Tag: Noah Syndergaard

Season Over; Pray For The Metssiah

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Final Score: Giants 3, Mets 0

The Mets lost the NL Wild Card game last night to MadBum and the Giants. The season is over. Pray for the Metssiah. The game itself was a true nail-biter and basically the Mets’ worst nightmare. MadBum pitched a complete game shutout, and once again reminded the baseball world why he is the postseason GOAT. He kept the Mets off-balance all night and his dominance was really the only storyline that mattered in the end. 

First Time Through: The first time through the order the Mets were extra aggressive against Bumgarner. I suppose they figured they’d see hittable pitches early in the at-bat before MadBum was able to get ahead in the count. The plan backfired, and Bumgarner had an incredibly low pitch count after three innings. 

Loney Stinks: The Mets started James Loney in this game and made their typical claim that he’s a better defender than Duda. He isn’t. He stinks. He can’t hit either. Rene Rivera led off the third inning with a single, and then James Loney hit into a double play on the first pitch of his at-bat. Pathetic.

Umps Stink: In the fourth inning, Thor issued a leadoff walk to Denard Span. As expected, the Giants were running on Thor. Span immediately stole second base, but he was called out on the field for some reason. On replay it was clear that Span was safe, but the umps reviewed and upheld the out call (wrong call) on the field. It was a gift blown call for the Mets. The umps sucked all game. The home plate dude had an inconsistent strike zone. Bumgarner was barking at him non-stop. Hopefully Rob Manfred rolls out robot umps in the offseason. I’m sick of these mooks. 

Squandered Chance: In the fifth inning T.J. Rivera doubled. Then Jay Bruce came up with a runner in scoring position and struck out. He not only failed to come through with a hit, but he also failed to advance the runner. Awful. Then Rene Rivera hit a ball to shortstop and T.J. Rivera was caught off second base. Rene managed to get to second base while T.J. was in a rundown but it was awful base running by T.J.

Late Battling: Span singled and stole another base in the 6th inning (that time it counted). But Thor was able to escape the inning thanks to an unreal two out Grandy catch in center field. In the 7th inning with two outs, Thor walked Brandon Crawford. Then Loney made an awful effort on an Angel Pagan infield ground ball that led to a single. But with runners on first and second base Noah Syndergaard buckled down and retired Panik to end the inning. 

Thor: Noah was really dominant in this game. He pitched 7 scoreless innings, gave up 2 hits, 3 walks, and struck out 10. Against almost any other pitcher this game is going down as a legendary Syndergaard start. Unfortunately MadBum outdueled him, plain and simple. 

Familia/Reed Dead Arms: I’ve raved on and on for months now about how Terry has killed his best relievers by overusing them. The fatigue of Reed/Familia showed a bit in late September, and it showed last night. Addison Reed gave up a leadoff single and struggled in the 8th inning with walks and passed balls. He ultimately intentionally walked Buster Posey to load the bases with two outs for Hunter Pence. By some miracle Reed was able to strike out Pence and escape that jam.

In the bottom of the 8th inning, Ty Kelly singled but Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera failed to come through with a big hit. Then Jeurys Familia had nothing in the 9th inning. He gave up a three-run shot to Mr. Nobody Conor Gillaspie. It started with a leadoff double by Brandon Crawford. Angel Pagan followed that by failing to get a bunt down, and he struck out on a foul tip. Then Familia walked Joe Panik. Honestly the Mets should have considered walking Gillaspie to load the bases. At least it would have forced the Giants to pull Madison Bumgarner from the game. Maybe it wouldn’t have. In the end Gillaspie hit the three-run shot and that was that. The ump blew some close strike zone calls for Familia. The umps sucked. Waddya gonna do?

Final Game Thoughts: 

  • Thank God for Thor. He gave the Mets every chance to win. Not only in this game but all season long. 
  • Yoenis Cespedes was ice cold at the end of the season, and in this game. Without Yo we don’t go, but this you already know. I’m sure the Mets will use Yo’s cold ending combined with the fact that he didn’t talk to the media after the game as an excuse to let him walk. Pray that doesn’t happen. Sign Yo. 
  • The Wild Card is a joke crapshoot ratings ploy by Major League Baseball, and I hate them for it. 
  • It wasn’t the year for this Mets team because ultimately there were too many key injuries. I’m happy they rallied and at least made the playoffs, but in the end the season was a failure. Year two of “the window” has officially been flushed down the toilet. 
  • The Mets ran into the MadBum buzz saw. They weren’t the first team to suffer that fate and won’t be the last. 

The Metssiah Will Rise Again: I’m taking a break for a few days to grieve for the lost season. Pray for me. But I assure you, The Metssiah will rise again with expanded end of season thoughts before fully converting to offseason mode. There are also some big announcements coming for the site and for The Metssiah personally. Stay tuned. Let’s Go Mets!

The Metssiah Is Ready For Thor vs. MadBum

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We are a little more than a day away from the marquee NL Wild Card pitching showdown that the MLB script writers have been fantasizing about for weeks. My winner-take-all single-elimination Wild Card game anxiety is approaching dangerously high levels. But I’m ready for Thor vs. MadBum.

My Lineup

  1. Jose Reyes 3B,
  2. Asdrubal Cabrera SS
  3. Yoenis Cespedes LF
  4. Curtis Granderson CF
  5. T.J. Rivera 2B
  6. Jay Bruce RF
  7. Lucas Duda 1B
  8. Rene Rivera C
  9. Noah Syndergaard P

This is the best lineup we can roll out there right now. Rene Rivera obviously starts at catcher for defense, and because he went 2 for 3 (with a homer) against MadBum this season. I think the only question in the lineup is around first base. In my opinion the starter has to be Duda. If he’s healthy you have to roll with the heavy hitters. But early indications from the Mets are that James Loney will draw the start. If Duda isn’t in the lineup it’s obviously due to health reasons which is extra disappointing.

My Fears

MadBum Duh: Madison Bumgarner is capable of dominating any team at any time. And he’s MLB’s best big game pitcher (career postseason ERA 2.14/road postseason ERA 0.60). The Mets will have to do what hardly anyone has done. They’ll have to beat MadBum in a big game. Our lefty heavy lineup (Grandy, Bruce etc.) isn’t ideal for a matchup with MadBum. But Grandy is hot, and we have no choice but to roll with our veterans.

Not 100%: Yoenis Cespedes looked like crap in the season finale. He was furious after the game, and he said it was because of his performance. He denied any physical issues, but he’s been playing banged up all season. Asdrubal Cabrera has been playing hurt too. Duda is still rusty. Are they ready to go? We’ll find out.

Always The Defense: The Mets D always worries me. Noah Syndergaard has to hold men on base. Lucas Duda can barely move out there when his back is healthy. Jose Reyes isn’t perfect at third base. Hopefully the Giants don’t expose any of his defensive inexperience. Grandy in CF? How are Yo’s legs? We all know Bruce is as slow as they come.

Waddya Say Rook: T.J. Rivera looks like a Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez love child. That Bronx blood flows through his veins. But does he have the clutch gene like Jeter? I hope so.

Terry Hits The Panic Button: After HarveyGate last year in Game 5 of the World Series, I’m worried Terry will have PTSD and pull Thor at the first sign of trouble or something crazy.

Rocket Science Over/Unders That Equal Victory

MadBum pitches under 7 innings: If Bumgarner is out of the game after 6 innings or gets pulled in the 7th it means the Mets drove his pitch count up and the Giants bullpen is involved in the game. The Giants pen has been atrocious this year. Pray for the pen.

The Mets lineup has over 2.5 homers: The Mets win when they hit home runs. If the Mets hit 3+ homers they’ll win #rocketscience.

Jose, Cabby, and Yo combine for over 4.5 hits: The Mets need the top of their order to stay hot. Jose, Asdrubal and Yo have all had historical success against MadBum. If they have success tomorrow the Mets will triumph.

Thor has over 9.5 Ks: I’m hoping Thor has his best stuff. Overpowering fastball, nasty slider, 90+ changeup. Hopefully the adrenaline brings out that 101 MPH gas. If he’s striking everyone out we don’t have to worry about him holding men on base.

Rene Rivera throws out over 1.5 prospective base stealers: Hopefully Noah strikes out the world. But if men get on base he has to at least hold them on effectively enough to give Rivera a chance to throw out some base stealers. I hope the Giants run themselves out of opportunities to score.

Duda (or Loney)/Bruce combine for over 2.5 hits off of MadBum: If Bumgarner is able to plow through the bottom half of the Mets order consistently, we may deal with some of those RISP woes we complained about all season long. Let’s hope Duda (or Loney) and Bruce can lengthen the lineup.

Bold Predictions 

  1. Jose Reyes hits a leadoff homer off of MadBum.
  2. MadBum has pitched in 7 road postseason games for the Giants and in those games the Giants are 7-0. That will be 7-1 after Wednesday and MadBum will take the L.

Please God No BS

All we can do is pray at this point. But please God make sure there are no BS calls, no BS replay issues, no BS game-changing bloop hits for the Giants, no BS home plate collision or takeout slide controversies, no BS freak injuries, no BS player ejections. No BS at all. Please God?!? Let’s go Mets!

Mets Need To Finish Strong

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Let’s go baby! Four more! Four more!

Final Score: Mets 12, Marlins 1

The Marlins were emotionally drained after Monday’s game, and it showed last night. For the most part Thor cruised, and the Mets put up 12 runs against the Marlins pitching staff. Here’s the bottom line. There are four games left. The Mets are 0.5 games up on the Giants for the first Wild Card and 1.5 up on the Cardinals. Win and we’re in. We own the home field tiebreaker against the Giants. So if we coast, we host. Winning the final four games is obviously easier said than done. But I’ve tried reading all the Wild Card tiebreaker scenarios. I’m done with tiebreaker talk. Win out. No excuses. Finishing the season with 88 wins would be a decent accomplishment considering all the injuries to the pitching staff. Pray.

Strep-less Wonder: Noah Syndergaard pitched 6 innings and gave up 1 run on 5 hits with 8 Ks. His velocity was slightly down. Hopefully that was due to some residual fatigue after his battle with strep throat. He also had two hits in the game. We need to clinch before Sunday. We need Thor for the Wild Card game.

It’s Still About Homers: Jay Bruce hit a two-run homer in the second inning to make it 2-1 Mets. Bruce had two hits last night. If he’s coming out of his funk, the league better watch out. That’s assuming we actually win enough games to continue playing beyond Sunday. Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run bomb to left center field in the third inning to make it 4-1. It was a classic Yo blast and bat flip situation.

It Was About RISP Until It Wasn’t: The Mets were 0 for 9 with RISP until the 8th inning when they broke the game open. Curtis Granderson hit a two-run single to make it 6-1 and with two outs Lucas Duda hit a bases loaded double that scored three more runs to make it 9-1. The Mets piled on 3 more runs in the 9th inning. Grandy added another double.

Bent Ankle: Jose Reyes rolled his ankle in the 8th inning after he hit a double and slammed on the breaks after rounding second base because Ty Kelly was holding at third base. Jose shook it off.

Why No Subs?: The Mets continued to play Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Reyes until the end of the game despite having a huge lead. They also pitched Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia in a blowout. After all, we definitely need to get the league’s most overworked relievers more work.

It Changes Everything: A healthy Lucas Duda and hot Jay Bruce would really stretch out this Mets lineup. When the home run ball is flying out, the idea of adding two more all or nothing sluggers to the mix feels like a genius move in theory. I’m salivating at the prospect of a home run fueled playoff run. For now I’ll take a home run fueled five game winning streak to finish the season.

The Pitchers Are Injured: Yesterday, the Mets announced Steven Matz will miss the rest of the season. I announced it a week ago. They also mentioned that Bartolo Colon hurt his foot running the bases two weeks ago and is playing through a sprained tendon. Try not to put too much weight on it Tolo.

Today: Seth Lugo pitches tonight. I’m excited to see more of that Lugo curve. Another top notch performance from Lugo will really help calm the nerves before this must win final weekend in Philly. A loss will set off the Panic City alarms.

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.

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.

Hooray! We Beat The Reds!

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Final Score: Mets 6, Reds 3

The Mets once again beat the absolutely horrendous Cincinnati Reds. Hip hip hooray! Today the Mets continued to hit home runs and the Reds just kept making mistakes. That combination enabled the Mets to walk away from Great American Ball Park with a sweep.

Calm Down: With the Mets surging the fan confidence meter is obviously at a season high. The fans went from planning Terry’s managerial funeral to planning a parade. Let’s all take a deep breath and relax. We beat the Stanton-less Marlins and the Reds are bad. We have the easiest remaining schedule of all the Wild Card teams, but we still need to keep the foot on the gas these last few weeks and actually win the games.

But Also Celebrate: On the other end of the spectrum, I’m surprised some Mets fans are still hating on this team. For almost the entire season the team failed to get hits in big spots and failed to beat bad teams. Well the team is finally doing that now. The team’s absurdly low batting average with runners in scoring position was bound to trend upwards at some point. Well it’s finally happening, and we should all enjoy it.

Don’t Crown Jose: Jose Reyes remained scorching hot in this game with a leadoff homer, and he also stole a base and scored on a wild pitch in the third inning to make it 2-0 Mets. Since his return from the DL he’s been hitting well over .300 and hitting for power. But I must say the “Reyes is on fire and therefore everyone who doubted his comeback are completely wrong forever” people on Twitter are hilarious. Just don’t forget everything that comes with Jose. Jose Reyes has played in 40 games, and he’s already had one 3 week DL stint.

My main point from day one has been that relying on Jose is a mistake. We’ve seen the Jose movie before. He sparks the team for 3 weeks and then he’s gone for a month. Then he comes back and the team is rejuvenated and…then he’s gone. It’s the same story every single time. Well the Mets are back to relying on Reyes. I’m sure it’ll work out this time! I for one plan to just enjoy the current Reyes ride and pray to the baseball gods that he keeps this crazy streak going for the rest of the season. But for Christ’s sake please don’t rip the Captain badge off of David Wright’s corpse and hand it to Jose already.

Reds Can’t Do Anything Right: In the second inning the inept Reds were caught stealing against Noah Syndergaard twice. In the third inning they were caught again when Jose Peraza was nailed heading home after Eugenio Suarez was stuck between first and second base. The Reds are the only team I can think of this season that struggled to run all over Thor.

Wild Thor: Noah Syndergaard wasn’t great today. He threw 95 pitches over 5 scoreless innings and gave up 6 hits and 4 walks. The Reds sloppy play really saved the day for Noah. I was obviously day dreaming about a Wild Card playoff during today’s game, and I was thinking about our starting pitcher. It has to be Thor right? There’s nobody else left. Bartolo Colon?

Bye Bye Balls: Curtis Granderson hit a solo homer in the 6th inning to make it 3-0 Mets, and Wilmer Flores added a pinch hit two-run shot in the 8th inning to make it 5-0 Mets. The entire team is smoking hot. Wilmer, Jose, Grandy, Asdrubal Cabrera. The bottom line is we saw this kind of production in April and then it disappeared. Whether it was before the All-Star Break with Yoenis Cespedes in the lineup or afterwards when he was on the DL, we rarely had multiple hitters producing at a high level at the same time outside of that early stretch of the season. It’s nice that it’s happening again in September.

Dumb Old Terry: Terry Collins brought in minor league starting pitcher Gabriel Ynoa to pitch the 8th inning. He asked a guy who wasn’t pitching in relief in the minors to pitch on back to back days. Terrible managing. Furthermore, in my mind Ynoa is the best option to replace Rafael Montero in the rotation. That seems unlikely now. It better not be Logan Verrett. Well Terry brought Ynoa in, and he loaded up the bases. Terry was forced to bring in Addison Reed to bail him out. Reed surrendered an RBI single to Tucker Barnhart and a 2 RBI double to Jose Peraza to make it 5-3 Mets. But Reed escaped without giving up the lead, and Jeurys Familia closed the game out. Yoenis Cespedes also added an RBI double in the 9th to swing the momentum right back for the Mets.

Tomorrow: The Mets have the day off tomorrow and then head to Atlanta. Remember back in June when the Braves embarrassed this team? The Mets should probably change that narrative this weekend. Also for the record, this sweep of the Reds was the first one since the Mets swept four games from the Cubs before the All-Star Break in July. How insane is it that we demolished the Cubs, but struggled all season to beat the Rockies, Braves, and D-Backs? Baseball is crazy.

Still Can’t Beat The Nats

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Final Score: Nationals 4, Mets 1

We always knew it would come down to beating Washington. If we wanted to take the NL East we needed to beat the Nationals. 2016 wasn’t going to be like 2015 where they handed us the NL East. We were going to have to take it. Well that ship sailed shortly after the All-Star Break when we decided to play like crap for 3 months. But even if the Mets want to keep pace in the Wild Card race (still 2 games out), they are going to need to show some life in this series and the one in Washington starting on September 12th. In last night’s loss Thor was great and the Mets offense did absolutely nothing. We ain’t off to a good start.

The Last Hope: Noah Syndergaard is literally the last young ace standing. He pitched great. He went 7 innings and gave up 2 runs on 3 hits. He only struck out 4 because he’s clearly revamped his first half blow em’ away style. Now with these elbow spurs he’s clearly being a bit more conservative in the velocity department. Anyway we wasted Thor’s fantastic start. Flushed it down the old toilet.

He’s So Hot And…He’s Dead: Remember when Neil Walker was the hottest hitter on the team and launching home runs and then he said his back was sore and 12 hours later he was out for the season? Well bum knee Asdrubal Cabrera is the hottest hitter on the planet. He hit his 19th homer in this game giving the Mets their only run. Pray for Cabby. We can’t afford to lose him.

Some Chances: Curtis Granderson came up with two men on and one out in the 4th inning and popped out to the third baseman. In the 7th inning Jose Reyes came up with two men on and two outs and struck out. Other than that A.J. Cole and the Nationals pen shut the Mets down.

Silly Terry: Terry used Fernando Salas (which autocorrects on my phone to Fernando Salad) in the 8th inning which worked out great. He pitched a scoreless inning. But for some reason in a 2-1 ballgame Terry didn’t go to Addison Reed or Jeurys Familia in the 9th. He’s overused both of them all season, but last night’s game didn’t feel like the right spot to him? Well in the 9th inning Jerry Blevins and Hansel Robles combined to give up 2 more insurance runs which made the game 4-1 and put it out of reach.

Forget About Playoffs: Jacob deGrom apparently went for a precautionary MRI and the results showed no structural damage but inflammation in his pitching elbow. He’s supposedly missing his next start. But in reality Jacob and Steven Matz are completely out. This idea that we are trying to win a World Series and accomplish what we failed to do last year is out the window. I still can’t believe we had a run of solid health last August/September. I wonder if that will ever happen again.

Young Guns Season 2: It’s all up to the young arms. Robert Gsellman, Seth Lugo, Rafael Montero and Gabriel Ynoa are going to get the chance to audition for next year’s team. Also as a side note I realized R.A. Dickey is a free agent at the end of the season. Imagine we go from the dream of 5 young aces to a rotation headlined by Bartolo Colon and Dickey in 2017.

Today: Robert Gsellman vs. Tanner Roark tonight. I have Roark in fantasy. I hope we score 50 runs off of him. But a complete game shutout seems more likely.

Mets Bats Are Finally Hot

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Final Score: Mets 12, Phillies 1

The Mets offense is finally white hot. They absolutely demolished the Phillies last night. 12 runs, 13 hits, and 4 home runs. The Cardinals blew a lead against the horrible A’s and the Marlins lost. The Mets are now 2.5 games behind the Cards for the second Wild Card spot. I just hope the Mets can maintain this surge all of next month. Otherwise it’ll be too little, too late.

The Last Remnant: Noah Syndergaard and Bartolo Colon are the lone survivors from our once stud filled starting rotation. Thor did his thing in this game shutting down the stinky Phils over 7 innings with 7 Ks. His fastball and slider were working. He gave up 2 hits, one of which was a solo homer. That was it. Jim Henderson and Josh Smoker pitched two scoreless innings of relief.

Flaming Bats: Asdrubal Cabrera remained on fire in this game. He had 3 hits including a two-run homer in the third inning. Yoenis Cespedes launched a three-run moon shot bomb just on the fair side of the left field foul pole. In the 7th inning, Alejandro De Aza hit a two-run double off of Michael Mariot (heir to some Marriott hotel knockoff company?) and then Kelly Johnson hit a pinch hit grand slam. Neil Walker added an 8th inning solo blast. Jose Reyes had 3 hits again.

Duh: Jose, Asdrubal, Yo, and Neil are scorching hot and the team is surging. There’s a shocker. Remember when we had either one hot hitter or zero for most of the season? That sucked. I’d point out that Philly is a bad team, but the Mets haven’t scored like this against any team since basically May. So it’s an impressive feat no matter who they are playing.

The Big Test: The big test for this club is going to be winning games without the notable young aces. Robert Gsellman goes today, the ghost of Rafael Montero is being called up from Double-A to pitch Monday (against Jose Fernandez), and then Seth Lugo is pitching Tuesday. The Mets apparently have their fingers crossed for Steven Matz to pitch after the three new young dudes. The offense may be smoking hot, but they still need these young guys to fire quality starts if they want to stay in this race.

Today: Today Robert Gsellman pitches (aka the young guy wearing the Jacob deGrom wig). The Mets just announced the lineups and apparently both Yoenis Cespedes (quad) and Neil Walker (back) are sitting with injury flare-ups. So much for the heart of the order.

Thor And Yo Are The Heroes

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Final Score: Mets 2, Giants 0

Noah Syndergaard was untouchable, and Yoenis Cespedes hit a two-run homer off of Jeff Samardzija who nearly matched Thor’s level of dominance. Jeurys Familia pitched the final inning for the save. The Mets three All-Star studs shined and helped the team earn a split in San Francisco.

That Was Nice: It was nice to see Syndergaard dominate with his crazy old bone spurs. The Mets needed a dominant pitching performance, and Thor stepped the hell up. And thanks to Thor’s nasty performance we didn’t have to rely on our overworked bullpen. It was also nice to see Curtis Granderson break up Jeff Samardzija’s no hit bit with a leadoff double in the seventh inning. He set the table for Yo and the Mets need Grandy to do that the rest of the way to stay alive in this damn race.

Meet Me In St. Louis: The Mets need to come through this week against the Cardinals. It’s not even about the number of games they’re behind the Cardinals in the Wild Card standings (4.5). They need to show that they’re capable of having a big series. The Mets have consistently reminded everyone that they’re pretenders. Every time they shown signs of life, they promptly fall flat on their faces. Well if they’re going to change the course of the season and at least play “meaningful games in September,” then they need to win this series. Period.

Pray Pray Pray: Steven Matz is flying back to New York to have his shoulder examined. I have a bad feeling about this. Pray. Pray as hard as you can.

Today: Today is an off day for the Mets. Neil Walker is leaving the team to be with his wife when she gives birth. Hopefully the baby is a healthy good luck charm, and Kelly Johnson launches some homers in Neil’s place.

So Easy To Score, A Norse God Can Do It

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Final Score: Mets 7, D-Backs 5

The Mets finally won a game against Arizona, and it’s league worst pitching staff. Apparently it’s so easy to score runs against the D-Backs even Thor can do it. Noah Syndergaard launched a fifth inning two-run homer and those two runs ultimately proved to be crucial.

Cubano: In the fourth inning, Yasmany Tomas launched a solo homer off of Thor to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Obviously the international scouting game isn’t an exact science, but I’ve been pretty good at picking the successful Cubanos from my couch. It only took Tomas one season to breakout in the power department. We should have signed the 25 year old stud.

The Inning With The Thor Bomb: In the fifth inning, the Mets broke out against starter Braden Shipley. It was really a straight up hit parade. T.J. Rivera singled and Alejandro De Aza doubled to start the inning. Then Rene Rivera tied the game with a sac fly, and Thor gave the Mets a 3-1 lead with his two-run blast. Then Jose Reyes tripled and scored on a Curtis Granderson sac fly to make it 4-1. Reyes also seemingly winced when he scored and limped back to the dugout. He stayed in the game and was supposedly fine, but man he is so goddamn brittle.

The Other Big Inning: In the sixth inning, Kelly Johnson hit a solo homer to make it 6-1. Kelly was starting because Neil Walker had pregame back spasms which has become the classic Mets injury at this point. Then it was a repeat of the 5th inning. T.J. Rivera singled and thanks to a fielding error by Michael Bourn in center field, he was able to advance to second base. Then De Aza doubled and Rivera scored making it 6-1 Mets. And once again an error by an outfielder (Tomas) let De Aza head to third base. Then with two outs, Jose Reyes singled to drive in De Aza and make it 7-1 Mets.

Thor Bailout: Noah really had another classic bone spur Syndergaard outing. He had a high pitch count, and he only managed to pitch 5.2 innings. He gave up 4 runs (2 ER) on 7 hits and 2 walks. He did manage to strike out 8. He worked out of a jam with men on base in the first, third, and fifth inning. He also let up another 4 stolen bases (which continues to be an absurd flaw that he hasn’t eliminated in any way). In the 6th inning things fell apart for Thor in large part due to T.J. Rivera’s fielding problems.

T.J. Giveth and Taketh: Rivera had 4 hits in last night’s game so he’s going to remain in the lineup. But he made two errors in the 6th. Jake Lamb reached on a throwing error to start the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Then with one out Welington Castillo singled and Mitch Haniger hit a bases clearing triple that made it 7-3 Mets. Then with two outs, pinch hitter Philip Gosselin reached on a throwing error by Rivera and another run scored to make it 7-4. Sloppy ass defensive work by Rivera, but that’s nothing new for this ball club. In the 7th inning, the D-Backs added a 5th run off of Hansel Robles who had to be bailed out by Addison Reed. But other than that the Mets pen held the lead.

Let’s Leave The Moon: Last night Michael Conforto had 4 hits in Vegas and Brandon Nimmo hit a homer. The Mets are supposedly looking at moving the Triple-A team to Rochester in the offseason if it’s possible. We really need to leave Vegas. The numbers posted there are so meaningless.

Today: Jon Niese pitches tonight. Remember earlier this year when Niese dominated on the mound for the Pirates against the Mets? You think he’s going to pitch like that tonight? Nope. But I’m still hoping for two in a row, which is as close to tic-tac-toe as the Mets can get.