Tag: adam wainwright

The De Aza Game 

On By themetssiah2 Comments



Final Score: Mets 10, Cardinals 6

Well it only took the entire month of August, but the Mets finally won a big series against a playoff contender. My mind is blown. My socks have been knocked off. And how did it happen? 34th-round pick Seth Lugo gave the Mets a clutch start, and Alejandro De Aza (starting for the injured Jay Bruce) drove in 5 runs against Adam Wainwright including a three-run homer. Unbelievable. The Mets are 3.5 games back in the Wild Card race. Now we start a homestand against the Phillies and Marlins. I feel rejuvenated. Honestly, by the end of the fifth inning my 2016 season optimism meter was skyrocketing. The opto-meter needle was at it’s highest level since May. And then Seth Lugo was METS-bitten and came out of the game in the 6th inning with another calf cramp injury. It was a feel good game. Then I went to the bathroom, and by the time I came back Lugo was gone and the good feelings started to evaporate. After Lugo was yanked the bullpen gave up 6 runs, but luckily the Mets held on for the win.

De Aza Catch: From the start De Aza was shining. The first ball of the game was rocked by Matt Carpenter and De Aza made a leaping catch at the wall. He took away a double. My main man Alejandro.

Wilmer Sac Fly: In the second inning, James Loney singled (one of 3 hits in the game) and Curtis Granderson doubled. Then Wilmer Flores managed to hit a sac fly off of Adam Wainwright to give the Mets a 1-0 lead.

The De Aza Game?: In the fourth inning, Curtis Granderson reached on a fielding error and Wilmer Flores hit a double. With two runners in scoring position and nobody out Alejandro De Aza hit a clutch single to center field to drive in 2 runs and make it 3-0 Mets. A clutch hit with runners in scoring position? Alejandro De Aza did something? Hell yes!

The Challenge: In the fifth inning Yoenis Cespedes walked. Then James Loney hit a bloop single to left field, and Yo hustled to take third base. The play at third was challenged because the tag by Wainwright seemed on point. But upon replay review it was clear that Wainwright’s glove came off when Yo simultaneously stepped on the bag and Waino’s glove. The glove came clean off of his hand and the tag was ruled invalid. It was an absurd play. With first and third and one out Grandy struck out in pathetic fashion. Then Wilmer Flores hit one up the middle and the shortstop booted the ball. Yo scored on a gift error. The baseball gods finally gave the Mets a break.

The De Aza Game: Right after the run scoring error, Alejandro De Aza came up and launched a three-run homer to make it 7-0 Mets. His 5th RBI of the game. A month ago I said we’d never see the day when De Aza was a hero. Well this was his day.

Lugo Dunzo: Seth Lugo pitched 5 scoreless innings and gave up 2 hits. Then he came out of the game as he fell victim to the great calf epidemic of 2016. Jim Henderson came in and promptly gave up a two-run homer to Brandon Moss to make it 7-2.

Decapitated: In the 7th inning Jerry Blevins was almost killed by a comebacker hit by Matt Carpenter. It just missed hitting Blevins’ face/pitching hand. That’s just noteworthy because of our injury epidemic, and also because Blevins missed all of last season due to a comebacker off of his pitching arm. The guy is a baseball magnet. But Jerry retired the side in the 7th.

We Barely Finished: In the 8th inning the Mets loaded the bases with one out but only managed to add one more run. Asdrubal Cabrera hit an RBI single to make it 8-2 but Yo hit into a double play with the bases loaded to end the inning. In the 8th inning Brandon Moss hit another solo homer and then the Cards scored another run off of Josh Smoker after an error and a bunch of soft cheap hits. But the Mets escaped the inning with the score 8-4. Then in the 9th inning Loney and Flores singled, and Rene Rivera put the final dagger in the Cards heart with a single of his own. He drove in 2 more runs to make it 10-4. Jedd Gyorko and Stephen Piscotty added solo homers off of Sean Gilmartin in the 9th, but Sean managed to close it out. 10-6 was the final score.

Classic Mets: I must say that the Mets offense has started to mash again at literally the exact same moment that every single pitcher in the organization has burnt out. No lead was safe tonight with this pitching staff. The timing of the offense/pitching Freaky Friday flip-flop is completely ridiculous. Classic Mets.

Met Killers: Yadier Molina added another hit against the Mets tonight before he was pulled from the game once the Mets established a 7 run lead. The Cardinals tweeted that he’s hitting .579 against the Mets this season. What a goddamn Met killer. Speaking of Met killers, Carlos Ruiz was traded by Philly to the Dodgers. At least we won’t have to face him this weekend!

Speaking of .500: Speaking of dudes batting .500, Michael Conforto is literally hitting over .500 in Vegas. Grandy hasn’t done anything to deserve playing time right now. Conforto should be up here and playing the outfield ASAP.

Seriously: I was reminded today that Kyle Hendricks on the Cubs leads the NL in ERA. First Jake Arrieta emerges as a star and now Kyle Hendricks? Now the Cubs have the elite young pitching and hitting? What the hell do the Mets have? And why can’t we have some guy magically emerge as a stud? I want one of those out of nowhere success stories for the Mets.

Tomorrow: It’s really simple people. If we want to win the Wild Card then we need to make up ground. Sweep the Phillies at home. It’s time to streak.

Oh No, Not Tonight!!!

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Final Score: Cardinals 5, Mets 4

On a night where Yoenis Cespedes heroically gave the Mets a 4-3 lead with a 7th inning two run homer, Jeurys Familia finally blew a save. The Mets did their “never hit with runners in scoring position” thing for 6 innings. Then Yoenis Cespedes hit his home run, and at the time it felt like it could be one of those season changing clutch shots. Then it all came crumbling down in the 9th inning, and the Mets reminded us all that they are nothing but pretenders so far this season. We never get the happy script. It’s always the Shakespearean tragedy. The blown save couldn’t have come at a worse time. I felt like Barney Gumble in The Simpsons when he’s forced to be the designated driver, and he’s losing his mind at the bar as Homer and the boys get ripped. Then Duffman and the party patrol randomly show up because Barney had sent in 10,000 Duff labels, and it happens to be on the night he can’t drink.  Not tonight! Not tonight!!!!!

Quality Start: Logan Verrett pitched 7 innings, gave up 3 runs, 5 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 7. It was a quality start, and you can’t ask for more from a fifth starter in a big game against a Wild Card contender. Flush that quality start down the toilet with the rest of them.

We Suck: It was the same story in this game as every game. We had unlimited opportunities and failed almost every time. 12 hits!!! We were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position before Yoenis Cespedes came up in the 7th inning.

Yo Saved The Day: Neil Walker hit an RBI single in the second inning to make it 1-0. Walker had 3 singles and a walk in this game. It was nice to see him do something at the plate for the first time this month. Once the Cardinals scored 3 runs off of Logan Verrett, it felt like that was going to stick. In the 7th inning, Travis d’Arnaud and Alejandro De Aza hit back to back singles off of Adam Wainwright. Then Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera struck out back to back with runners on first and third. Same old story.

Fortunately for the Mets, Wainwright threw a wild pitch with two outs and d’Arnaud scored making it 3-2. A nice gift run. I suppose Wainwright decided to pitch to Cespedes because it would have been his final batter of the night. I still think it’s a dumb decision to give Yo anything to hit if you can avoid it. But Yo had one of the best ABs of the season and hit a two run homer off a Wainwright curveball. The homer had the stadium rocking. Yo hadn’t hit a homer since early July. Wainwright hadn’t given up a homer in months. Ridiculous.

Familia Blew The Day: Addison Reed shut the Cardinals down in the 8th, and then Familia blew the game. He gave up 2 runs. I won’t even get into how he blew it or nitpick his pitch selection. He walked two batters. He should probably stop doing that. But he hasn’t blown a regular season save since last July. It just couldn’t have come on a worse night.

Stink: In high school, my gym teacher once turned to a group of sweaty teenagers and encouraged everyone to take a shower because “You stink. You stink like shit.” That’s how I feel about this group of Mets after that loss. As Forrest Gump once said, that’s all I have to say about that.

Today: Oh great a day game against the Rockies. Who cares? I can’t wait to watch the Wilpons force Sandy make an ill-advised trade of a bunch of our top prospects for Jonathan Lucroy.