Game Recap

Harvey Reemerges  

Three years ago, Matt Harvey’s May start against the Chicago White Sox was a statement that Harvey was already one of the best pitchers in the game. 

Harvey was ever so close to a perfect game. If not for an Alex Rios infield single in the seventh inning, Harvey would’ve made history. Instead, Harvey had to be satisfied with pitching an absolute gem. He pitched nine innings allowing only the one hit while striking out 12. His stuff was absolutely electric. At least on that day, there was no better pitcher in baseball. 

That hasn’t been Harvey’s story in 2016. This year it’s been about struggles. He struggles with his mechanics. He struggles with the fourth inning on. He struggles with the ever increasing scrutiny that class come with his struggles. His scheduled start against the White Sox was a reminder of how Harvey has gone from an unquestioned ace to a struggling pitcher. We have all been left to figure out what happened. That includes Harvey, who said, “I’ve been wondering the same thing.”  (ESPN)

On Monday, the struggles seemingly disappeared. His fastball was blazing occasionally touching 98 MPH. His fastball averaged over 95 MPH. For the first time all year, he pitched into the seventh inning.  In the seventh, there were runners on second and third with one out, and Harvey got out of a jam unscathed. He only allowed two hits and one walk while striking out six. Seemingly, the Harvey of old was back. 

The Mets need that Harvey. That was the Harvey that gave them hope in 2013. That was the Harvey that took the ball in Game 5 of the World Series and ALMOST willed the Mets to victory. Even with the emergence of Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard taking the next step, the Mets still need Harvey. Fortunately, the questions about Harvey have shifted from “What’s wrong?” to “Is he back?”

According to Terry Collins, “it’s a big first step.” Collins went on to say, “[Harvey] feels good about the way it went. He feels good about the way he threw the ball. Now, we’ve just got to build on it, and stay as positive as we can and have him repeat it.  No matter what the results are, if he repeats this kind of performance with stuff, I think we’re on the right track.”  

That makes Harvey’s start the most important start of the season. Harvey must build off this start.  If it was a mechanical adjustment, he needs to hone his mechanics. If it was a mental issue, Harvey has to get back to that mindset.  Whatever it is, Harvey needs to get back to that point and stay there. 

Harvey put it best when he said, “This really doesn’t mean anything unless I continue it.”

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Glass Half Full Loss

Going into last night’s game, you’d be hard pressed to find reasons to be optimistic. 

Clayton Kershaw was squaring off against Bartolo Colon. David Wright missed another game with a neck issue, which mean another Eric Campbell start. To make matters worse, the Mets fell behind Kershaw 2-0. There was really now reason to believe the Mets could come back to tie the game. 

And yet, they did. 

In the sixth, Asdrubal Cabrera homered off Kershaw. In the eighth, the Mets had Kevin Plawecki on first with two outs.  Fortunately, Kershaw was lifted from the game leaving Curtis Granderson to face the lefty Adam Liberatore. Granderson hit a game-tying triple. The Mets showed some fight and came back against the best pitcher in baseball. 

Yes, Jeurys Familia struggled in the ninth. He took the loss after allowing two runs on two hits and two walks.  The Mets lost 4-2.  It was frustrating that Familia had a second straight tough night, but at the end of the day, Familia will be alright. This was just a blip on the radar. 

The biggest take away is that a weak Mets lineup fought back against the best pitcher in baseball. It gives you hope for optimism no matter how frustrating the ninth inning might’ve been. 

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Chase Utley’s Game Reminded Me of the 1988 Mets

Once again, Major League Baseball showed its umpires are terrible:

That’s right. Noah Syndergaard got tossed for that. No warnings. Nothing. The umpire went from zero to ejection. Best part?  It was a minor league umpire:

Anytime you can have a minor league umpire behind home plate for a nationally televised game, you gave to do it, right?  It’s always a good thing to have a minor league umpire effectively decide the outcome of a major league game.  At least Terry Collins came out and got his money’s worth before getting ejected:

Believe it or not the rest of the game ensued after that #umpshow. 

It should come as no surprise that with an injured David Wright (didn’t start due to neck issues which may or may not be related to the spinal stenosis) and the Mets ace being ejected, the Mets were behind the eight ball. It’s not that Mets fans accept a loss, it’s just that they would’ve understood at least until Chase Utley homered off of Logan Verrett in the sixth to break the 0-0 tie. 

He then hit a grand slam off of Hansel Robles the following inning after Antonio Bastardo loaded the bases with only one out to make it 6-0. 

Now, normally, when you get buzzed, you’re uncomfortable at the plate. Not Utley. Why?  BECAUSE THE UMPIRES PROTECTED UTLEY!  Because the umpires announced the Mets were not allowed to pitch him inside lest they be ejected. It was a joke. But hey, he wasn’t suspended or even called out when he broke another player’s leg for a clearly illegal play:    

  
The Mets lost 9-1. The entire night was ruined. 

It was supposed to be a night when the fans celebrated the greatness of the 1986  Mets. It was supposed to be a night where we remembered their swagger and how they always won the battle whether we were referring to the game or the brawl. That wasn’t what happened tonight.
Instead, we were left with the same bitter taste in our mouths that we had in 1988. 

The only thing that will make me angrier about the ejection and the final score will be when that hack Joe Torre suspends or fines Syndergaard. 

Game Notes: The Mets had a funny take on the Thor pitch:

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Familia’s Struggles Lead to a Grandy Win

So far, Chase Utley is 5-16 with two walks, three runs, two doubles, one homerun, and four RBI. It’s one thing not to exact revenge, it’s a whole other to let him be this comfortable at the plate. The last double was a bases clearing double off of Jeurys Familia, who was in in a non-save situation, turning a 5-1 easy win for Jacob deGrom and the Mets and turning it into a frustrating 5-5 game. It was annoying. It was aggravating. It was the perfect theater for Curtis Granderson:  

Granderson took the second pitch of the ninth inning and hit a walk off homerun giving the Mets a 6-5 win. 

Granderson needed it. He’s been having a rough May. He had been 0-3 with three strikeouts and one walk before the game winning at bat.  In fact, Granderson started his night striking out against Dodgers 19 year old phenom Julio Urias. 

Fortunately for the Mets, it was downhill from there for Urias. Asdrubal Cabrera and Neil Walker doubled off of him. Juan Lagares had a two RBI single making it a 3-0 game before Urias could even blink. Urias threw 35 pitches against eight Mets batters in the first. His final line was 2.2 innings, five hits, three earned, four walks, and three strikeouts. He left due to a mixture of his pitch count and his effectiveness. 

Urias was bested by deGrom. On the night deGrom pitched seven innings allowing only three hits, one earned, and three walks with seven strikeouts. His velocity was back in the early innings, but it faded in the later innings. The only two blips on the radar for him was his making his first career error in the third followed by Chase Utley not literally sacrificing himself. It was a sacrifice fly, not a sacrifice to appease Mets fans.

deGrom wasn’t the only Met who had a good night. Lagares went 3-4 with one run, three RBI, and one homerun. The homerun was an opposite field shot off righty to boot. 

  
Speaking of homeruns, David Wright homered in his third consecutive game. His homerun was a vintage David Wright shot to right center. Speaking of vintage, the Mets delivered tonight while wearing the 86 racing stripe jerseys as the Mets celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the 1986 World Series Champions. 

The Mets win tonight, absent failing to plunk Utley, was a nice homage to that team. An even better one was the Mets moving into first place in the NL East (tied with the Nationals). 

Game Notes: It was the second walk-off homerun of Granderson’s career. Cabrera made a decent play in the field

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Seven in a Row for Matz

Yesterday into this morning, the sky was falling after another bad start by Matt Harvey and his refusal to speak with the media. The Mets lost a game to the Nationals and dropped a game in the standings. The world was coming to an end. With that in the backdrop, David Wright came up to bat in the first, and did this:

That was all the help Steven Matz needed. He utterly and completely dominated the Nationals in winning his seventh straight start. At one point, he retired 16 in a row. He only had two 2-0 accounts. He got a huge out by retiring Bryce Harper as the tying run in the eight. His final line was eight innings, four hits, no runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts. 

Matz has lowered his ERA from a gawdy 37.80 in his first start to 2.36. Since that nightmare first start, he has gone 7-0 with a 1.13 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP. He’s clearly the early favorite in the Rookie of the Year voting. He’s also due consideration for the All Star Game and even the Cy Young Award. 

Matz wasn’t the only young Met who had a big day.  Matt Reynolds got his first big league hit in the fifth. He scored his first big league run in the seventh off of a Rene Rivera RBI single.  The inning was set up by a Daniel Murphy error on what should have been an inning ending double play off the bat of Eric Campbell. The ball went right through Murphy’s wickets and the Mets lived to put up another run on the board.   Reynolds would finish the day 1-3 with a run and a walk. Rivera would finish the game 1-3 with an RBI. He would also throw out Michael Taylor in the third. 

The Nationals would rally in the ninth putting the first two on against Jeurys Familia. Famila bore down and got the next three outs to preserve the 2-0 win. Familia is now a perfect 16/16 in save attempts this year. 

Overall, this was just a terrific win by the Mets. They came into Washington and took 2/3 from the Nationals. They evened the season series at 3-3. They’re now only a half game behind the Nationals for the division. The Mets are in for a dog fight for the division, and they have showed they’re up for the fight. This is going to be a fun run this year. 

Game Notes: Reynolds was pressed into action as Asdrubal Cabrera left the game with a stiff back after the top of the first. Cabrera was technically in the game despite not having had an at bat or taking the field by his being in the starting lineup. 

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Darkness Filled This Knight

Any hopes of this being a Happy Harvey Day was shattered when Daniel Murphy launched a fifth inning two run homerun into the upper deck off of Matt Harvey making it a 5-1 game. Murphy really pimped that homerun too. 

It was the third homerun hit against Harvey on the night. Given Harvey’s pattern this year, it should come as no surprise that the first two homeruns were back-to-back shots by Ryan Zimmerman and Anthony Rendon. Overall, Harvey had another career worst night in what had been a nightmare of a season:

For the night, Harvey pitched five innings allowing eight hits, five earned, and two walks with a career worst one strikeout. He has an MLB worst 6.08 ERA. 

Unfortunately, Harvey didn’t get much help. The Mets 6-8 batters were Eric Campbell–Kevin Plawecki–Ty Kelly. Kelly was making his debut with David Wright getting a scheduled day off. It’s hard to question Collins’ handling of Wright so far this year because it has been superb. With that said, if it was an either/or situation, it’s surprising he wouldn’t trot out his best possible lineup for a Harvey start; last night’s Wright homerun notwithstanding. 

With this lineup, it’s not much of a surprise that Stephen Strasburg had a good night. He pitched 6.2 innings allowing four hits, two earned, and two walks with 11 strikeouts. It should be noted that Strasburg found himself in the same shoes last year that Harvey finds himself now.  Strasburg finished last year going 6-2 with a 1.90 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. This year he’s a sure fire All Star and an early Cy Young candidate with an 8-0 record with a 2.79 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. 

The Mets offense was an Asdrubal Cabrera homerun fourth inning homerun and a short lived rally in the seventh. The Mets had a first and third with no outs with the aforementioned Campbell-Plawecki-Kelly triumvirate due up. Campbell got an RBI ground out making it 5-2. Plawecki walked, and Kelly struck out. In his big league debut, Kelly was 0-4 with three strikeouts. Juan Lagares then pinch hit for Hansel Robles (who was great again), and he struck out against Felipe Rivero ending the rally. 

Any hopes that the Mets would come back were dashed by the bullpen. In consecutive innings Antonio Bastardo and Jim Henderson allowed solo homeruns. It snapped the Mets’ bullpens 16.2 inning scoreless inning streak.

Campbell hit a one-handed two run homerun in the ninth (yes you read that right) to make it 7-4. That would be the final score.  It wasn’t really that close, but it was just one game, albeit a game that leaves the Mets once again looking for answers across the board. The Mets play another one tomorrow. 

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Mets Show Some Resiliency 

The odds were stacked against the Mets today. They received word that Lucas Duda would be going on the DL with a stress fracture in his lower back. The Mets were facing Gio Gonzalez, who absolutely owns them. 

So naturally, the Mets offense played homerun derby. David Wright got it started with a three run homerun in the third. Yoenis Cespedes and Neil Walker went back-to-back in the fifth. With those and many more homeruns, the Mets now lead the majors as a team. Cespedes is the leader in homeruns. He’s now on pace for a 55 homerun season. Somehow that seems light. 

Throw in a third inning RBI single from Asdrubal Cabrera and an Eric Campbell sacrifice fly in the third, and you get a 7-1 Mets win. Colon pitched well going seven innings allowing five hits and one earned. One thing of note is he walked two batters. This is now his second straight start with more than two walks. Both of these starts came against the Nationals. 

The Mets are now only a half game back in the East with way too many games left on the schedule to be worried about the NL East standings. With that said, Matt Harvey takes the mound tomorrow with a chance to pitch the Mets into first place. 

Game Notes: Ryan Zimmerman stole a base in the sixth, and it was completely on Colon. Colon went to the wind up, and the extremely slow Zimmerman took off. He had the base stolen quite easily. 

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Mets Being Lead by Two Young Stars Again

In 1986, the Mets were lead by two immensely talented players. The first was a 24 year old outfielder named Darryl Strawberry. Coming up, he was thought to be the next Ted Williams. Joining him was a 21 year old young ace named Dwight Gooden. Gooden was unhittable and was starting to do things not even Tom Seaver had done. 

Thirty years later, we celebrate these players and their contributions to the Mets last World Series victory.

Yesterday, there was no greater tribute than seeing 23 year old Noah Syndergaard and 23 year old Michael Conforto lead the way. They were wearing the old racing stripe jerseys to boot. 

Syndergaard pitched seven innings allowing only six hits, one unearned run, and no walks while striking out 11. This year he’s 5-2 with a 1.94 ERA, a 0.978, WHIP, and an 11.3 K/9. He’s doing things not even Dwight Gooden or Tom Seaver have ever done:

Part of the reason he earned the win yesterday was due to Conforto’s homer in the first inning. 

  
For the second year in a row, Conforto is showing no moment is too big for him. He has shown himself to be a natural born hitter. This year he’s hitting .284/.358/.553 with eight homers and 24 RBI. He has an astounding 146 OPS+. 

Overall, thirty years later the Mets are once again led by two budding superstars in their early twenties. History is repeating itself. Hopefully, history will keep on repeating itself straight through October. 

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Birthdays Done the Wright Way

Today, my family gathered together to celebrate my younger brother’s birthday. With my son, family gatherings usually involve every fawning over him while he’s mostly interested in playing with Cosmo:

  
It also means that I get to watch a Mets game with my Dad, brother, and son. My Yankee fan uncle was also there. We get to have all those little conversations about each and every player and what the Mets should or shouldn’t do in each situation. Some major points of discussion:

  1. Why was Jacob deGrom getting pulled after only 100 pitches?  
  2. How good is Yoenis Cespedes?
  3. Do you think David Wright‘s career is effectively over?
  4. Why is Eric Campbell on the team?
  5. Should Kevin Plawecki or Matt Reynolds bunt?

It was fun having these and other little discussions during the game. It was also fun being in a room of people that universally agreed Daniel Murphy is a better baseball player than Neil Walker. Admittedly, some of these discussions were a bit disjointed with a two year old chasing a puppy and asking questions about the game. 

It was great to watch a Mets game with my family the way I grew up watching a games. Sure, we have these discussions over texts during games, but it’s much better having these conversations in person. It’s even better when a game ends with Wright setting a club record with his eighth walk-off hit and ninth walk-off RBI:

After the game was over, it was time for some cake and ice cream to celebrate a birthday . . . and a Mets win.

  
Happy Birthday Uncle Pat!

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Matz Back on Track

After all the Mets fans hysteria after Matt Harvey struggled against the Nationals, it was easy to forget there was a game to be played tonight. 

Like most of May, the Mets offense seemed to forget as well. For the first five innings, the Mets offense could only muster one run with three hits and a walk against Wily Peralta. This is the same Peralta who came into tonight’s game with a 2-4 record, 7.30 ERA, and a 1.992 WHIP. It didn’t matter as the Mets offense lately has been worse than Peralta . . . at least until the sixth inning. 

Asdrubal Cabrera lead off the inning with a single, and he scored when Michael Conforto hit one into what used to be the Party City Deck. 

Mets led 3-2. 

There was a chance for more, but well, no one is quite sure what happened. Yoenis Cespedes singled, and he took off on a 3-2 pitch to Neil Walker. Walker took the pitch right down the middle for strike three, and Cespedes didn’t even bother sliding into second. Former Met Carlos Torres came on, and he got the Brewers out of the inning. 

The three runs were enough for Steven Matz, who was terrific. He pitched seven innings allowing three hits, two earned, and no walks with eight strikeouts. He only made one mistake, which was hit for a two run homer in the first by Chris Carter, who is tied with Cespedes for the league lead in homers. Matz’s start was all the more incredible when you consider he had been shut down with elbow inflammation. 

However, it looks like he’s back on track, and the Mets are back on track as well. 

Game Notes: Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Torres got their NL Championship rings before the game. Eric Campbell started at third as David Wright had a scheduled day off. Rene Rivera had a nice game with an RBI ground out in the second, and he threw out another basestealer:

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