BS RBI single that went off of Familia’s glove to tie the game. Luckily, Familia was able to escape the inning without losing the game.

The Hero: T.J. Rivera blasted the game winning solo shot off of Mark Melancon with two strikes on him. It was his first major league homer, and it was huge.

The Vanquished Metkiller: Fernando Salas was able to retire the first two batters in the 10th before Jayson Werth hit a single. Then Jerry Blevins struck out Murph to end the game. I’m happy we finally beat Murph even if it was for only one game. But I was thinking during the game that I’m not sure I can handle a three year sentence of this new Murph. If Murph hits .290 next year then I can deal with him having good numbers against the Mets. I can deal with a few Metkilling Murph moments against us if he’s playing like regular Murph overall. But MVP Murph combined with Metkiller Murph might be too much for me to handle over the next two seasons.

Noah Cy-ndergaard: Noah Syndergaard pitched 7 innings and gave up 1 run on 4 hits. He struck out 10 Nats. Obviously he’s the choice for any Wild Card playoff if the baseball gods deem us worthy of playing in that crapshoot of a game. He’s also put together a Cy Young caliber season bone spurs and all. He’s the truth.

Today: The Mets have been lucky to avoid Max Scherzer in these last two series against the Nationals. But Tanner Roark ain’t no joke. Robert Gsellman needs to step up and win today’s game. He needs to match the success of Seth Lugo if he wants to stay in “the new young arms are great” conversation. Look how quickly Rafael Montero fell out of that talk.