Tag: mets

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.

Two Wins, One Blog

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The Minnesota Twins are so horrible that they don’t deserve two full recap blog posts. The Mets swept their doodie squad right out of town. Two wins, one blog. They actually weren’t the easiest wins. We didn’t really dominate in each game. But considering there was a stretch of the season where it felt like we’d never win two games in a row again, I’m still proud that we took care of business against baseball’s worst club.

Saturday’s Game- Final Score: Mets 3, Twins 2. 

Yo Obviously: The Twins took an early lead on a fourth inning solo homer. But Yoenis Cespedes managed to temporarily save the day in the 8th inning with a game tying RBI single.

Grandyman Heroics: In the 11th inning, Hansel Robles let up a solo shot to Byron Buxton to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. Curtis Granderson managed to keep the Mets alive with a game saving opposite field solo shot in the bottom of the 11th. But Jose Reyes struck out with the bases loaded in that same inning which kept the game going. In the 12th inning, Grandy hit the big time walkoff solo shot. His low batting average and terrible numbers with runners in scoring position this season really made everyone forget how big of a contributor he’s been during his time with the Mets. But Grandy is slowly creeping towards the 30 homer mark and helping to boost the Mets playoff chances. He’s also boosting his offseason trade value if the Mets decide to go in that direction.

Need A Zillion Arms: Seth Lugo pitched 5 innings and gave up 1 run. Then 7 relievers combined to pitch 7 innings. Other than the solo shot surrendered by Robles the pen shut down the Twins. These new young starters may not dominate in the same way as Jacob deGrom or Matt Harvey but they keep the Mets in games.

Sunday’s Game- Final Score: Mets 3, Twins 2

Magic Healing: On Sunday the Mets started Lucas Duda at first base despite saying that he would be limited to pinch hitting duty upon his arrival. I love that the Mets activated Duda and expect us to buy the Lucas magically healed narrative. They love playing guys with injuries. It’s their favorite thing in the world. Pray for cracked back Duda.

He Gave Them A Reason: I wrote last week that I had no problem with the Mets starting Jay Bruce instead of Michael Conforto because Michael has essentially done nothing on the field to warrant playing time and Bruce is an established major league slugger. I said if Conforto wanted to play he should compel the Mets with his bat. On Sunday he drew the start along with the rest of the B-squad starters and he had two hits. He had a 2-RBI single in the first inning. You know what? Now if Terry wants to play him at least we can say he had a multi-hit game. At least now we can actually say Conforto is hitting and Bruce is not. Before Sunday, Mikey had 2 hits in September. Hard to make an argument when both guys hadn’t hit a lick all month.

Quick Hook: Gabriel Ynoa delivered a performance similar to that of Lugo on Saturday. He went 4.2 innings and gave up a run. Terry yanked him after he gave up a two out single in the 5th inning. I probably would have let him stay in, but Terry knows he has a bunch of arms in the pen and obviously wanted to lock up that sweep. I’m fine with the quick hook.

Please Be A Surprise Stud: T.J. Rivera had 3 hits on Saturday and 2 hits on Sunday. He hit a solo homer in the third inning that gave the Mets a 3-1 lead. His homer was the difference in the game. I wrote earlier this year that it would be amazing if the Mets had a random breakout candidate that turned out to be a major league stud. I hope Rivera is one of these late blooming surprise stories. I’m starting to think the Mets feel he might be a bigger contributor than they originally anticipated. I’m also still trying to rationalize the trade of Dilson Herrera. So yeah that’s where I’ve landed. I’m hoping they thought Herrera was expendable because Rivera will be great. It’s more likely they dumped Herrera because they are stupid and panicked at the deadline.

Yo Dizzy: Yoenis Cespedes left the game in the 7th inning with dizziness and nausea. I’m guessing the fumes emanating from the stinky Twins finally knocked him out.

Terry Killed Wilmer: Wilmer Flores still can’t swing a bat. His wrist is screwed up. Terry and Tim Teufel destroyed him in that home plate collision game. That was a such a goddamn blunder.

Pray For Matz: The Mets are saying Steven Matz might be available to pitch this week. They’re going to kill him aren’t they? Please don’t hurt him Mets.

Terry Totally Needs 40 Guys: I love how much better this team is now that we don’t play short-handed every single night. Terry crushes managing with a 40 man roster. Hopefully they change the rules so Terry and Co. can play like this for 6 months instead of 2.

Today: Noah Syndergaard takes the mound against the Braves today. Let’s go 10-3 and win 90 games! 90? Forget 90 let’s win out. No excuses. These teams all stink.

Cancel The Resurrection; DeGrom’s Done 

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God hates the Mets. He just does. Jacob deGrom went from planning to resurrect his season on Sunday to officially sticking a fork in his 2016 campaign. DeGrom season ending elbow injury news on Jacob deGrom wig day at Citi Field epitomizes what being a Mets fan is about. It’s as Mets as it gets.

The Mets love mishandling everything. Fire Ray Ramirez! Fire the entire medical staff! Fire Wilpon! Fire everyone! He apparently felt some pain in his ulnar nerve while throwing a ball around in the outfield and needs surgery that will sideline him for three months. But it is NOT surgery to repair the ulnar collateral ligament (i.e. Tommy John surgery). This surgery involves the doctors moving the nerve or something to stop irritation. Whatever. It sounds horrible.

2016 ain’t our year folks. All the young pitchers are toast. Pray that one day we have a chance to see Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler take the mound on consecutive days. At the moment it seems more likely that we’ll be seeing Bartolo Colon pitching at 50 years old as his 20 illegitimate children watch from the bleachers.

Just shutdown Matz. Pray for Thor. Jesus Christ pray for Thor.

A Day Of Resurrection

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Final Score: Mets 3, Twins 0

The Mets hit a couple of homers, Bartolo was dominant, and they beat the terrible Twins. That wasn’t really surprising at all. The shock of the day came before the game when the Mets announced that Jacob deGrom will start Sunday’s game, Lucas Duda/Juan Lagares have both been activated out of nowhere, and Steven Matz will throw a bullpen session this weekend and look to start soon. In all my years as a fan, I’m not sure I ever remember an injury resurrection day of this magnitude. I half expected David Wright and Michael Cuddyer to show up at Citi Field riding a tandem bike, ready to play ball. Insanity. I’m pretty sure they all did what I said weeks ago. They all smell the playoffs, and they had Ray Ramirez give them the pain numbing shot. Cortisone showers for everyone!

It’s Always Been About Dingers: In the actual game last night Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera hit back to back solo homers in the 3rd inning off of young stud prospect Jose Berrios. Team Power. That’s what we’ve been about since Opening Day. That made it 2-0 Mets. Yoenis Cespedes added an RBI single in the 7th inning. His RBI made up for an error he committed earlier in the game. The error didn’t end up mattering. Against a team like the Twins you get plenty of mulligans.

Big Boy: Bartolo Colon pitched 7 scoreless innings and gave up just 3 hits. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia closed the game out. Those three guys have arguably been the most dependable arms on our team this season. Sign Bartolo this offseason and keep him here. We’d be lost without Big Sexy.

Cabrera Cramp: Cabrera came out of the game last night with a leg cramp. Now he has the bad knee and his other leg is cramping. He needs a cortisone shower big time. We need to rest him as often as we can afford to do so.

Ricco Not So Suave: The Twins want to interview our boy John Ricco for their front office. Ricco not so suave. They should hire Ricco as GM and Wally Backman as manager and create the island of Mets front office misfit toys. And obviously somehow make Jeff Wilpon the owner of the Twins. Please God take Jeff away from us.

Today: Ervin Santana and Seth Lugo face off tonight. Let’s see if Seth can keep him momentum going on the mound. Also Ervin Santana followed me on Twitter. He follows like 150 thousand people. He must have some insane account that randomly follows people. Or maybe he googled “Best and sexiest Mets blogger in the business” and The Metssiah was obviously the number one result.

Give Bruce A Chance (For Now)

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The “bench Jay Bruce” movement that has quickly gained momentum among the Mets fan base and the mainstream media is truly baffling to me. I am aware that he has posted a .192/.271/.315 slash line in 144 plate appearances since he joined the Mets at the trade deadline. I am aware that the Mets are in the thick of the Wild Card race and every game matters. But do Mets fans really want Terry Collins to demote Bruce to equipment manager for the final 16 games and have Michael Conforto play everyday? That’s what the masses are calling for right now. To me that’s insane.

I’ve said this since the day he was acquired. Jay Bruce is a streaky veteran slugger like Lucas Duda. Bruce, like Duda, has long droughts at the plate where he looks lost and then all of a sudden he unexpectedly delivers a power streak. Duda hit like .187 last year in June with one homer. Then in July he still hit under .200, but he went on one of his signature homer streaks and put 8 balls into the seats. And in August/September he mashed posting an OPS near 1.000. The Mets put their faith in Lucas and his homer streaks, and they are doing the same thing with Bruce. They are hoping that a prolific slugger with a track record will ultimately catch fire in the final two weeks of the season and carry that momentum into the playoffs.

I love Michael Conforto, but he’s done absolutely nothing this season that would justify giving him the bulk of the playing time in September over an established major league slugger that’s hit 20+ homers for 9 of his 10 major league seasons. This is a man who in 2016 will probably hit 30 homers for the fourth time. It would be one thing if Conforto was compelling the Mets to start him with his bat, but he hasn’t done a damn thing. And the team has managed to score runs lately against weak opponents despite Bruce’s black hole in the lineup. With our weak schedule, Bruce will have every opportunity to break out against poor pitching.

I suppose it’s not that shocking to see the fan base grow impatient with an established veteran. I’m often one of the first people calling to bench people. In July I was ready to take away ABs from Neil Walker. But the Mets ended up sticking with Neil and he turned his season around (before his back injury).

The bottom line is I don’t think you bench a guy like Bruce because he’s had a poor 100+ ABs with a new team. And furthermore, it’s a little late for the fan base to abandon ship on the live by the dinger die by the dinger, feast or famine strategy. This team was built on the backs of many streaky power hitters (Walker/Duda (before their injuries), Asdrubal Cabrera, Curtis Granderson, even Yoenis Cespedes to some extent). The Mets will either pitch and slug their way to a playoff spot or they will strike out trying.

Wright’s Fused Neck Supposedly Healing

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wrighthorseman

Yesterday it was reported that David Wright visited his doctor in L.A. and his surgically fused neck (neck? spine? I think it’s all been fused at some point over the last two years) is supposedly healing properly. Wright is on track to return for spring training 2017. Great! Looks like we can expect another spring full of Wright status updates and setbacks. Let’s make sure to pencil him in for 150 games and watch him play fewer than 50 games for the third year in a row.

Meanwhile in a separate story Jon Heyman predicted that Yoenis Cespedes will almost certainly opt-out of his current deal with the Mets and sign a deal in the neighborhood of 4 years 100 million (Duh!). I actually think that estimate is on the conservative end. I think last offseason was a complete fluke, and this time around he’ll have suitors lining up. He’s had two monster seasons in a row now. Some team is going to call Roc Nation and blow Yo away with a mega-deal, and the Mets will kick themselves for passing on the opportunity to lock him up last offseason. Instead of watching Yo ride into camp on his beautiful white steed, we’ll get to see David the headless third baseman galloping around after dark from doctor to doctor.

In all seriousness pray for D-Wright’s recovery and pray we sign Yo. I’m hoping David magically heals. I’m literally hoping that the arrival of Tim Tebow has some magic healing effect on David. If Masahiro Tanaka can put together a Cy Young caliber season with a completely torn UCL, is it that ridiculous to expect Wright to magically recover? And as far as Yo goes, the Mets will sign him right? I’m starting to doubt my own skepticism regarding the Mets signing Cespedes. I realize we spent last offseason protesting, and ultimately Yo fell into the Mets laps. But the Wilpons can’t actually let him leave now can they? He’s the best player in the city. Why would anyone buy tickets if they let him walk? They won’t. I’m just going to tell myself that so I can actually sleep at night. It’s the only way to stop the daily Cespedes to the Nationals night terrors.

On To The Garbage Teams

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Live look at the National League Wild Card race.

Final Score: Nationals 1, Mets 0

The Mets lost 2 out of 3 to the Nationals. Tanner Roark shut the Mets down completely. The game was just another reminder that we are a second class team in the league this year. The Nationals and Cubs triumphed yesterday and the Mets, Cardinals, and Giants all lost. The Nationals locked the division a long time ago, but even with nothing left to play for they handled their business at home. Obviously the Mets aren’t on the level of the Braves, Twins, and Phillies. Those teams are baseball’s version of the untouchables. As bad as teams get. But the drop off from baseball royalty to second class clubs like the Mets is significant. So now the Mets move on to the garbage schedule that remains. Let’s smack all these teams up and win the stupid Wild Card.

Bruce METS Disease Update: Jay Bruce came up with the bases loaded and one out in the first inning and struck out. He’s been terrible since his arrival in New York. I still think it’s too early to diagnosis him with METS disease. Obviously he’s showing symptoms of the same strain of METS that ended Jason Bay’s career. But it’s just too early to make the official call. If the Mets want to give Michael Conforto more playing time that’s fine by me. I love Mikey. I do think it’s somewhat ridiculous that a large contingent of the fan base is calling for Conforto to start everyday over veteran slugger Jay Bruce when Conforto has done nothing all season long to show he’s  likely to produce during this pennant race. But it’s not like Bruce has shown any signs of life. So if we end up giving Conforto another shot to play everyday then so be it.

Arms And Wrists: Robert Gsellman had a nice start against the Nats going 5.2 scoreless innings. But apparently he has a torn labrum in his non-pitching shoulder, and that’s why he never swings the bat. Wilmer Flores had X-rays on his wrist, and they were negative. But the wrist is still bothering him after the weekend home plate collision. Thanks again for not pinch running Terry! You only killed one of our hottest hitters. No biggie. And thanks to MLB for keeping home plate collisions in the game despite supposedly banning them from the sport. Umm if they were banned they wouldn’t happen.

Travis Is So Bad: Rene Rivera played yesterday. He threw out two guys stealing on strike em out throw em out double plays. One of the biggest surprises in 2016 has been the horrible season we’ve seen from Travis d’Arnaud. He’s been miserable behind the plate and at the plate. I never saw this coming. He was an amazing hitter last year when he was healthy. Not anymore. He must be injured. I’m sure after the season they’ll announce he needs some major surgery due to an injury that was never reported. He’s probably going to lose his starting job whether it’s injury related or not.

Tomorrow: The stinky Twins come to town. We always beat the worst teams in the league (other than the D-Backs, Rockies, Braves, and many others) so the weekend series shouldn’t be a problem.

Shocking Win: T.J. Tops Metkiller Murph

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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.