There’s just something about August and September that Terry Collins’ insane decision making just seems to work. Tonight, it was Curtis Granderson: Cleanup Hitter. 

There is no reason to think this was a good idea. Granderson entered the game with only 40 RBI despite hitting 22 homers. He has a .126 batting average with runners in scoring position. It’s .070 with two outs. Yet, there he was – the Mets cleanup hitter. Naturally, it worked. 

First, he came up in the bottom of the first with Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera on second and third with one out. Naturally, when Yoenis Cespedes couldn’t deliver, Granderson did. He would hit a sacrifice fly scoring Reyes to make it a 1-0 game. 

The Nationals would tie the game at one in the second on a Danny Espinosa solo shot against Seth Lugo. 

It was the lone blip on the night from Lugo, who just got stronger as the game went on. He navigated his way out of a bases loaded first inning jam getting Wilson Ramos to ground out. After the Espinosa homer, he completely shut down the Nationals. What was impressive again wasn’t just his curveball, but also his ability to dial up the fastball when he needed it. In a sixth inning strikeout of Ramos, Lugo dialed it up to 97. In fact, he got stronger as he went deeper into the game:

Lugo avg FB velo by inning:

1: 92.5 mph
2: 91.0
3: 92.5
4: 90.3
5: 92.3
6: 93.9

Second straight start Lugo let it loose in his final IP

— Tim Finnegan (@timfinn521) September 5, 2016

 His final line was seven innings, six hits, one run, one earned, no walks, and four strikeouts. Once again, he was economical throwing 101 pitches. 

Lugo got the win, in part, because Granderson emerged again. Granderson would hit a two run home run to give the Mets a 3-1 lead. They wouldn’t look back. 

In fact, they would tack on runs with the help of another strange Collins decision. 

Despite going 1-3 with a walk and a GREAT defensive play, Collins benched Michael Conforto in favor of the slumping and ill at ease in New York Jay Bruce. 

The move initially backfired as Bruce made the last out in the second trying to go first to third with two outs on a Lugo single. He would be nailed by Trea Turner. In fairness to Bruce, he was probably relying on Tim Teufel, who has been a bad third base coach. 

In the sixth, he would make up for that and a lot of frustration with an opposite field two run shot:

With that, the Mets jumped out to a 5-1 lead.  On a related note, Conforto may never play again.  

Ultimately, however, this night was about Lugo who continues to get better and better. The Mets could’ve fallen apart after losing Steven Matz to the disabled list and Jacob deGrom missing starts with an arm injury that still has not been fully disclosed. 

Instead, Lugo has stepped up, and he has arguably been the best starter on a Mets team one game out of a playoff spot. For those that truly believe and/or are off their meds, the Mets are 8.5 games out in the division. 

By the way, Collins left on an insane note pitching Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia to close it out because they haven’t been overworked enough and because the four run lead was in serious jeopardy. It was more so in the ninth with the bottom of the Nationals roster due up. He also left a hobbled Cabrera out there in the ninth. 

Guess those moves “worked” too because the Mets won. 

Game Notes: James Loney is scorching going 1-3 tonight. 

Pennant Race: The Cardinals beat the Reds 5-2. The Pirates lost to the Brewers 10-0. The Giants lost to the Cubs 3-2. The Marlins lost to the Indians 6-5.