Tag: braves

Last Place!

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Final Score: Braves 9, Mets 7

Don’t let the final score fool you. The game wasn’t close at all. Jay Bruce hit a grand slam with two outs in the 9th inning off Braves mop up reliever Matt Wisler which made the game seem like it came down to the wire. It didn’t. The Mets lost and dropped back into last place in the NL East.

So Deep: In spring training Sandy Alderson boasted that the Mets pitching staff is deep. Fast forward to now and Noah Syndergaard has been injured due to the organization’s incompetence, Steven Matz never recovered from his 2016 injuries, Matt Harvey is still recovering from major surgery, Zack Wheeler is a five inning pitcher, Seth Lugo has a shredded UCL, and Robert Gsellman is pitching like a rookie that doesn’t belong in the majors. Other than all that the GM totally nailed his assessment of our pitching depth.

It Wasn’t Actually Close: Matt Harvey had no command and couldn’t get his breaking ball over the plate. He gave up 6 runs on 8 hits over 5.1 innings. Many fans are questioning Harvey’s toughness and commitment. I’m pretty sure he’s still recovering from a major operation, and it’s the organization’s fault for forcing him to pitch right out the gate. If they cared about Harvey they would have signed some veterans and took the pressure off him. Instead we have no depth, and we need him to perform like an ace. That’s not happening right now folks.

King Bruce: Jay Bruce hit a two run homer in the first inning and a garbage time grand slam. Asdrubal Cabrera also hit a solo shot in the third inning. We scored runs on homers. Surprise. Jay Bruce has been fantastic. If we’re still in last place in July I’m sure Jay will fetch a decent minor league piece at the trade deadline.

Travis Out Forever: Travis d’Arnaud took some knocks behind the plate last night, but he left the game with some wrist soreness. Apparently Terry knew about it before the game and for some reason Travis still started. Pure incompetence. Travis said after the game he wasn’t concerned about the wrist. I’m sure he’ll ice it, miss 60 games, and then he’ll be ready to play this summer.

Worst Pitching, Best Hitting: Mets fans spent the last two years being tortured by the fact that we had elite starting pitching but a horrendous offense for long stretches of the season. The team wasted so many quality starts by our young arms. Well now we’re going to witness a new brand of torture. We’re going to watch a competent offense and a pitching staff that gets rocked each and every day. The Mets need to sign a starting pitcher immediately. The only thing worse than frantically searching for a competent bat on the MLB waiver wire during the season is dumpster diving for a competent starter. But honestly I’d rather watch Jake Peavy get shelled than watch Rafael Montero.

Yankees Position Player Studs: The Mets built their franchise around young pitching, lost in the World Series, and two years later it’s all coming apart. The Yankees went the Cubs route and focused on acquiring/developing quality young position players, and they are now dominating. Aaron Judge is leading the league in everything, Gary Sanchez is on his way back from injury and Clint Frazier and Gleyber Torres aren’t far behind this first wave of young talent. I’m sure they’ll immediately win a World Series.

MachadoGate: I only have one comment on the Manny Machado/Red Sox controversy from last night. To summarize: Red Sox and Orioles have ongoing beef and Chris Sale threw at Manny Machado at the beginning of last night’s game. Machado went ballistic after the game saying he has no respect for the Red Sox franchise. My only comment is Thor did the same thing with Chase Utley last year, and he was instantly tossed from the game. MLB sucks, and they need to consistently enforce their stupid rules. They should be tossing Chris Sale immediately for a play like that and suspending him for 3 starts. If they really wanted to stop it that is what they would do.

Today: Jacob deGrom vs. Bartolo Colon tonight. Perfect game for Tolo?

Mets Lose Snoozer In Extras On Bartolo Reunion Night

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Final Score (in 12 innings): Braves 3, Mets 1 

In hindsight the Mets probably should have pushed MLB to make that extra innings rule change where they automatically put a man on second base at the start of the 10th inning (and every inning thereafter). At least we would have had some baserunners to leave in scoring position.

Bartolo reunion night was an early season reminder that our offense can be feast or famine. The Mets only managed five damn hits for the entire game. It was a reminder that our pitchers often get stuck with no decisions when they fire strong starts. It was a reminder that we let the dependable Colon walk and replaced him with Montero who ultimately blew the game in extras. It all sucked. That being said, it’s game two of the season so I’m already over it.

Big Sexy Reunion Night: Bartolo Colon went 6 innings and gave up 2 hits. The only run he gave up was a Bruce dinger. He looked like classic Tolo as he gobbled innings and gave Atlanta a quality start. Yesterday was “The Mets were smart to not re-sign Bartolo Colon” day in mainstream media land. What a hot garbage take.

DeGrom Looking Great: Jacob deGrom looked fantastic. He fired 6 scoreless innings, gave up just 2 hits, and topped out at 97 MPH. He had nothing to show for it in the end. Same game, different season.

Up The Middle D: Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera made some great plays in the field including some key double plays in a number of big spots.

First Mets Homer: Jay Bruce hit the first Mets homer of 2017 off of Bartolo in the 5th inning. Everyone spent the entire offseason ripping Bruce apart, so I feel like the 2017 script called for this moment. I hope he cranks 50 bombs and flips everyone off all season long.

Rusty Reyes: Jose Reyes had a horrible game. He sucked on defense and also went 0 for 5 with 2 Ks. He failed to field a fairly routine grounder in 6th inning. He made a horrendous error in the 8th inning to allow the leadoff man Dansby Swanson to reach base. Jose got lucky that inning because Freddie Freeman hit into a double play.

Bruce Doesn’t Pass Eye Test: The old guard often talks about things like “the eye test” when defending position players that seem competent in the field but grade poorly with advanced defensive metrics. I can tell you right now, Jay Bruce doesn’t even pass the eye test. He stinks in right field. In the 7th inning Hansel Robles came in to pitch and Nick Markakis hit a one out triple to right field. That triple was the second ball hit to Jay Bruce this series that shouldn’t have been a triple. Bruce took forever to play it and made a weak throw to the cut off man. Then with runners on first and second, Adonis Garcia hit a ball to right that went over ‬Jay Bruce’s head and turned into an RBI double. A good right fielder catches the ball. No doubt about it.

Classic Robles Meltdown: Robles came in to pitch the 7th and had a classic Robles meltdown. Let’s pretend Robles’ stinkiness is a new thing and blame the World Baseball Classic.

Robo-Walk: In the 8th inning after the Freeman double play, Matt Kemp doubled and Fernando Salas issued the first automatic robo-intentional walk of the Mets season to Nick Markakis. Then he had a huge K of Brandon Phillips to end the 8th inning. If Salas has one more decent appearance in the 8th inning Terry will crown him the setup guy and proceed to use him everyday for two months until his elbow melts off.

Extra Innings, Extra Boring: The Mets had one chance to score in extras. In the 10th inning Bruce doubled and the Braves robo-walked Lucas Duda. Then Travis d’Arnaud and Ty Kelly (aka Ty Smelly) had pathetic back to back strikeouts.

That was really all she wrote. Rafael Montero walked the leadoff man in the 11th because he stinks, but then he squirmed out of trouble with a double play. In the 12th Montero officially blew it. He gave up a two out, two run double to Matt Kemp.

Juan Ain’t Coming Back: The Mets said yesterday that the return of Juan Lagares from the DL has been delayed by at least a week. Surprise! The Mets signed former Rays OF Desmond Jennings as Triple-A depth. He’s a right-handed hitting outfielder, and we needed one so the signing works for me.

Sniff The Pitching: Sandy Alderson said the Mets will be “sniffing around” the pitching market. The pitching market is made up of guys like Colby Lewis and Jon Niese so it probably smells like washed up crap.

Today: Matt Harvey vs. Jaime Garcia tonight. Let’s see if the Dark Knight looks healthy. Hopefully Wilmer plays against the lefty and the Mets launch some long balls.

Mets Let Bartolo Walk Because Depth/Money?

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When I saw the news that Bartolo was leaving the Mets, I immediately assumed he received a two-year deal from some other team. I told myself that a two year guarantee would be a pretty big risk to take on old man Colon.

But then I saw he received one year 12.5 million to go play for our rival Atlanta Braves. In 24 hours the Braves have signed R.A. Dickey and Bartolo Colon and have assembled the old man innings eating dream rotation combo that I talked about at the start of the offseason.

So what is the reaction I’m hearing from much of the Mets’ fan base? I’m hearing a lot of “we’ll miss Bartolo, but that was too much money considering our pitching depth.” It seems the Wilpons brainwashing techniques have worked quite well. They must be transmitting the signals directly through SNY this year. Listen closely people. Baseball has no salary cap. The fans don’t have to pay Bartolo Colon 12.5 million dollars. The Wilpons have to pay that money. The notion that 12.5 million dollars is too much money to give a man who was our most durable and reliable pitcher over the past 3 years is insane. The man gobbles innings, the fans love him, and his teammates love him. Oh and he was also an All-Star. It’s usually important to keep your All-Stars.

And the depth argument is ridiculous as well. I don’t care how many young pitchers we have on this roster. In case you forgot, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Robert Gsellman all had arm surgery. Zack Wheeler hasn’t pitched in the major leagues in two years due to his Tommy John surgery. Noah Syndergaard still has a bone spur in his elbow that the Mets felt didn’t warrant surgery. Seth Lugo pitched a nice little stretch of games in September as a rookie. Let’s stop pretending that this fragile crop of injury prone arms are a lock to stay healthy next year. Who cares if Colon starts in the rotation and winds up in the bullpen? We said that would happen last year, and then Wheeler disappeared from the face of the earth.

Whatever. Big Sexy is a goner. The Cold Stove continues. Now we just wait for Yoenis Cespedes to head to the Nationals for 5 years, 125 million and then listen to the brainwashed fan base say “we’ll miss Yo, but that was too much money considering our outfield depth.”

2016 Mets: I’m Approaching My Innings Limit 

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Final Score: Braves 4, Mets 3

I could not be happier that there are 10 games left. The pain stemming from this torturous 2016 campaign has finally done so much damage to my mind and body that I’m nearly ready to shut it all down. I’m approaching my innings limit with this team folks. The Mets haven’t tortured me like this in years. This may be the toughest season in recent memory.

If you didn’t feel like last night’s game summed up the entire year then you must have missed the season. The Mets were only in the game because of the long ball. Check. Big Sexy reminded everyone that’s he’s the most reliable starting pitcher on our team. Check. A former Mets player from last year’s NL Championship club embarrassed us. Check. Terry Collins made awful bullpen and bench choices that cost us the game. Check. And then finally, Yoenis Cespedes nearly hit a homer to launch the team to a stunning victory over a bad team, but instead he was robbed at the wall by an amazing catch and we lost. So we failed to beat a bad team (three times in a row). Check.

Homers, Our Favorite: Asdrubal Cabrera hit a two run homer in the first inning to make it 2-0 Mets. Rene Rivera added a solo shot in the 5th inning to make it 3-0.

Big Sexy Dominance/Recked: Bartolo Colon was dominant for 6 scoreless innings. In the 7th inning with one out and a man on, he gave up a two run opposite field homer to Anthony Recker. What an embarrassing blunder. I felt a disturbance in the Mets Force at that moment. At that moment my dream of a Big Sexy complete game and a Mets victory was fading. I knew we were in big trouble.

The Pen Snafu: Terry asked Addison Reed to get more than 3 outs in this game when he brought him into the game in the 7th. It was a totally reasonable request. Reed has been arguably the game’s best reliever this year. He’s been even more dominant than Jeurys Familia. So Reed retired a batter to end the 7th inning. Then in the 8th inning, James Loney made a pathetic fielding error that allowed Ender Inciarte to reach first base to start the inning. James Loney is terrible. I never want to watch him play baseball again. Reed recovered to retire the next batter. But then Terry Collins removed the best reliever in the game in favor of rookie Josh Smoker to face the lefty Freddie Freeman. Let’s be clear here. You don’t take out your best reliever in the name of splits. You wouldn’t take Familia out in that situation, and you don’t take Reed out. Especially considering Smoker walked in a run on Tuesday. Nope. If you’re removing Reed in the 8th, the only acceptable move is go to Familia. Smoker served up a single immediately, and then Terry went to Familia. Total bullpen mismanagement. He put Familia into a terrible situation. Ender Inciarte and Freedie Freeman executed a double steal and then Matt Kemp hit a sac fly to tie the game at 3.

Terry The Unimaginable Fool: Terry gave up the lead, but the Mets had a chance to score in the bottom of the 8th. And Terry blew that too. Yo hit a one out double and Curtis Granderson was intentionally walked. Then with T.J. Rivera up, the Mets executed a double steal. The Mets actually had the opportunity for a sac fly, but Rivera struck out. Then Terry played a ridiculous little game of mix and match with the Braves. Terry pinch hit Kelly Johnson for Matt Reynolds and the Braves responded by bringing in a lefty reliever. So what does Terry do? Well he couldn’t bring in Wilmer Flores because he killed him in that home plate collision. We really miss Wilmer. Instead of letting the established veteran hitter Johnson face a lefty reliever, he brings in Soup. Eric Campbell was intentionally walked so the Braves could get to the next lefty Loney. Instead of letting Loney hit Terry brought in the worst hitter on the team Kevin Plawecki, and he struck out in obvious fashion. The reporters said nothing about this horrible stretch of bench burning decision-making after the game.

Soup Note: If you don’t remember Eric Campbell, he was formerly public enemy number one for the fan base before he was used as a pinch hitter for Jay Bruce two nights ago. Talk about a symbolic passing of the baton of hate.

Make It Stop: In the top of the 9th inning Familia coughed up a run to make it 4-3 Braves. In the bottom of the 9th, Yo came up with two men on and two outs. He had a chance to come through with yet another signature moment at the plate. He launched a ball with home run distance and Ender Inciarte robbed the homer with a game saving catch.

Awful, All Awful: The Mets, Giants, and Cardinals all lost. I honestly hope these teams finish in a three way tie for both Wild Card spots and fans across the country are forced to watch them play one awful tiebreaker game after another. None of these abysmal squads deserve a playoff berth. The Giants are in the midst of the worst second half collapse in the history of baseball, and the Mets still can’t claim a playoff spot. Pull the plug. End this season.

Today: Philly comes to Citi Field tonight. I’m watching the game on mute. I can’t handle the crowd noises and commentary anymore. Just get me to the 2016 finish line.

Old Man Collins Fell Asleep

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Final Score: Braves 5, Mets 4

There are many factors that will ultimately determine whether or not the Mets win the Wild Card. One major factor will be Terry Collins’ handling of the bullpen. As we all know, bullpen management isn’t exactly one of his strengths. Hell he pretty much sucks at most aspects of in-game management. Well last night Terry fell asleep at the wheel again. He botched the hook of his starting pitcher, he screwed up the management of his bullpen, and he missed key spots to pinch hit. Those blunders combined with some on field mistakes cost the Mets a close game. Also Yo is ice cold right now and consequently the Mets offense has shut down. There’s a shocker!

Terry Fell Asleep: Robert Gsellman did a nice job getting through 5 scoreless innings. By the 6th inning the Mets were only up 1-0, and Terry should have had a short leash with his young starter. There’s no reason whatsoever to take chances with these young guys, especially considering Terry has the 40-man roster at his disposal. Other than Julio Teheran, the top of the order was due up in the 6th. Terry should have had his bullpen cranking and ready to go. He did not. He was asleep. By the time Gsellman had surrendered two straight singles to Ender Inciarte and Adonis Garcia, Terry realized he blew it. Warthen visited the mound to give the pen some warmup time but the lefty wasn’t ready to face Freddie Freeman. Gsellman ended up walking Freeman to load the bases.

Mold Glovers: Then Gsellman gave up a gift single to Matt Kemp that fell between our horrible outfielders Curtis Granderson in center and Jay Bruce in right field.

Squeezed: Josh Smoker then came in and was squeezed by the home plate umpire. He walked Nick Markakis to force in a run and make it 2-1 Braves. Fernando Salas then entered and managed to escape further damage.

Nap Time: In the 7th inning, Fernando Salas was pulled after giving up a single and then retiring the pitcher. Terry brought in Jerry Blevins to face Inciarte, and he gave up a single. Then he left Blevins in to face the righty Met Killer Adonis Garcia. I saw the home run coming. He’s hit like .300 against the Mets this year with multiple soul crushing homers. I saw it coming a mile away. The three run shot made it 5-1. Goddamn the Braves.

The Runs and Final Mistakes: In the 8th inning, Asdrubal Cabrera walked and Yoenis Cespedes was hit by a pitch. Then Grandy doubled to make it 5-2 and T.J. Rivera added a sac fly to make it 5-3. Then the Braves brought in the lefty for Jay Bruce and the Mets pinch hit for him. Bruce’s early onset METS disease has become so bad that he’s being pinch hit for!!! Pray for Bruce! He’s dunzo. Anyway Terry pinch hit Eric Campbell, and I don’t care that he hit an RBI single to make it 5-4. It’s still the wrong move. The lefties on the bench are better major league hitters. Period.

D’Arnaud is Garbage: In the second inning with two men on and one out Travis d’Arnaud failed to deliver a hit. In the 8th inning, he came up with runners on the corners and two outs. Terry should have pinch hit for him. He’s terrible. He grounded out and failed to tie the game. He has one of the worst cases of METS disease I’ve ever seen. He’s lost all his skills in one offseason. He has to be hiding an injury. Book it.

METS Disease: Ray Ramirez will need to study the bodies of Bruce and d’Arnaud in the offseason to see what he can learn about METS disease prevention. Speaking of our legendary training staff, the Mets fired former assistant trainer Mike Herbst from the organization. Herbst was best known for his use of bloodletting to cure the plague of sweat sickness that swept through the Mets clubhouse in the early 2000s. His medieval methods will not be missed.

Yo Ain’t Hitting So We Out: Yo came up with a man on and two outs in the 9th inning and struck out on a breaking ball. He missed the pitch before his strikeout so badly that he fell over while swinging. He’s cold right now. And as a result the offense is bad again. It ain’t rocket science. Without Yo we’ve got nada. The Mets failed to hit with runners in scoring position throughout the game.

Braves Have Nothing To Lose: In the third inning, Asdrubal Cabrera doubled and the Braves threw over to second base so many times. They forced Cabrera and his bum knee to dive back and forth. He looked like he badly aggravated his knee multiple times. Then in the 8th inning they nailed Yoenis Cespedes on the arm with a pitch. Screw the Braves. They’ve got nothing to lose, and they are successfully punishing and embarrassing the Mets.

Today: The Wild Card race is a three way tie. Let’s salvage a game against the Braves at home. You gotta love how once again we can’t take advantage of our “easy schedule”.

Stop Counting Dem Chickens!

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Final Score: Braves 7, Mets 3

My takeaway from yesterday is that Mets fans are counting their Wild Card game chickens way before they’ve hatched. 12 games to play and people are talking about the Wild Card game starting pitcher and how the rotation could look if we win the Wild Card game at home. I’ve even seen members of team positive talking about how this September run has made this season a success, and it should stop Mets fans from having the woe is me, God hates us, same ol’ Mets mindset. And that opinion is a complete joke. If you feel one hot month in September should erase the memories of the past 20, 30, 40, 50 years then you’re delusional.

I’m enjoying these games. Let’s all enjoy them and let’s hope the Mets finish strong. But for the love of God stop making plans for October. Focus on qualifying for the stupid Wild Card game first.

Thor Struggled: Noah Syndergaard had an awful start. He went 3.2 innings and gave up 5 runs on 8 hits. He walked 3 and had no command whatsoever from the beginning. Terry left him in and let the game get out of hand because of course he did. In the second inning Thor walked two guys, and then let up a couple of RBI singles.

Met Killer: Met Killer Freddie Freeman went 4 for 5 with a third inning solo homer to make it 3-0 Braves. Then in the fourth inning with two men on and two outs Terry left Thor in to give up a 2-RBI double to Freeman to make it 5-0 Braves. Every Mets fan saw that hit coming. I would have pulled Thor for Sean Gilmartin in that spot. Noah didn’t have any command at all. Whatever. The Mets couldn’t muster any offense last night anyway.

Wild Thor: Thor has had a fantastic season overall. His numbers are Cy Young caliber. But when I think about his season I just can’t shake the image of the rare night like last night. Every so often he has no command and the opposing team runs wild on him. If the Mets somehow win the Wild Card, I hope Thor has it all going for him in the big spot.

We Lost To A Mook: The Mets couldn’t hit Aaron Blair who despite being a good prospect hadn’t won a major league start in 12 chances and had an insanely high ERA. But he held the Mets hitless for 3.2 innings until Curtis Granderson hit a single, and then T.J. Rivera hit a two-run homer. As I wrote yesterday, it’ll be pretty prettay good if T.J. Rivera turns out to be a stud.

Everyone’s Favorite Damn Lineup: Terry made most Mets fans happy by starting Michael Conforto over Jay Bruce yesterday. The only player that most fans are still begging to see is cracked back Lucas Duda. Well Conforto had a hit and was robbed of another by a Matt Kemp diving catch. James Loney started over rusty Duda, and he had 3 hits including a garbage time RBI double in the 9th inning.

Just Missed: The Mets ultimately just missed delivering in many spots last night. They just missed having a flawless night from the bullpen. But Josh Edgin/Hansel Robles struggled in the 7th inning. Robles gave up a 2-RBI double to Dansby Swanson that led to the runners inherited from Edgin scoring. Terry never should have asked Edgin to pitch two innings. Matt Kemp made two diving catches in the seventh inning to rob Michael Conforto and Alejandro De Aza of singles. In the 8th inning, Asdrubal Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes just missed hitting home runs. They had pitches to crush, and they just missed sending them out.

Today: The Cardinals won and the Giants lost. The Giants bullpen is awful. It brings back memories of 2008 when the Mets had Luis Ayala, and we blew games every night. Also, fear the Marlins. Giancarlo Stanton hit a bomb last night. They play the Mets next week. This race is far from over. Let’s hope greasy hair Robert Gsellman can outduel Julio Teheran tonight.

You Know The Name

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Final Score: Mets 10, Braves 3
Yoenis Cespedes and the Mets handled their business on Sunday by punishing the Braves in their final matchup at Turner Field. The win won’t make up for all the horrible embarrassment the team has experienced over the years at the park. But it’s nice to see Yo smack the Braves up nonetheless. Yo hit a grand slam, had 5 RBIs, and passed on talking to the media after the game. Apparently he said he’s going to let his bat do the talking. Please sign this man for life.

Yo’s The Man: Asdrubal Cabrera hit a triple in the first inning, and Yo knocked him in with an RBI ground out. It looked like Cabby’s knee exploded once he reached third base, but he stayed in the game. The Mets then loaded the bases in the third inning for Yo, and he smashed a grand slam. At that point the game was over. It’s almost unfair to say that Yo is “heating up” at the right time because the man has hit .290 all season and just hit his 30th long ball yesterday. But if he’s going to go on another power surge like he did last August/September then I really like the Mets Wild Card chances. Yo’s the power. Yo’s the man.

Blowout: The Mets annihilated the Braves pitching staff on Sunday. James Loney had a solo homer in the fourth inning and an RBI double in the fifth. The Mets added 4 runs in the fifth overall including a Seth Lugo sac fly. The Blonde Bombers had 5 hits combined (Asdrubal 3 hits and Jose Reyes 2).

Lovely Lugo: Seth Lugo gave the Mets another rock solid start. He went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs on 6 hits. The Braves had a chance to crawl back into the game in the fourth inning when Freddie Freeman hit an RBI single to make it 6-1 and then they loaded the bases for Anthony Recker. But our boy Anthony “Golden Chin” Recker did exactly what he did during all his Mets years. He did nothing. I’m surprised he didn’t strike out on 3 pitches. Instead he popped out to first base. Then Dansby Swanson hit into an inning ending double play.

Leave Them All In: On Saturday, Terry almost managed to burn his entire expanded roster by the 10th inning. Yesterday the Mets scored 10 runs and Terry felt the need to keep Yo and Cabrera in the entire game. Yo apparently said he wanted to stay in. Cabby on the other hand is limping around out there, and Terry’s too distracted managing his bullpen to take him out for some additional rest. Wake up TC!

Today: The big road series against the Nationals starts tonight. Rafael Montero pitches against Mat Latos. That’s one ugly pitching matchup. The Mets need to win 2 out of 3 just to keep pace in this Wild Card race. Let’s make a statement. Let’s go.

Mets Lose Turner Tug of War

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

Terry Collins ultimately blew a game the Mets really didn’t deserve to win in the first place. The Braves handed the Mets two runs in the first inning as a result of two errors. And then Terry mismanaged the bullpen and failed to pinch run in a key spot. Those poor managerial decisions cost the Mets a chance at victory.

The Freebie Runs: In the first inning, Jose Reyes walked and with one out Yoenis Cespedes hit a ball to third base and reached on a throwing error by Adonis Garcia. Then Curtis Granderson hit a double play ball up the middle and second baseman Jace Peterson made an error. That error allowed Reyes to score and made it 1-0. Then Jay Bruce hit another double play ball to the first baseman, but he managed to beat the throw to first base. Yo scored and that made it 2-0. In the first inning the Mets basically hit nothing but Taylor made double play balls and the Braves handed them two runs.

Big Sex: Bartolo Colon pitched 6 innings and gave up 3 runs on 4 hits (2 homers). He certainly gave the Mets a chance to win. He ran into some early trouble in the first inning when the first two batters reached base. But Wilmer Flores made a diving stop at first base of a Freddie Freeman hot shot, and he was able to make the throw and get the force out at second base. Then Matt Kemp hit a sac fly to make it 2-1, but that was the only damage of the inning. Nick Markakis also took him deep in the fourth inning to tie the game at 2.

One Note On The Sex: Big Sexy came up in the second inning with a man on first base and one out, and he hit into another double play. Can we please stop letting him swing with one out and men on base? Make him bunt for Christ’s sake.

Slugger Pendulum: In the fifth inning Yoenis Cespedes took the lead right back for the Mets with a solo shot off of starter John Gant. Tolo coughed it right back up in the 6th inning when Matt Kemp launched a solo shot to tie the game at 3.

The Play At Home: In the 8th inning Wilmer Flores hit a two out double off of lefty Ian Krol. Terry then pinch hit for Kelly Johnson with T.J. Rivera to get the righty lefty matchup. But Terry never pinch ran for Wilmer despite his expanded roster bench. He admitted after the game he straight up fell asleep at the wheel. Rivera slapped a single to right field and Wilmer was gunned down at the plate. So Terry blew it. That’s obviously one blunder here. The other thing that pissed me off was A.J. Pierzynski was blocking home plate. When he fielded the throw he moved more directly in the way of home plate. That’s why it wasn’t a violation of the rule. But that’s BS. It wasn’t a rule violation because MLB doesn’t care about the home plate rule anymore. It’s not a hot button issue so they aren’t going to re-hash it this year. But the bottom line is Wilmer had no lane to score and Keith said the truth during the broadcast. He said Wilmer had no choice but to barrel over the catcher. And that’s supposed to be what the rule eliminated from the game. Sooooo it doesn’t work. On a night where the Dodgers pulled starter Rich Hill while he was throwing a perfect game, we can see how the game has changed but also how it remains the same. Collisions forever!

Terry’s Blunder Count: So Terry failed to pinch run. He also brought in Hansel Robles for one batter in the 9th inning, and then brought in Jerry Blevins for the lefties. So he burned one of his top relievers. As a result of that decision he went to Erik Goeddel in the bottom of the 10th instead of Robles and Goeddel was rocked. He gave up two singles, threw a wild pitch, and only recorded one out. Josh Smoker ultimately gave up the walk-off hit but Goeddel laid the foundation for the loss.

Thank God It Ended: If that game went on any longer last night Terry was going to find a way to burn every player and pitcher on the expanded roster.

Today: The Mets fell out of the Wild Card spot last night. Old blister finger Seth Lugo needs to find a way to win the rubber game today. Let’s go baby.

Kelly Johnson And Mets Continue September Surge

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Final Score: Mets 6, Braves 4

This game felt like a certain loss. Julio Teheran basically shut the Mets offense down. But it was 4-2 in the 8th inning, the stinky Braves made a fielding error, and that opened the door for the Mets to have a big inning. The Mets took full advantage of the opportunity the Braves gave them and scored 4 runs. Boom. Just like that the smoking hot Mets kept their winning streak alive. They’ve won 6 in a row and 15 of 19.

Please Stay Strong: Robert Gsellman pitched 5 innings and gave up 4 runs on 7 hits. It was an underwhelming performance where he gave up a solo homer to Matt Kemp in the second inning and then 3 runs in the 5th inning. He undoubtedly kept the Mets in the game and with the offense as hot as it is the performance wasn’t devastating. But we need these young guys to continue to stay strong. I don’t see Jacob deGrom or Steven Matz coming back until the end of the month. It’s fully up to these new young arms to keep us in games if we’re going to win this Wild Card spot.

Curtis’ Comeback: In the 6th inning after Gsellman had just given up 3 runs, Curtis Granderson gave the team a lift with a two-run shot to make it 4-2 Braves. He’s finally picked things up here in the final month of the season. Honestly the timing couldn’t be better in terms of boosting our chances in 2016 and for his trade value. With a strong finish the Mets may actually be able to trade him for another useful piece assuming they want to do that and make room for Michael Conforto in center field. I certainly don’t want to get rid of Grandy just for the sake of a salary dump. Only if it makes the team better.

Capitalize On Mistakes: Julio Teheran came out of the game after 6 innings. In the 8th inning, the Mets finally had the opportunity to expose the Braves pen. Mauricio Cabrera walked Alejandro De Aza and then Jose Reyes hit a chopper up the middle right at shortstop Dansby Swanson. If it wasn’t Reyes on the base paths it’s a routine double play. But the out at second should have been a given. Swanson booted the ball and everyone was safe. And from there the Mets took advantage/the Braves gave them a bunch of other chances. The Braves proceeded to walk Asdrubal Cabrera to load the bases for Yoenis Cespedes. Yo hit a sac fly to make it 4-3 Braves. Then Grandy singled to score another run which made it 4-4. Then Kelly Johnson roped a double to right field to score another run. The Braves intentionally walked Jay Bruce to load the bases again. Then they brought in Jose Ramirez to face Michael Conforto, and he hit him with a pitch to force in a run and make it 6-4. The Mets weren’t able to blow the game open because Travis d’Arnaud and De Aza struck out back to back to end the inning.

Team Automatic: Those 6 runs were all the Mets needed. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia (aka Team Automatic) locked down the 8th and 9th for the win.

Prep For The Playoffs: Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz went from shut down to supposedly throwing and getting ready for a return. The Mets smell the playoffs, and they’re getting their boys ready. I’m sure by the final week of the season they’ll have them ready for a tune-up start if it’s looking likely that we’ll win the Wild Card.

The Knee: Asdrubal Cabrera can barely walk out there. Pray for him.

Today: Bartolo Colon pitches today because Seth Lugo apparently has a blister and needs to give it an extra day. Bart is a freaking machine.

Mets Torture Us Again; Leave Them All On Base

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Final Score: Braves 5, Mets 2

Watching the Mets this season is straight up torture. We have the number two pitching staff and the 28th ranked offense. It’s the same game every single day. The starting pitcher mows down the opposition. If the starter gives up a run then the Mets probably lose. If he gives up two runs a loss is guaranteed. As a fan, I feel like Brandon Stark in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire Saga. Brandon Stark of Winterfell was tied up by the neck with his sword just out of reach. And he was made to watch as his father was burned to death by the Mad King Aerys of Westeros. He strangled himself to death reaching for his sword as his father was burned alive. That’s every single game as a Mets fan in 2016. We watch and desperately cling to the hope that we will score runs, but they’re always just out of reach. There’s literally nothing we can do other than watch our starting pitcher inevitably get burned on the mound.

Sexy Per Usual: Bartolo Colon was able to pitch with his fat swollen sexy thumb. He was dominant. He went 7 innings, but gave up a Freddie Freeman solo blast in the first inning. The game was really over at that point. Bartolo only had 84 pitches through 7 innings. In the American League he’s going 9 innings in this game. But this is the NL, and the Mets had to pinch hit for him in the bottom of the 7th with Curtis Granderson. They crossed their fingers and hoped Grandy would tie the game at one with a dinger. He didn’t. Also with each passing day, Bartolo looks more and more like the Gungan King on Naboo in Star Wars:

Bastardo is Garbage: Antonio Bastardo entered the game in the 8th inning and promptly blew it. He’s awful. He gave up a leadoff single to Ender Inciarte and balked him over to second base. Pathetic. Then he walked Freddie Freeman and Inciarte stole third base. It was honestly one of the most embarrassing bullpen appearances of the season by any Met. With first and third and no outs, Nick Markakis singled to make it 2-0. Then Bastardo was pulled and Logan Verrett gave up a three run blast to Adonis Garcia. It was a nice reminder that Verrett also stinks. That made it 5-0.

Leave Them All: It was pretty obvious right out of the gate that the Mets weren’t going to score at all today when Bud Norris struck out the side in the first inning. The Mets left a runner in scoring position in the third inning. They left runners on first and third in the fifth inning. Kelly Johnson led off the sixth inning with a single, stole a base, and was left in scoring position. The Mets scored a couple garbage time runs after the Bastardo meltdown. Matt Reynolds led off the 9th with a double and advanced to third on an error. Cespedes hit an RBI ground out to make it 5-1. Then Neil Walker hit a one out double, but James Loney followed that with a foul out to Adonis Garcia. Garcia made an amazing over the shoulder catch. He had already made an amazing catch in foul territory in the second inning on a Neil Walker foul ball. He also hit that dagger three run blast. He’s kind of become a Met killer this season. The Braves love breeding new Met killers. Anyway, Wilmer Flores singled in Walker to make it 5-2, and then Brandon Nimmo struck out to end the game.

Nimmo: Speaking of Nimmo, he went 0 for 4. He came up in a big spot in the fifth inning with runners on first and second with nobody out. He grounded into a force out at second base. He didn’t get the big hit. Nonetheless congrats to Nimmo on his debut.

Days Off: I’d like to get mad at Terry for giving Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson and Travis d’Arnaud the day off all at the same time. But honestly who the hell cares? We can’t score regardless of who’s in the lineup. And these guys can’t play every day. Grandy and Cabby are old men for baseball. They need days off. I’ve never seen anything like this Mets offense. It’s exactly like last year’s pre-Cespedes squad, but the difference is we have guys who should hit. We have some talented players. They just haven’t been able to get it done consistently at all.

Cespedes Is Our Only Guy: Yoenis Cespedes is the only guy in our lineup we have been able to truly depend on day in and day out. He is the engine. It is known. Unfortunately today he went 0 for 4 (with an RBI groundout haha), and we couldn’t get anything going. No surprise there.

Horrendous Play: It didn’t end up burning us, but Freddie Freeman hit a ball up the middle in the 6th inning. Neil Walker made a crummy off balance throw to James Loney who totally failed to scoop a fairly routine ball. It was called an error on Loney. Freeman advanced to second because of the error, but also because Rene Rivera wasn’t there to backup first base. The ball rolled right into the Braves dugout. Sloppy.

Rockies Or Mets?: The Mets have the number two team ERA and are ranked 28th in runs. The Rockies are 28th in ERA and number two in runs. I’ve often said to people that the only thing worse than filling holes in your lineup with Quadruple-A players is filling holes in your pitching staff with Quadruple-A arms. My point really being that having the worst offense is bad, but it’s not as bad as having the worst pitching staff. Lately I’m not so sure. The Rockies are 35-39 so there’s no debate regarding which team is better. But part of me feels like I’d rather watch a team that blows leads, and then sometimes battles back to re-take the lead. At least the Rockies have games that go back and forth and have some suspense. The Mets play the same gave every single time. It’s really hard to watch these starters get screwed each and every outing.

Tomorrow: Well we split in Atlanta. What a joke. Now we head to Washington three games out of first. The Nats offense is ice cold. God I hope we find a way to score some runs. Not bloody likely.