Mets Sweep Doubleheader To Get Over .500
With it being a day game and Tomas Nido behind the plate, it was a mild disappointment Jacob deGrom didn’t throw a no-hitter in the first game of the doubleheader. That was a dream which died with a Jon Berti single to begin the game.
Even though he didn’t get the no-hitter, or even the shut out, he would pick up the win with a typical deGrom effort. He struggled in the beginning, and he would eventually settle in and dominate.
Over 7.0 innings, he would allow two runs on five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. One of those two runs was a homer from Isan Diaz, who was making his Major League debut. It was a great moment with his family in the stands.
"DID WE JUST HOMER OFF DEGROM?!"
@diaz_isan's PUMPED-UP dad was mid-interview when his guy took a Cy Young winner DEEP for his 1st hit in his MLB debut. ? pic.twitter.com/rOwjYdjr01
— Miami Marlins (@Marlins) August 5, 2019
Aa a fan you can enjoy these moments because the Mets won and pulled themselves back to .500.
While Diaz was homering in his debut, Robert Dugger wasn’t having as good a time. In fact, the first pitch he ever threw was hit for a homer by Jeff McNeil.
Welcome to the bigs. pic.twitter.com/rN7SWRf7Aa
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 5, 2019
Heading into the third, the score was tied 1-1 when Amed Rosario hit an opposite field blast.
The Mets got a big bases loaded two run single from deGrom in the fourth. The Mets tacked on two more in the fifth on a Pete Alonso RBI single, and a J.D. Davis sacrifice fly.
The bullpen would pitch two scoreless, and suddenly, the Mets were a .500 team for the first time since May 28th. They would have a chance to go over .500 for the first time since May 2nd in the second half of the doubleheader.
With the sinkerballer Walker Lockett going for the Mets, and this being the second end of a doubleheader, the Mets went with a pure defense first infield with Luis Guillorme at second and Adeiny Hechavarria at third.
That already compromised lineup took another hit when McNeil was forced to depart the game in the top of the third with a leg cramp. That basically left the Mets hoping the Michael Conforto two RBI single in the first and Lockett would hold up.
It didn’t happen.
Lockett cruised through the first three innings, but he would get into trouble when Brian Anderson led off the inning with a double. He’d come around to score on a Harold Ramirez RBI single. Lockett would do well to escape this jam, but he wouldn’t be so lucky in the fifth.
Bryan Holaday tied the score at 2-2 with a fifth inning leadoff homer. The homer didn’t kill a rally, and with two on and two out, Mickey Callaway would lift Lockett for Robert Gsellman to face Curtis Granderson.
The move didn’t work with Granderson hitting a go-ahead two RBI double giving the Marlins a 4-2 lead. With their having their All-Star Sandy Alcantara in the mound, the Mets ability to come back was very much in question.
It was even more in question with the Mets blowing a chance to score in the sixth. After back-to-back singles to lead off the inning, Guillorme was called upon to bunt even with the bottom of the Mets lineup coming up.
Guillorme’s bunt didn’t get close enough to the third base line allowing Jeff Brigham to nail Alonso at third. After that Hechavarria struck out, and Todd Frazier pinch hit for Gsellman and grounded out to end the inning.
Brigham would not have the same luck in the seventh as he allowed homers to Davis,
J Deep at it again! #LGM pic.twitter.com/tPtEJOV1pT
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 6, 2019
Conforto,
Clutch moonshot. ??? pic.twitter.com/hZ6y8BHtIm
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 6, 2019
and finally Alonso.
Clutch polar bear. ❄️? pic.twitter.com/5PTjnMo9wM
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 6, 2019
The blast was a huge one for Alonso who had the longest homerless drought of his career. He may not be hitting as many homers in the second half, but he is sure making them count right now.
With Edwin Diaz pitching in the ninth in the first half of the doubleheader, it was on Seth Lugo to get the six out save. Lugo would get the job done without allowing a base runner.
With the doubleheader sweep, the Mets are now over .500 for the first time since May 2nd. At the moment, they’re 2.0 games back and will be either 1.5 or 2.5 games back depending on what the Nationals and Phillies do.
The Mets also find themselves 8.5 games back of the Braves with nine head-to-head matchups allowing us to still dream.
Game Notes: Robinson Cano was placed on the IL with a torn hamstring. Juan Lagares got the first chance to replace him in the lineup with McNeil at second. In the doubleheader, Lagares was 0-for-3 with three walks and a strikeout.
A decent team relentlessly undermined by an incompetent front office finally reaches a modest benchmark.
Kudos to the 25 to get to 1 over .500. It’s an enormous accomplishment, given the ineptitude they shoulder from above.
Friends and I were talking last night about how the Cano injury might inadvertently benefit Alonso. Since the ASB the Mets often had Pete batting 3rd instead of 2nd, and with the punchless Cano as “protection.” It was absurd. Moving Alonso back to second in the order was preferable, but at least the FO will be forced to have someone other than Robby in the on-deck circle, an arrangement resulting in Alonso getting fewer hittable pitches than he ever had in his career.
We did think Lockett was going to hamstring the club today. The Mets should have had Vargas starting, but incompetence and greed put Lockett’s 7.82 ERA on the mound. (Lockett’s career ERA was 8.78. 2HR/9, a WHIP of 1.807. That’s who the Mets gave this start to. They really did.) Lockett predictably put them in a hole, and extricating themselves required the managerial genius of Don Mattingly to keep a Marlins’ reliever on the mound who gave up 3 HR in a single inning of a close game. That’s… rare, to say the least. In addition, the FO has somehow managed to create a lineup where the 6-8 hitters are Guillorme, Hech, and Altherr. It’s why the first inning of Game 2 stalled at 2 runs instead of the Mets breaking the game open. It’s why Alonso gets HBP–because after Ramos it’s nothing but the worst banjo hitters. The players deserve much, much better support than they’re getting.
Strange, the rumors we’ve been hearing, that all but one of those interviewed for the GM job last year recommended breaking up the club and rebuilding. I don’t believe Bloom would have thought that. He can add. He would have noticed that the Mets good, productive players, all of them inexpensive, had the team last year on pace for 88 wins. The claim now is that Wags got the job because he was the only candidate who thought the Mets could win now. Is that really how we got this clown? Because now the team will be going into a buzzsaw of division leaders and contenders while carrying OFers like Altherr and Lagares (who is finally thriving, a little, because he’s finally getting enough rest), and backups who hit like Nido and Guillorme, or who field like JD Davis. It’s an interesting mess of a team, with too many players with too many weaknesses, and the temptation as always for this FO is to play the good players until they drop, or are wholly ineffective.
I’ll reserve much excitement until September 15th, when the schedule gets easier again. We’ll see where we are then. The players deserve to do well, but they’re just not getting enough help.
Alonso wasn’t struggling because Cano was behind him in the lineup. No pitcher in baseball is going to give Alonso pitches to hit even if Trout is behind him, nor are they going to pitch him tougher because Cano is behind him.
Much of the reason for Alonso’s troubles are teams figuring him out leaving Alonso to adjust.
That makes no sense. Look at the pitch by pitch data. If you’re not going to do that you won’t be able to speak cogently to the subject.
You also seem to actually be claiming that pitchers pitch no differently to a given hitter, no matter whether it’s Mike Trout or Robby Cano or Aaron Altherr hitting behind him. Extraordinary.
It’s clear you’re being argumentative just to be argumentative. That’s a bad habit, one well worth breaking.
It’s not being argumentative to be argumentative. Aside from studies largely disproving the notion of protection in the lineup, I really don’t understand how anyone makes the claim Alonso will be given pitches to hit because of the fear of someone else behind him in the lineup.
That was as fun as a day as the Mets have had since 2016 Davis has been Brodie’s one and only good trade and as great as the Astros front office is maybe they should stop giving up on guys named JD. Conforto is such a tremendous all around player and hitter and whenever I check Facebook groups stupid people call him a stat padder and unclutch well I hope those dopes watched today but I guess people need someone to irrationally hate on with Beltran and Wright gone. I’d love to see the Mets get Conforto locked up long term and he’s said he’s willing to talk.
That Alonso blast the put the Mets ahead was ridiculous and I don’t know who was more fired up Alonso or the crowd it was close hope this will get Pete back on track.
The Mets big hitters bailed Mickey out as Mickey felt the need to sit Davis and Frazier and play Hech and Guillorme and they had predictably terrible game as did Altherr, who should be playing for the Long Island Ducks. I love how the Marlins bring in s righty specialist and Mickey decides to have the lone lefty hitter in the inning in Guillotme bunt. Not real sure why Amsttingly left the righty specialist to face Conforto but thankfully he did and it paid off and Mattingly has been a huge Mets helper since the 2015 NLDS.
Lockett pitched okay for a guy pitching on three days rest and I don’t understand why Gsellman was brought in to face Granderson over a lefty like Hart or Avilan. Gsellman is a low ball pitcher which is still in Grandy’s wheelhouse.
Lugo is a monster and I haven’t felt this calm and comfortable with s reliever since Reed in 2016. This was the most fun home game of the year.
I’ve been saying it for a while – the Mets are still alive.