Tag: Noah Syndergaard

The Mets Make Me Sad

On By themetssiah6 Comments


Final Score: D-Backs 9, Mets 0

The Mets are now a .500 ball club for the first time since April. They were swept at home by the cellar dwelling Arizona Diamondbacks. They never had a chance to score a run in this game. They are playing like a dead team full of guys hoping the season ends tomorrow. But there’s another month and a half of games left. I have tickets for a game at the end of this month, and I don’t even want to go. So many young campers were at the game today. Poor campers. Nobody should have to suffer like the fans did today.

Noah Syndergaard barely pitched 5 innings, and he gave up 3 runs on 8 hits. He hasn’t been the same since they discovered the bone chips in his elbow. Poor Noah. Jon Niese came on in relief of Thor and was crushed. He gave up 6 runs in one inning of relief. He’s terrible and always has been.

The Most Public Of Our Many Humiliations: This D-Backs series may be the most embarrassing public execution of a Mets season in years. Terry ranted for four minutes after the game about how the players need to be passionate. Terry said if the current crew of players don’t start playing inspired ball, he’ll find guys in Vegas who will. Unfortunately for Terry, there’s nobody left to call up in Vegas. They’re already in the Mets starting lineup. Maybe the Mets will fire Terry Collins and name Eric Campbell manager on an interim basis.

Let’s Be The Actual Worst: If the Mets are going to keep crashing and burning in 2016, then I want the team to post the lowest batting average with runners in scoring position in baseball history. Right now we’re number two, but “worst of all-time” just rolls off the tongue better.

We Are The Actual Worst: The D-Backs ran all over the Mets pitching staff again. They stole four bases against us. The Mets are the worst team in the majors at preventing stolen bases. This has been a problem for the Mets all season, and they haven’t been able to fix it. It doesn’t even feel like they’ve tried to fix it.

The Worst Part of It All: The worst part about this Mets dumpster fire is it’s going to make it harder to sell Yo on a return when competitive teams start showing interest. Yoenis Cespedes is probably packing his golf bag and his horse into his rocket car right now. He’s ready to get the hell out of dodge.

Fear The Real Rock Bottom: I’m scared to watch the rest of the games. The Yo DL trip was devastating. This D-Backs series was brutal. But those aren’t really rock bottom. I’m a Mets fan. I know what rock bottom is like, and I know what “Mets rock bottom” is like. We haven’t seen that yet. That usually involves something like a franchise player being diagnosed with a debilitating spinal condition like poor David Wright. Bless his poor neck and spine.

If I was directing “2016 Mets” the movie I’d just copy the ending of “2015 Nationals”. That’s when you trade for Papelbon, watch him choke Cespedes in the dugout on national television and then cut to black.

Tomorrow: The Padres come to town tomorrow. Styx plays a concert on Saturday. Looks like we’ll see a meaningful concert in August instead of meaningful games in September.

Other Team Wins (Tigers); What Else Is New?

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Final Score: Tigers 4, Mets 3

Every Mets Game Recap: Put men on. Leave them on. Put men on. Leave them on. Put men on. Leave them on. Put men on…

2016 Mets Season Recap: Win then lose. Win then lose. Win then lose. Win then lose. .500 baseball! I’m no sports scientist, but that doesn’t seem like a winning formula to me!

The Actual Recap: I have Justin Verlander on my fantasy team so that’s nice. He went 6 innings, 2 runs and struck out 9 Mets. Honestly, I’m just going to try and pick up every starter that faces the Mets the rest of the season off of the fantasy waiver wire.

Noah Syndergaard worked through 6 innings, gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and struck out 7. I wish no bone chips Thor still pitched. He was so dominant earlier this season. This Thor makes too many mistakes. He had a rough fourth inning and gave up a two run dinger to Victor Martinez and an RBI single to James McCann. Although in Thor’s defense, one mistake means you are guaranteed to lose with this Mets offense.

The Mets left two runners in scoring position in the second inning. They left a man on in the 6th inning. The Mets scored a BS run in the 9th on an RBI ground out by James Loney. They couldn’t buy a clutch hit per usual.

Kelly Johnson hit a two run homer in the fourth inning. Johnson has really been fantastic since joining the Mets. We should probably retain him on a one year deal this offseason. Don’t screw it up this time Sandy. Also, the Tigers walked Jay Bruce that inning to give Kelly the opportunity with a man on base. Bruce has replaced Yoenis Cespedes as the new auto-walk.

The Metsiest Thing Ever: I was at the bar last night, and they had the Cubs and Nationals on two of the TVs. The Nationals cruised to a 5-1 win over the Giants, and the Cubs beat the A’s 7-2. It must be nice to watch a team that dominates. Both the Cubs and Nats are on cruise control and locks to win their divisions. I still can’t believe Sandy let Daniel Murphy walk to our chief division rival, and now he’s having the best season by a second baseman ever. Unreal. I’m pretty sure it’s the Metsiest thing that’s ever happened.

The King Of The Jokes: The real problem with the Cubs and the Nationals being good is the 2016 playoffs will be lose lose for Mets fans. If the Nationals win the World Series, then Daniel Murphy going to the Nats will go down as one of the worst front office blunders in sports history. If the Cubs win and break their curse, then I think the Mets become the King of The Joke Franchises. Right? Who’s left? In baseball I think we may take the cake. The Cavaliers were a joke in the NBA, but they won a title. The Jets are a joke. Maybe the football Jets and Mets tie for the crown.

Today: The worst part about the Mets .500 play is the NL Wild Card race is full of mediocre and bad teams. We are still 2 games out yet we seemingly have been playing below .500 for months. But there’s no chance we win the Wild Card if we keep on stinking. That being said, Logan Verrett pitches today. Prepare for a Jon Niese relief appearance and more stinky play.

Don’t You Go Dying On Me 2016 Mets

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For Mets fans, death is just a part of life.
Final Score: Mets 6, Rockies 4

The goddamn 2016 Mets season is on life support right now. There’s no doubt about it. I don’t care that we’re only a few games out of the Wild Card. We’ve been free falling. The Cardinals and Rockies have been embarrassing us at home. We may flatline any day now. A four game set against the Yankees seems like the appropriate time for a 2016 Mets funeral. But you know what? We won today. And if the Mets are going to revive this damn season, they needed to start somewhere.

Cabrera Dead: So I had my brother over today for lunch and a nice little game watch. I must say when we made the plan I didn’t think we’d be watching the Mets on Sunday trying to salvage one game in a four game home series against the Rockies. Anyway my brother shows up, we make sandwiches, and sit down to watch the game together. And within 10 seconds of sitting down, Asdrubal Cabrera blows out his damn knee scoring from first base on a Neil Walker triple. Well he didn’t blow it out, but he strained the hell out of his patella tendon. It’s a more serious version of the injury he suffered in Spring Training that cost him 3 weeks. I’ve been watching METS disease and Mets curse in action for years. But the injuries this season combined with the team’s historic struggle to hit with runners in scoring position really has taken things to the next level. Unprecedented curse levels. Anyway that RBI triple made it 1-0 Mets. Hooray!

Put Them Away Thor: Bone spur version of Noah Syndergaard still throws a 100 MPH, but he just doesn’t put hitters away like No Chip Thor. Noah went 6 innings and gave up 3 runs (2 ER) on 6 hits and 2 walks. But he only struck out 6 and his pitch count was 118. I’m just going to pretend that the insane pitch count won’t negatively affect his already damaged elbow. But the point is he can’t put guys away as easily as he could pre-spur, and it drives his pitch count up. The Mets took the lead 1-0 in the first inning and he gave the run back in the second on an RBI single by Daniel Descalso. The Mets had a 3-1 lead in the fourth inning, and he gave up another RBI single to Descalso. Then the Rockies tied it at 3 in the 5th inning on a Carlos Gonzalez RBI double. The Rockies have a nice lineup. So it’s not as if Thor was struggling against a bunch of bums. But he hasn’t been as dominant pitching with the bone spur. That being said, other than Jacob deGrom he’s still the best arm in our arsenal.

Play At The Plate: In the 6th inning, the Rockies almost took a 4-3 lead against the Mets when Thor threw a wild pitch. But luckily the ball ricocheted back to Rene Rivera, and he was able to dive back to home plate and tag out Carlos Gonzalez trying to score. There wasn’t enough replay evidence to overturn a close call. The Mets did get some luck today. Nice to see that for a change.

Alejandro De Best: In the second inning Brandon Nimmo and Rene Rivera walked with one out. And with two outs Alejandro De Aza hit an RBI single to make it 2-1 Mets. Alejandro is our best hitter now. Remember when we all wanted to bury him in Vegas next to Eric Campbell? Well I for one couldn’t be happier that he’s turning his season around. I’m not exactly thrilled that he’s our best player now. That’s not great. But if he can get two out hits with runners in scoring position he’s welcome to play every day.

Nimmo and Jesus: In the third inning, a red hot Neil Walker singled with one out and then with two outs Wilmer Flores got drilled. Wilmer was barking at the pitcher. Wilmer is so fired up after last night’s fan interference play. He went from crybaby Wilmer to furious Wilmer. Anyway, with two men on Brandon Nimmo hit a two out RBI single to make it 3-1 Mets. Nimmo did his thing where he points to God. If he has the Lord’s ear then we desperately need him to use his divine connection to help save our season. Help us Brandon. Tell Jesus to help us.

Walkyear Ain’t Dead Yet: In the 7th inning, James Loney and Kelly Johnson reached on walks, and with two outs Neil Walker hit an enormous three run homer to make it 6-4 Mets. That was the game winning hit. It was Neil’s third hit of the game. It was his fourth multi-hit game in his last five. I wrote a post about how Daniel Murphy has defeated Walker in the 2016 battle for second base supremacy. Since then Murph re-injured himself and Walker has been on fire. Obviously I take full responsibility for altering the course of their respective seasons.

Super Pen Kind Of Worked Today: After having a rough week, the Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia relief combo was able to close this game out. Jerry Blevins did give up a 7th inning sac fly to Carlos Gonzalez to make it 4-3 Rockies, but Neil Walker bailed him out with his huge blast.

Funeral Services Start Tomorrow: The four game Subway Series against the Yankees begins tomorrow at Citi Field. Please let us win some of these games and turn our season around. I can’t handle an agonizing and painful death at the hands of the Yankees. To quote Switch from the Matrix, “Not like this! Not like this!”

Mets Split Doubleheader; Reyes Injured (The Lock of Locks)

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Reyes Injured (The Lock of Locks): Let’s start with the lead story. Jose Reyes didn’t play game 2 of the doubleheader after the Mets had said pregame that Jose and Yo would play both games. And the reason is…he’s officially injured. Grade 1 intercostal strain. Hammy, quad, intercostal. Who cares? Jose is more injury prone than Travis d’Arnaud. The safest bets going in the world yesterday were U.S. Treasuries, Golden State vs. Cleveland in the 2017 NBA Finals, and taking the under in the “Jose Reyes to the DL by July 31st” pool. The only bet that is more of a lock now is the Mets waiting too long to put Jose on the DL. Although I read Dilson Herrera was scratched from his Vegas start last night. So maybe the Mets are already preparing for his promotion.

As far as the doubleheader goes, the Mets split the twin bill which is fine by me. The Mets lost the day game to Carlos Martinez and won the night cap with Big Sexy on the mound. And the Nationals lost in embarrassing fashion last night. Papelbon blew the game. So all in all it was a good evening.

Game 1 Recap: The Cardinals won game one 3-2. Noah Syndergaard wasn’t at his best in this game. He wasn’t getting ahead of hitters and had a high pitch count. He miraculously worked 6 innings despite having over 100 pitches after 5. He made a mistake to Jedd Gyorko in the third inning and Gyorko hit a two run homer. But the first Cardinal run came in the second inning. The Cardinals hit three straight one out BS singles. Two were infield hits. One was a slow roller to Jose Reyes. The “single” that loaded the bases was deflected by Noah Syndergaard and consequently a play couldn’t be made. Then with the bases loaded, pitcher Carlos Martinez hit a ball back to Thor, and he made an error on the throw home. Horrendous. Thor wiggled out of the inning after giving up only that one run. But that run plus the two run homer by Gyorko was enough for the Cardinals.

The Mets left 11 men on base. Basically they left men on base every single inning. Tim Teufel held Reyes at third base on a Yoenis Cespedes double in the third inning. That was a blunder. In the fourth inning, Rene Rivera hit a two run homer which represented the laugh out loud 2 run scoring total for the Mets in the game. Kelly Johnson failed in big spots. Even Yoenis Cespedes failed in some spots during this game. He also came to bat in the 9th inning after Curtis Granderson led off with a single. He swung at the first pitch and almost hit a two run homer to center field. It ended up being a deep fly out. Then for some reason Grandy tried to tag from first base and was thrown out at second. It was one of many odd lowlights in a weird embarrassing first game.

Game 2 Recap: The Mets won 3-1. Bartolo Colon was efficient and Sexy. He pitched 7 innings, gave up 3 hits, 1 run, and struck out 8. He made one mistake to Jedd Gyorko who hit a solo shot. Jedd Gyorko with two home runs? The Mets love getting crushed by odd players. We always have some new obscure nemesis. Terry yanked Colon from the game after 7 innings with only 87 pitches. This made no sense at the time, but apparently he’s going to pitch on short rest this coming Saturday. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia shut down the Cards in the 8th and 9th so it worked out.

The Mets did manage to get one clutch hit in game two. Asdrubal Cabrera broke his 0 for 32 streak of ineptitude with runners in scoring position with an RBI double in the the third inning to make it 1-1. But the Mets still left 5 runners in scoring position. James Loney hit into a double play to score a run in the fourth inning. Cabrera added a sac fly in the fifth inning to make it 3-1. The Mets crummy offense didn’t matter as much in game 2 because the pitching was so elite and efficient.

Citi Field Food Recap: So I arrived at the stadium yesterday around the 6th inning of game one. Let me preface this by saying I am a big fan of the food at Citi Field and a big fan of chef David Chang’s Momofuku restaurants. That being said, I bought the spicy chicken sandwich and fries at the Momofuku stand at Citi. Meh. It wasn’t anything special. And it was 30 dollars for the sandwich, fries, and a beer. Too rich for my blood. Never again. I’ll stick with Shake Shack or a sausage with peppers and onions.

Today: Do the Mets want to make a run? Do they want to make some noise in the NL playoff race? Well then we need to win a home rubber game against a Wild Card opponent. Logan Verrett vs. Adam Wainwright in today’s rubber game. Let’s go Mets.

Rene “Big Time” Rivera Comes Through

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Final Score: Mets 2, Cubs 1

Considering how hard it’s been for the Mets to get a clutch hit with runners in scoring position at any point this season, never in a million years did I think Rene Rivera would be the guy to get one against the Cubs. But that’s exactly what he did last night.

Just Two Nasty Gunslingers: Jake Arrieta and Noah Syndergaard both had their nasty pitching arsenal on display last night. But Arrieta was superior. He went 7 innings, gave up 1 run on 5 hits and struck out 8. Syndergaard had his high velocity fastball working and seemed to be fully recovered from that dead arm outing. Obviously the All-Star Break rest helped him. But he was also in trouble many times during the game. He battled his way through 5.2 innings and gave up 1 unearned run on 7 hits with 8 strikeouts. Often he was in trouble because of the Mets shoddy defense.

Sloppy Ball: In the first inning, Curtis Granderson briefly froze in center field on the first ball the Cubs hit in the game, and it dropped in front of him. It was certainly a hit, but it showed Grandy has to shake off that rust in center. Then Kris Bryant hit one up the middle, and Neil Walker failed to make a play on the ball. The Walker play was ruled a hit, but it was playable. Thor escaped the inning without any damage, but he had to work hard right away.

Sloppy Ball Part 2: In the third inning with two outs, Willson Contreras doubled. Then Noah Syndergaard threw a wild pitch, and instead of holding on to the ball, Rene Rivera chucked it into left field. That allowed Contreras to score an unearned run making it 1-0 Cubs.

Mets Impression: The Cubs did their best impression of the Mets last night by wasting opportunities on offense left and right. They went 2 for 13 with runners in scoring position. They had chances to score in the first, second, fourth, sixth, and then in the ninth against Jeurys Familia. But the Mets kept wiggling out of jams, and the big time Cubs hitters just couldn’t capitalize in key spots.

Big Play At The Plate: In the fourth inning with two outs, Jake Arrieta doubled off of Thor. Then Tommy La Stella singled and Arrieta scored on the hit. But it was clear upon replay review that Michael Conforto threw out Arrieta at the plate. Rivera got the tag down. Thank God for replay. These mook umps really miss the calls on the field all the time. That kept the score 1-0 Cubs.

Reyes Run: In the 6th inning, the Mets scored on a classic throwback Jose Reyes inning. He scorched a leadoff triple. He was running so hard to third, I thought his hammy was going to explode like it always does. That’s certainly part of the throwback feeling. Anyway, then Grandy hit a sac fly to tie the game at 1. It was a huge leadoff hit by Reyes. Dare I say it sparked the Mets? Also, when Jose finally blows his hammy out this year for the billionth time, I really hope it happens at Citi Field, so the team can blast the Curb Your Enthusiasm Theme song throughout the stadium. That would be too full circle to just ignore.

Big Time Hansel: Props to Hansel Robles for giving the Mets two huge innings of relief in the 7th and 8th. The Cubs had chances against Syndergaard, Jerry Blevins, and Jeurys Familia, but they did not have an opportunity against Hansel.

The Rene Rivera Inning: In the 9th inning, James Loney led off with an opposite field single. Then Neil Walker hit into a double play. The inning crushing double play is pretty standard for the Mets, so this wasn’t surprising at all. However, replay saved the Mets again because it showed Walker beat the throw to first, and the Mets won the challenge. Asdrubal Cabrera followed that with a single to make it first and second with one out for future center fielder Michael Conforto. Unfortunately, Conforto struck out for the second time in this game. That set up the enormous two out opposite field RBI single by Rene Rivera. Rene Rivera had three hits in this game. Obviously the one that turned out to be the game winner was the biggest. Meanwhile Kevin Plawecki is probably hitting .750 in Vegas with 30 home runs over two weeks, but nobody up north cares. I hope clutch hitting is contagious like Keith Hernandez says. I really hope this Rivera hit leads to a clutch hitting epidemic for this team.

The Jeurys Houdini Act: Jeurys Familia came in for the 9th, walked the first two batters, and then gave up a bunt single to load the bases. The guy may convert every single save, but he’s a circus act out there every time. With no outs, pinch hitter Matt Szczur hit a ball to James Loney, and the Mets were able to get the first out at home plate. Then Kris Bryant hit into a game ending double play (thanks to a sweet scoop by Loney at first). Familia has converted 49 straight regular season saves. He hasn’t blown a save since the San Diego rain delay game last year. Having a robot save machine closer with the Mariano Rivera software is amazing. Sure they have glitches sometimes where they walk the leadoff man or load the bases with nobody out. But it’s nice that we can rely on their robot programming to convert the save in the end.

Today: The Mets are playing the Cubs in Chicago. Winning 2 out of 3 in Chicago is going to be tough. But we need wins. Must keep pace. Let’s be Sexy and take this matinee with Bartolo Colon on the mound.

God Hates The Mets

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“Kill the Mets. I hate them.” -God

Final Score: Nationals 3, Mets 1

On the same day that Matt Harvey announced he will get season ending surgery to address his thoracic outlet syndrome, Noah Syndergaard and Yoenis Cespedes left the game due to injuries. God hates us. The Lord hath smited the Mets yet again. At least the Wilpons won’t have to pay for Thor’s and Yo’s airfare to the All-Star Game.

Thor Got Burnt: In the second inning, Clint Robinson hit a two run homer that made it 2-0 Nats. In the top of the third inning, Ben Revere led off by hitting a ball between Yoenis Cespedes and Asdrubal Cabrera. Yo made a sliding catch and nearly took out Asdrubal who was standing in his way. Then with one man on and one out, Daniel Murphy crushed an opposite field RBI double making it 3-0 Nats. On the play, Yoenis Cespedes ran a little awkwardly while pursuing the ball in the outfield.

Cespedes Dead Quad: In the top of the fourth inning, Cespedes was removed from the game with a strained quad. Murph killed him. Murph and God. Every time he steps to the plate against the Mets, Murph is slicing us open and watching us bleed out on the field. And now, his magic hits are injuring our stars. After the game, Cespedes said he dealt with a similar injury last year with Detroit. He said he missed 4-5 days, and then he was back. Then he said something like I hope I can avoid the 15-Day DL “God willing”. I wouldn’t look to the man upstairs for help Yo. He doesn’t like us very much.

Syndergaard Dead Arm: In the top of the 5th inning, Thor’s velocity all of a sudden dropped down to 91. Terry didn’t like what he was seeing and he pulled him from the game. He told Terry after the game he just lost it. He said his arm went dead. Harvey’s arm went dead. Thor’s arm went dead. That’s two thus far Shooter. Unbelievable. He says he’s fine. Hopefully it’s just temporary dead arm. But forget about the All-Star Game. We have no shot this season without him. He’s got Ridged Ruffle bone chips in his elbow. His arm is inexplicably shutting down like an old Super Nintendo with a shoddy motherboard. Please give him this week off to reset.

Uno Dinger: Asdrubal Cabrera hit a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth inning. At least he’s showing power lately.

Pen Pickup: The pen really picked up Noah. Seth Lugo, Jerry Blevins, and Erik Goeddel combined to toss 4.1 scoreless innings of relief.

Strasburgo: Stephen Strasburg is so good. He’s healthy, and he knows how to pitch now. That’s a dangerous combination. He went 7 innings, gave up 2 hits, 1 run and struck out 9. The Mets never had a shot against him.

The Only Chance: In the 8th inning against Shawn Kelley, Wilmer Flores hit a ground rule double and Jose Reyes singled. Then Oliver Perez came in and got Curtis Granderson to line out softly to the shortstop and Juan Lagares to hit into a double play. Juan was hitting in Cespedes’ spot in the lineup. So yeah Ollie danced on Yo’s grave. He rubbed salt in our wounds for sure. Choke artist Jonathan Papelbon closed the game out at 3-1.

Bartolo The Human Twinkie: Bartolo Colon was named to the All-Star Game. He’s such an enormous 43 year old dynamo. He could survive a Nuclear Holocaust. He’ll be heading to Petco Park where he cranked that dinger earlier this season. By the time this weekend is over he may be the only one representing the Mets. Pray for Familia.

Today: Logan Verrett vs. Max Scherzer. The odds are against us. And we already know God ain’t on our side. Please stop killing all of our players big man.

What Is Happening To The Mets?

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Final Score: Mets 14, Cubs 3

The Mets just inexplicably went from watching the season spiral out of control to sweeping the best team in the National League. That’s the most baseball thing I’ve ever heard. The season is so freaking long and ridiculous.

The Mets Hit Lefties Now?: The Mets were getting shut down by left-handed pitchers all season. Before the game, the Mets had a .693 OPS against lefties which ranked 26th in baseball. But now we can beat Jon Lester? Somehow we chased Jon Lester out of the game in 1.1 innings. We scored 8 runs and hit 3 home runs off Lester despite him having an ERA hovering around 2 on the season. How in the world does a team go from having one of the worst offenses and being unable to hit lefties to crushing one of the best lefties in the game? I’d like to think it’s because we “have the Cubs number” or some BS, but I think it’s just the offense finally breaking out and taking out any pitcher in its path.

The Mets Hit Home Runs Again?: Yoenis Cespedes hit that moon bomb homer on Thursday. Then the Mets hit 5 bombs on Friday. Neil Walker added a jack yesterday. And then today the Mets hit 5 more home runs. The offense goes from lifeless to raining home runs on the Cubs elite pitching staff. Live by the dinger, die by the dinger. The ball is flying out yet again. Curtis Granderson hit a solo shot in the first inning to make it 1-1. Then in the second inning, the Mets chased Lester from the game. Wilmer Flores hit a solo homer to start the inning. Literally seconds before Wilmer hit the blast, I was sitting in my seat at the game ranting about how his power has dissipated this season. So I take full credit for his power resurgence today. Anyway, with one out Matt Reynolds doubled and Rene Rivera hit a two run shot to make it 4-1. Then Lester, like an idiot, walked Noah Syndergaard. Juan Lagares doubled to make it second and third with one out. Grandy, Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker and Wilmer Flores then hit consecutive singles to run up the score and make it 8-1. The Flores single finally drove Lester from the game. Later in the game, Wilmer Flores (5th inning) and Kelly Johnson (7th inning) added two run home runs. Rene Rivera and James Loney had RBI singles. In total the Mets had 14 runs on 22 hits. It was the highest hit total the team collected at home since 1981.

Wilmer Flores Is Amazing Now?: Wilmer Flores went 6 for 6 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs. He tied the Mets single game hit record set by Edgardo Alfonzo in 1999 against the Astros. I was at the Kirk Nieuwenhuis 3 home run game last season. I went from a 2016 Citi Field jinx to inspiring Mets players to set franchise records. Also, Wilmer can totally feel Jose Reyes breathing down his neck. I love that Wilmer’s response to the arrival of Reyes is to step up his performance. The fact that we will soon have Wilmer Flores, Jose Reyes, Neil Walker, Asdrubal Cabrera, Kelly Johnson, and James Loney is fantastic. Hopefully with Nimmo, Grandy, Cespedes, Lagares, and eventually Michael Conforto in the outfield, our team will now just be a straight up regular rotation of major league players. It will keep all these guys fresh. We just spent the weekend watching the Cubs do it. Kris Bryant, Ben Zobrist, and Javier Baez are playing all over the place in Chicago. Willson Contreras is catching and playing outfield. Miguel Montero is catching and pitching! Honestly the rotating stable of position players is the best way to go. It should have been the Mets plan from day one, but better late than never.

Bone Spurs Don’t Matter?: Noah Syndergaard went from elbow bone spurs and getting blasted by the Nationals to straight up dominating again. I guess the cortisone shot has started to take effect. He went 7 innings, gave up 7 hits, 1 run, and struck out 8.

The Mets Beat Elite Teams?: The Mets went from getting dumped on by the Braves to embarrassing the best team in the NL. The Mets really got smoked by the elite teams in the NL Central last year, but had a lot of success against the NL East. So far this season they have had real success against the NL Central, but the results have not been nearly as good against the NL East. The Mets need to improve their performance against their division rivals immediately.

Mop Up Stink Off: As you would expect, Antonio Bastardo and Logan Verrett handled mop up duties against the Cubs. I think at this point they are both low men on the totem pole. Bastardo handled the 8th inning fine, but Logan Verrett gave up a homer in the 9th and threw a wild pitch that led to a second run. He still managed to close the game out though to seal the 14-3 win. Also, Logan Verrett autocorrected to “slogan Verrett” on my phone. I think his slogan for 2016 would be, “Logan Verrett: When the game gets out of hand and you need an arm.”

Hot Notes From The Game: I saw a guy at the stadium with a Tsuyoshi Shinjo #5 jersey. Then on the way home I saw another guy rocking a Shinjo jersey on the subway. I had no idea there were that many Shinjo jerseys in circulation, but what a classic. I also saw a guy with a custom #25 jersey that said Last Name “BA”. Bad ass? Big Al? I honestly couldn’t crack the case on that one. Before first pitch, I was sitting near the right field line watching Rene Rivera toss the ball around in the outfield. Rivera has such a big fat catcher’s body. I had trouble telling the difference between Rivera and Dan Warthen purely based on their frame.

Paul Newmo: I keep trying to figure out a doppelgänger for Brandon Nimmo. Is it young Paul Newman? Nimmo has gangly teeth so he’s not quite at the movie star dreamboat Newman level. But I think it’s kind of uncanny.

Tomorrow: The Mets now have three games against the Marlins and four against the Nationals before the All-Star Break. They really need to run off a bunch of wins and head into the break hot. Need to beat the NL East.

ElbowSpurGate: It’s All Unraveling 

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The game is always secondary with the 2016 Mets. The injury plague has finally spread to the starting rotation. It was announced yesterday that Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard are both pitching with bone spurs in their pitching elbows. Double spur Monday may be the new low point of the 2016 Mets season. There’s no structural damage in their respective elbows. But that doesn’t really matter. They are pitching in pain, and the only way to end the pain is for them to have surgery to remove the spurs. For the record, Thor denied that he had a bone spur when asked by the media. He straight up said it’s a fabricated story. But that’s just something the God of Thunder would say to maintain his image. It’s clear Thor plans to just bathe in cortisone all year, fight through the pain, and get surgery after the season. Matz is apparently in significantly more pain, and the Mets front office braintrust will meet this week to decide if in-season surgery is the right move. Ultimately, Matz and Thor will be fine. Right? After all, Mets head trainer Ray Ramirez has been working with a brain spur for years.

Game Recap:

Final Score: Nationals 11, Mets 4

As far as the game goes, what can I say. We got blown out. I’m kind of surprised the Mets came out flat tonight after that inspiring split against the Braves aka the worst team in the National League. Watching the 2016 Mets is like pitching through a bone spur in the elbow. Always uncomfortable. Often painful. Not gonna end well.

Early Lead: The game started on a positive note when the Mets got out to an early lead. Early lead? Yeah early lead. Don’t get too excited, it didn’t last at all. In the first inning, Curtis Granderson led off with a single and with one out Yoenis Cespedes singled him to third. Then Neil Walker hit a sac fly. Sac fly? Yeah sac fly! Hooray!!!! Then in the second inning, Brandon Nimmo and Travis d’Arnaud hit back to back singles with one out. And with two outs Grandy hit an RBI single. A two out run scoring hit!!! That made it 2-0. In the third inning, Walker singled, James Loney doubled, and Wilmer Flores singled to drive them both in making it 4-0 Mets. With Thor on the mound, it felt like 4-0 would be enough for a guaranteed win. Nope!

Thor: Let’s be clear about the elbow spur problem. I’m sure it is bothering Noah. He denied it was a problem post game, but athletes tend to lie about injuries. It is known. But it sure as hell didn’t stop him from throwing 100 MPH consistently. That being said, he just got smacked around. He went 3 innings, gave up 7 hits, 5 runs, 3 walks, and he allowed 5 stolen bases. He gave up 5 runs in the third inning. Ben Revere led off with a single and stole a base. Bryce Harper hit an RBI single and stole a base. It’s honestly too painful to even recap all the run scoring hits.

The Contingency Plan: Thor was pulled after three innings with the score at 5-4 Nationals. At least the Mets have a great long man in Sean Gilmartin to bail out the starters when they have a rough day. Right? Wrong. Gilmartin gave up 7 hits and 5 runs in two innings. The Nats scored 11 unanswered runs. If this wasn’t the most embarrassing loss of the year it certainly was a nominee for the award.

Stolen Bases: The Nationals ran all over Thor as every team has all season long. He’s allowed 28 stolen bases on the season. That’s double any other guy in the league. Yeesh. Elbow spur aside, what the hell is Noah Syndergaard doing? What are the Mets doing? How are they not prioritizing holding people on as part of practice and as part of every game plan. At this point Rene Rivera has to be Noah’s personal catcher. But it’s not even about the catcher. Thor doesn’t even give his catcher a chance to throw people out.

Don’t Ignore The Wasted Chances: Listen the Nationals took a dump on the Mets last night. They scored 11 runs on 17 hits. But let’s not ignore that the Mets had 14 hits and 4 runs to show for it. They smacked around Nats starter Joe Ross to the tune of 10 hits. But they didn’t capitalize on all the opportunities. That’s just Mets baseball in 2016.

Loney Horrendous: In the fifth inning with runners on first and third and one out, James Loney fielded a ball at first base and made a mistake trying to get the lead runner going home instead of getting the easy out at first. The runner scored on the fielder’s choice. Loney had an ugly night defensively. Whatever. Everyone had an ugly night.

I Turned It Off: I turned the game off when the score reached 11-4. It was my first straight up boycott game turn off of the season. It was just too ugly to keep watching. In my opinion, Terry should have brought in Antonio Bastardo as soon as Thor left the game and made him pitch the rest of the night as punishment for being so crappy this season. Pitch him until his arm falls off. Hell Terry does it with everyone else. Might as well wreck Bastardo for our own good.

Pitching Depth: I wrote about this weeks ago. I said we can’t trade Zack Wheeler because we need all these arms. The only way we survive this season and the seasons to come is with our unrivaled pitching depth. The only guy we have that seemingly can’t be stopped is Bartolo Colon.

It’ll Be Okay (I Think/I Hope): I will say this. Pitchers fight through elbow soreness, bone spurs, bone chips, fatigue, and every other problem under the sun year after year. Remember Jon Niese and his annual elbow/shoulder problems? It was an early summer tradition. I’m not trying to belittle the problem that Thor and Matz have, but I do think it’s possible they can fight through the issue. I also think it’s hilarious that both Matz and Thor came out the gate so strong and before the end of June their arms are barking. They are such young studs. It’s a long season fellas. Rest up and keep those arms strong. The full year grind is intense. Pray.

Gurriel: The Mets watched the new Cuban third baseman Yulieski Gourriel (legally changed to Gurriel) workout yesterday. Sign him. Do it.

Today: Don’t worry, I’m sure Matt Harvey will save the Mets tonight. I never thought I’d type something like that and mean it 100% sarcastically.

Thor, Yo, and Wheeler Healthy; The Gods Are Merciful

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As my prayer vigil raged on late into the night, I feared the worst for our boys Noah Syndergaard, Yoenis Cespedes, and Zack Wheeler. The Mets were indicating they wouldn’t have an update on any of the guys until today. Ray Ramirez couldn’t update the fans because he was too busy running from room to room at the Hospital For Special Surgery asking each of the players to provide another stool sample for his “collection”. Then after 10pm, the first bombshell finally dropped. Thor posted the above photo on Instagram. “Happy elbows” was all I needed to hear. Then, just before 11pm the Mets dropped the news on SNY. All three guys are fine. Praise Jesus.

Thor’s MRI showed no elbow damage, and he was cleared. Yoenis Cespedes was diagnosed with a mild sprain of his left wrist. He got a little cortisone and will take a couple days off. Zack Wheeler just had some nerve irritation in his elbow. He got a cortisone injection too, but his elbow structure was fine. I’m sure the Mets will handle all three of these guys with care, but for another day we can all breathe a sigh of relief. Our two best players are alive. The season isn’t over.

P.S. The Nationals are finally hitting a rough patch. They’ve dropped five straight games and three straight in LA to the Dodgers. Michael Taylor went 0 for 5 (5 Ks) last night and misplayed a ball that led to the game winning run. He turned a single into a three base error and a loss for the Nats. Can the Mets please take care of the Braves in this four game set? Please? Let’s try and limit the setbacks. I think we’ve reached our quota for the week.

Mets Sweep Royals! In June…

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Final Score: Mets 4, Royals 3

The Only Injuries That Matter: I wanted to lead off on a positive note after a two game series sweep. I really did. But Yoenis Cespedes and Noah Syndergaard are both being examined at the Hospital For Special Surgery right now. Cespedes left the game after the fifth inning with left wrist discomfort. I’m sure it’s just some poisonous spider bite that will lead to his wrist falling off. No big deal. And Thor left the game after battling through six mediocre innings with elbow discomfort. Yeah an elbow problem. Just like Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler had recently. Greaaaat. Now we wait and see if the season is over. Yo and Thor are the two best players on our team. They are the only injuries that matter. Pray.

On To The Game: Other than the potential season derailing injuries to Yo and Thor, the Mets finally won a series against the Royals. We beat the Royals in June. Perfect timing. Sure it’s a depleted Royals squad missing Alex Gordon and Mike Moustakas, but injuries are not a valid excuse when you’re playing the Mets. This was a big series win after such a brutal weekend against the Braves. And the Mets were able to win both of these games without stellar starting pitching performances. First Bartolo went down with an injury yesterday, and today Noah Syndergaard struggled due to elbow discomfort. But he still battled through 6 innings, gave up 8 hits, and 3 runs. He only struck out 4 Royals. He blew two leads. He blew a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when he gave up a solo shot to Cheslor Cuthbert. Then in that same inning he let the Royals take a 2-1 lead when Jarrod Dyson singled, Danny Duffy sacrificed him over to second base, and Whit Merrifield hit an RBI single. He blew the lead for the second time in the 6th inning when Salvador Perez doubled, and Paulo Orlando drove him in with an RBI single to make it 3-3. But the Mets were able to score enough to win and the bullpen pitched three scoreless innings. Jerry Blevins and Addison Reed were the bridge to Jeurys Familia.

Loney And The Soup Apologists: James Loney hit a two out RBI single in the fourth inning to make it 1-0. Loney’s line before the game was at .292/.338/.417. I’ve seen a lot of people complaining about James Loney. I’ve even seen people arguing he’s not a real upgrade over Eric Campbell. I don’t care that it’s a small sample size. If you’re still saying he’s not an upgrade over Soup you’re wrong. I’m not saying he’s a star. I’m not saying he’s the answer at first base. But Jesus Christ he’s better than Soup.

Asdrubal Is Today’s MVP: I don’t know if he got the Michael Cuddyer belt, but Asdrubal Cabrera had quite a day. He scored on the James Loney single and had a nice slide at the plate. He hit a two run homer in the fifth inning to make it 3-2 and retake the lead for the Mets. He even made some nice plays at shortstop.

Reynolds In LF?: Terry played Matt Reynolds in left field for the first time in his career. Terry has no fear throwing a rookie with no experience in the outfield, but he won’t consider calling up Dilson Herrera and putting Neil Walker at third base? Kind of absurd. Oh by the way Matt Reynolds hit a solo home run in the 6th inning to make it 4-3 and that was the winning run for the Mets. Lucky Terry. He’s a genius.

Pitching Injury Update: Zack Wheeler got his elbow examined today after it flared up during his rehab. No word from the Mets on that yet. Thor also went to the hospital after the game for an elbow exam as I mentioned above. After getting rocked with a liner off his thumb, Bartolo is apparently fine and ready to make his next start this weekend. He’s indestructible.

Tomorrow: The Mets head to Atlanta for a four game set. They really need to make up for that horrendous sweep at Citi Field. Light your candles for Thor, Wheeler, and Cespedes. The season could be over if those MRIs don’t go our way.