Game Recap
When the Mets have Jacob deGrom pitching, they look like one of the best teams in baseball. Not only does deGrom shut down the opposition, but his presence on the mound seems to wake up the Mets bats. That was true again today in San Diego.
The lone mistake deGrom made in the evening was a pitch Hunter Renfroe hit atop the Western Supply Co. Building. At that point, the impressive home run was little more than a footnote in another deGrominant start.
deGrom’s final line was eight innings, five hits, two runs, two earned, two walks, and eight strikeouts. He’s now won eight straight starts.
It was a footnote because the Mets scored more than enough runs off Padres starter Clayton Richard. The scoring against him started with Wilmer Flores:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/889674702175784960
Coming into the game, Flores only at-bat against Richard was a homer. This at-bat made two straight homers.
In the third, it looked like Yoenis Cespedes was going to break his long home run drought. Instead, it hit the CF wall, and Cespedes pulled in for an RBI triple scoring Asdrubal Cabrera. Cespedes then scored on a Jay Bruce RBIsingle through the drawn in infield.
In the fifth, Michael Conforto got the rally started with a one out double. After Cespedes was walked intentionally, Bruce hit his second RBI single to give the Mets a 4-0 lead.
After the Renfroe homer, the Mets would get the run back.
Jose Reyes hit a two out infield single, and he stole his 500th career stolen base. He then scored on a Travis d’Arnaud RBI single.
With the Padres knocking in another run in the eighth, it created a save opportunity for Addison Reed. Things got interesting with a second Renfroe homer.
It got more interesting with Manuel Margot and Hector Sanchez hitting back-to-back singles to get the tying runs on with just one out. Jabari Blash JUST missed a homer with the ball going foul and just missing the pole.
Reed settled down, struck out Blash, and got the final two outs to save the 5-2 game.
It may have been just a mirage with this being a deGrom start, but the Mets look good again just as they’re selling.
Game Notes: Zack Wheeler was put on the DL with an arm injury. Tyler Pill will be in the bullpen for now, and Chris Flexen will be called up on Thursday to take his spot in the rotation.
On a night surrounded with turmoil over what were largely benign comments from Yoenis Cespedes about how he wanted to return to Oakland at the end of his career, it was a player who began his career with the Mets who dominated the game.
In what has been a breakthrough season where Michael Conforto has supplanted Cespedes as the team’s best player, he put on a performance similar to what we’ve seen from Cespedes.
In the third inning, Conforto would give the Mets a 2-1 lead with an absolute bomb that almost hit the Shea Bridge:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/888549796323184640
The Mets had trailed 1-0 before that homer due to what was an uneven performance for Steven Matz.
The A’s began the game by loading the bases with no outs. It was beginning to look like his last two poor starts. The entire tone of the inning, and perhaps the game, changed when Khris Davis hit into a 6-4-3 double play. A run scored on the play, but the rally fizzled.
Matz gave the 2-1 lead back in the fifth.
Rajai Davis single and stole second. On the steal, Davis broke early, and Matz threw to first. Lucas Duda made a perfect throw only for Jose Reyes to whiff on the tag:
https://twitter.com/mlbreplays/status/888560049752203264
It cost the Mets as Davis came to score on a Marcus Semien RBI single. Semien came into the game only hitting .151, so naturally, he went 4-5 with a run and two RBI.
Semien then scored on a Ryon Healy base hit giving the A’s a 3-2 lead.
Still, Matz would not get the loss because of a Mets sixth inning rally.
The rally began with an Asdrubal Cabrera lead-off walk. He moved to second on a Cespedes one out single. Duda then hit a grounder to the A’s first baseman Healy. It took a funny hop and hit him in the side of the head.
Healy came out of the game, and the bases were loaded. T.J. Rivera then hit a go-ahead two RBI single that became a comedy of errors. Actually, error as there was one error on the play.
On the single, Duda was thrown out by Davis trying to hit first to third. Rivera, the trail runner, went late to second. A’s third baseman Matt Chapman threw it into right field allowing Rivera to complete the Little League homer.
The Mets 5-3 lead would balloon to 7-3 as Conforto hit his second homer in the game:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/888575204275998720
On what was another great night for Conforto, he was 2-4 with two runs, two homers, and four RBI.
The Mets would need those insurance runs as the bullpen almost had a complete meltdown in the eighth.
Erik Goeddel got the chance to shut the door, and he was ineffective. He allowed a lead-off single to Matthew Joyce, and then Josh Phegley doubled to center.
It was a play a regular center fielder makes, but Conforto is a corner outfielder by trade. In any event, there were runners on second and third, and they both came home to score on a Jed Lowrie single.
Addison Reed was then brought in for what seemed to be his second multiple inning save in three days.
Reed first walked Davis on a 3-2 pitch he swore was a strike. Key word here is swore as he began to get into a war of words with Home Plate Umpire Dan Iassogna, who was chomping at the bit for a fight. Or as Keith Hernandez put it:
Keith said Red Ass. So that was pretty cool
— The Coop (@Coopz22) July 22, 2017
Following another Semien RBI single, the A’s were within 7-5 with the bases loaded and one out. With all the left-handed batters due up for the A’s, Terry Collins took the ball from an angry Reed and gave it to a struggling Jerry Blevins.
Blevins has allowed 25 inherited runners to score, which is the fifth worst in the majors. Naturally, he would get out of that jam unscathed, and he’d pitch a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
It was another bizarre game for the Mets on another bizarre day. At least the Mets came up on top.
Game Notes: Hansel Robles got the win after pitching a scoreless sixth. Cespedes was 3-4 with a run and a double against his former/future team.
* The headline was a joke. Please lighten up about Cespedes’ comments.
When all hope is lost, the main reason to watch the Mets is Jacob deGrom. He started today, and he delivered.
While deGrom may not have been as dominant as he has been over this stretch, he was still great. For the first six innings, no Cardinal player reached third base. In fact, the Cardinals only reached second base twice in the game.
deGrom’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, one run, one earned, one walk, and three strikeouts.
That one run shouldn’t have scored. Luke Voit had a hard hit ball to the wall Yoenis Cespedes fielded cleanly, and he had Voit dead to rights at second. Only issue is Asdrubal Cabrera didn’t bother to cover second.
Instead a run scored, deGrom got his ovation, and Paul Sewald got the Mets out of the inning.
With deGrom going like this, you knew the Mets needed one, maybe two runs to win the game.
Mets took care of that and then some. This should come as no surprise as the Mets have now averaged 7.4 runs per game over deGrom’s now seven game winning streak.
In the first, the Mets put three runs on the board and all were with three outs. A Cespedes single scored Cabrera. Lucas Duda doubled home Cespedes, and Wilmer Flores brought him home with an RBI single.
Flores getting the start was interesting, especially with the right-handed Mike Leake getting the start for the Cardinals. Perhaps it was due to T.J. Rivera making two errors yesterday. Maybe Terry Collins just wanted to give Flores a game after he’s sat for so long. Maybe it’s due to the tumors the Red Sox may have interest in him.
In any event, Flores had a good game with that RBI single and a nice play in the field:
? Wilmer! ? pic.twitter.com/Zpkl4Lc4wo
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 20, 2017
After the good first inning, the Mets had a better second inning. Michael Conforto got things started with a single, and he moved to third on a Jedd Gyorko error allowing Cabrera to reach.
Jay Bruce hit an RBI single, and Cespedes followed with an RBI double making it 6-0. After Duda was intentionally walked Jose Reyes singled home Cespedes to make it a 7-0 game.
It should’ve been a laugher. It wasn’t.
In the eighth, Sewald was pulled by Collins with two on, two out, and back-to-back lefties due up for the Cardinals. Rather than find something out about Sewald in a 7-1 game and rest his bullpen with a noon game tomorrow, Collins couldn’t help himself. He went to a completely worn down Jerry Blevins.
While Blevins has been great most of the year, he has struggled mightily since June 1st. In that time, Blevins has a 5.84 ERA and batters are hitting .269/.367/.423 off of him.
Left-handed batters Kolten Wong and Magneuris Sierra hit consecutive singles to make it 7-3. With those two singles, Blevins has now allowed 25 inherited runners to score this year, which is the fifth worst in the majors.
After Blevins walked the pinch hitter, pitcher Adam Wainwright, to load the bases, Collins had to go to Addison Reed for the four out save.
As Reed is really the only remaining reliever who is reliable left in that bullpen, it should be no surprise Reed made quick work of the Cardinals for his 16th save of the season.
With the 7-6 win, the Mets have an opportunity for the split tomorrow.
Game Notes: Josh Edgin has allowed more inherited runners to score than Blevins with 29. That’s the third worst mark in the majors.
In a nine inning game, the Mets had as many errors as they had base hits (three). In consecutive innings, T.J. Rivera made errors leading to two unearned runs.
That doesn’t even begin to mention the slow motion attempt by Asdrubal Cabrera and Jose Reyes in the second which could have limited the damage to 2-0. Instead, the Mets got one out and allowed the Cardinals to score three runs in the inning effectively ending the game.
Between the lack of offense and the terrible defense, Rafael Montero took the loss. Unlike most of the losses in his career, Montero didn’t really deserve this loss. His final line was six innings, seven hits, four runs, two earned, one walk, and five strikeouts.
Certainly, Montero showed enough to more than justify the Mets giving him another start.
Aside from Montero, the only positive from tonight’s game was Michael Conforto going 2-4 with a double. If you want to really stretch things and look for positives, Hansel Robles pitched a perfect ninth with two strikeouts.
In reality, a bad Mets team was shut out by Michael Wacha (CG SHO). They’re a bad team playing disinterested baseball. Games like this usually get managers fired. Considering this is far from the first time this has happened this year, it’s safe to assume Terry Collins finishes the year as the manager.
If that’s the case, the Mets dropped the ball worse than Lucas Duda did in the seventh.
Game Notes: The Mets left side of the infield has a -27 DRS which is by far the worst in the minors.
Despite all of the Mets problems coming to surface in this game, they still had a chance to win this game.
Like most of his career, Zack Wheeler was cruising until he suddenly lost the strike zone. He kept dodging trouble when the game was scoreless, but once he got a 1-0 lead courtesy of a Michael Conforto homer, he and the Mets pitching fell apart in the sixth inning.
New Mets killer Paul DeJong hit a two run homer giving the Cardinals a 2-1 lead. The rally continued with Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright hit an RBI double giving the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.
Terry Collins brought on Josh Edgin to get Matt Carpenter. Instead, Edgin walked him leading to Collins bringing in newly recalled Hansel Robles. Robles promptly gave up a three run homer to Tommy Pham. Yes, Robles briefly pointed:
Yeah Robles pointed at a homer again pic.twitter.com/p7oossRo7H
— Meditations in Panic City (@MedInPanicCity) July 18, 2017
Believe it or not, there was still hope for the Mets. That hope started with Lucas Duda crushing a homer:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/887122156676624386
Jose Reyes followed with a Little League homer as Magnerius Sierra first booted the Reyes double and then threw it away. The rally ended with Cardinals pitcher Tyler Lyons somehow grabbing a Conforto liner up the middle.
Even with the frustrating play, the Mets had a chance to tie things in the ninth.
Curtis Granderson worked out a leadoff pinch hit walk against Cardinals lefty Kevin Siegrist. Mike Matheny responded by going to Brett Cecil. This is the same Cecil who just blew a save yesterday.
He started out shaky giving up a one out single to Asdrubal Cabrera. This brought up Cespedes as the tying run. Cecil would go to 3-0 to Cespedes, and the unthinkable happened. Whereas Cespedes swung and grounded into the game ending 6-4-3 double. Game over.
There was much criticism of Cespedes swinging there. It was largely unfounded and based on the result. Cespedes could’ve tied the game on one swing. Based upon what we saw in 2015, we all saw how he can be a game changer.
But this isn’t Cespedes of 2015. This is a 31 year old outfielder is a shell of himself with all the leg injuries. With all that said, of course he grounded into the game ending double play. A day after failing to sweep the Cubs, the Mets blew a chance to beat the Cardinals.
Game Recap: With his homer, Duda tied Todd Hundley on the all-time M home run
The Mets players must be a very religious group because they have certainly taken to the notion that Sunday should be a day of rest. So far this season the Mets are 5-10 in Sunday games, and they are 3-9 in Sunday day games. In the day games, the Mets have been outscored by their opponents by an average of five runs per game. Essentially, the Mets aren’t showing up to work on Sunday.
Yesterday as no exception. With Steven Matz allowing seven runs in one plus innings, another Sunday game was a blowout loss for the Mets. Since Matz has come off the Disabled List, he has had only two bad starts. The other one? That was last week when the St. Louis Cardinals scored five runs off of him in 4.1 innings. For a moment, you may be led to question if there is something wrong with Matz with him coming off consecutive bad starts. That is until you realize both starts came on a Sunday.
Yesterday’s embarrassment was the Rockies beating the Mets 13-4. It was yet another missed opportunity for the Mets to sweep an opponent and get back into the Wild Card race. With this being against the Colorado Rockies, who currently hold the second Wild Card, this loss stings all the more.
But there is some good news. Today is Monday, and just like the rest of us, the Mets begin their work week on Monday after feeling refreshed from their day off on Sunday.
So far this season, the Mets are 6-3 in Monday games. Generally speaking, even when the Mets lose on Monday, they are at least competitive. That’s a lot more than you can say about Sunday games.
So, if you are feeling frustrated by another inexplicable Sunday no-show, take heart. The Mets will come to Citi Field tonight ready to play. With them actually showing up, they have a chance to get this series against the St. Louis Cardinals off on the right foot giving them to move ahead of them in the Wild Card standings.
Yes, the Wild Card is still a pipe dream, especially with the way the Mets are playing on Sundays. However, Monday is a new day of a new week, and we know the Mets show up on Mondays. Might as well see what happens.
Because nothing can ever go easy for the Mets, we got to see Yoenis Cespedes leave the game after this awkward slide in the sixth inning:
"We were just talking about the health of his legs." No kidding. pic.twitter.com/qcn4Ug9CDR
— Meditations in Panic City (@MedInPanicCity) July 16, 2017
Before that play, things could not be going better for the Mets. After yesterday’s 14-2 victory, the Mets quickly went up 8-0 in tonight’s game.
After Tyler Chatwood issued back-to-back walks to Michael Conforto and Asdrubal Cabrera to begin the top of the first, Jay Bruce would drive them all home:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/886367979788791808
The rally continued, and the Mets would score their fourth run when Travis d’Arnaud would single home T.J. Rivera. Rivera had reached via the walk. After he walked, Chsteood came out of the game due to injury.
As if four first inning runs weren’t enough, the Mets would pile on three more in the second inning.
The second inning runs were all unearned as Bruce reached on a two out error by DJ LeMahieu. The Mets did capitalize starting with a Rivera RBI single scoring Cespedes. Bruce and Rivera would score on a Lucas Duda RBI double.
The Mets eighth run would be provided by Lugo himself:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/886382537244913665
As you can surmise from Bruce, the Mets pulled that old shtick:
Silent treatment for Seth Lugo….very sad. pic.twitter.com/Tu9N5FQCj1
— MetsKevin11 (@MetsKevin11) July 16, 2017
Lugo’s first career home run was certainly a high light, but it was not his only highlight of the evening. Lugo went out there, and he dominated the Rockies for five innings.
The Rockies did get to him for two in the sixth with the help of Cespedes’ aforementioned divot. The double set up second and third with one out. After a Gerardo Parra sacrifice fly and a Raimel Tapia double, the Rockies pulled within 8-2.
The Rockies tacked on another run in the seventh on a Charlie Blackmon two out RBI triple. At that point, Terry Collins wasn’t taking any chances. He brought in Paul Sewald, who struck out LeMahieu to get out of the inning. That strikeout closed the books on a terrific start for Lugo.
Lugo’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, two walks, and five strikeouts.
He would get the win as Sewald, Jerry Blevins, and Addison Reed would combine to pitch 3.1 scoreless.
With the scoreless work out of the bullpen, and a Reyes’ eighth inning homer, the Mets would win 9-3.
With the win, the Mets are now 8.5 games behind the Rockies for the second Wild Card, and the team is six games under .500. The team is beginning to make a run. The question right now if this is too little too late . . . especially with Cespedes having to leave the game.
Game Notes: Curtis Granderson replaced Cespedes in the sixth. The Mets have now won
If the Mets really want to go on that second half run like they’ve done the past two years, the run needs to begin now. It needs to begin now because the Mets have put themselves in a deep enough hole. It needs to happen now because the Rockies are in town.
For the Mets to get on that run, their pitching needs to be great, and Yoenis Cespedes needs to get going. Tonight, that happened.
Jacob deGrom shook off an unearned first inning run to completely dominate the Rockies. Over eight innings, he only allowed four hits, two runs, one earned, and one walk with 10 strikeouts.
The Rockies had an opportunity to score a third run in the sixth, but Cespedes nailed DJ LeMahieu at home plate. It was a typically strong throw from Cespedes, and it was a great tag by Travis d’Arnaud. The lesson as always is you do not run on the tandem of Cespedes and TdA.
Got heeeeeem! @ynscspds shows off the cannon to nail the runner at the plate. ?
9-2 #Mets | Mid-6 pic.twitter.com/F0qoQuDZP6
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 15, 2017
In addition to this throw, Cespedes was great at the plate once again going 4-6 with a run, double, and an RBI.
Two of Cespedes’ hits came in a six run third inning where the Mets knocked Rockies starter Jon Gray out of the game, and they blew the game open.
Cespedes got the inning started with a double. Both he and Jay Bruce would score on a T.J. Rivera RBI double. Rivera would come around to score on a Jose Reyes single.
The Mets would keep the rallying going loading the bases with no outs. After a deGrom strikeout, Mets All Star Michael Conforto knocked in a run with an RBI groundout. An Asdrubal Cabrera RBI single later, and the Mets were up 8-2.
From there, the Mets used a pair of homers to tack on runs:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/886026068272062464
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/886039800356188161
Rockies reliever Scott Oberg loaded the bases in the eighth, and he walked Cabrera to bring home the 13th run. Cespedes followed with an RBI infield single to cap off the Mets scoring on the night.
It was a complete offensive onslaught where every batter in the Mets lineup reached base at least two times. That includes deGrom, who is a good hitter in his own right:
Jacob deGrom has a league leading 12 hits as a pitcher, second most is three guys with 8.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) July 15, 2017
This is the type of onslaught where you can at least dream of the Mets making a run. Certainly, there’s an opportunity ahead of the trade deadline. There’s an opportunity when the Mets playing up to their abilities like they did in tonight’s 14-2 victory.
Game Notes: This was deGrom’s seventh double digit strikeout game and 17th of his career. Nolan Arenado seemed to injure his hip running through the bag at first base, but initially stayed in the hand. Later, he was pulled. It was unknown if an issue flared or if it was due to the blowout. Josh Edgin pitched a scoreless ninth.
Things got off to a pretty good start in the All Star Game when Michael Conforto actually had his name announced during player introductions.
Things got better for him. He’d enter the game in the sixth. In his only chance in the game, he would make a nice leaping grab on an Avisail Garcia liner. He finally got to bat in the bottom of the seventh, and he singled against Roberto Osuna:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/884963737781903361
Conforto’s big moment came in the bottom of the ninth. With the game tied and runners at the corners, he faced off against Craig Kimbrel. Unfortunately, he struck out to end the inning.
It was a good day for the Mets star, but unfortunately, it won’t be the moment we will be talking about for years to come. That moment will be Nelson Cruz taking his phone to the plate and having Yadier Molina take a picture of him with Home Plate Manager Joe West:
https://twitter.com/therendermlb/status/884957628773924864
Molina then followed this moment by hitting an opposite field homer against Ervin Santana.
Your MVP would be Robinson Cano. Cano’s 10th inning homer off Wade Davis was the difference in the game. On the bright side, the Mets weren’t the only New York team to lose an All Star second baseman.
Former Mets: In addition to Conforto, there were more than a few ex-Mets on the field.
Jason Vargas pitched one scoreless inning.
Justin Turner was 0-1 in his lone at bat.
Daniel Murphy, who was the National League’s starting 2B, was 1-2. The ball Murphy couldn’t quite get to led to the first run of the game.
The American League’s sole run came when Miguel Sano blooped a single into a Bermuda Triangle of Nationals – Murphy, Bryce Harper, and Ryan Zimmerman.
Having pitched Sunday, Michael Fulmer did not appear in the game.
After the Mets pulled out a 6-4 win over the Cardinals, there was hope for the team to at least take the series and leap over one team ahead of them in the race for the second Wild Card. As Noah Syndergaard will tell you, the Mets are the second half team. If you wanted a glimmer of hope, here it was.
On Saturday, there was hope. Zach Wheeler turned his season around allowing just two earned over six innings. When Jay Bruce homered to start the seventh inning, and the Mets knocked Adam Wainwright out of the game, there was a chance. Then Fernando Salas came into the game. He was dreadful as usual, and the relievers that followed weren’t much better. A one run deficit became a three run lead too much for the Mets to overcome.
From there, things fell apart. For the first time all season, Steven Matz just didn’t have it allowing five runs over 4.1 inning. The Mets offense could only muster three hits off of Lance Lynn. With that, the momentum from Friday night’s victory was gone. Quite possibly, hope for the Mets making any sort of run in the second half of the season.
Heading into the break, the Mets are 39-47 getting outscored by their opponents by 47 runs. They are 12 games behind the Nationals in the National League East. The team is 10.5 games behind the second Wild Card. Worse than that, the Mets are 5-21 against teams with a winning record.
Every time you want hope, the Mets make sure to take it away. Perhaps, it is better this way. It is time for everyone to admit this team is going nowhere. It is time to sell. It is time for Dominic Smith, Gavin Cecchini, and Amed Rosario to show the Mets what they are capable of doing. With them playing everyday, it is possible we can all begin to hope again.