Edwin Diaz
We can talk about Jeff McNeil homering in the game while he popped into the telecast. We can talk about Marcus Stroman helping his own cause in picking up the win, or the Edwin Diaz driving you crazy in the save opportunity.
Really, that’s not the biggest deal from tonight. No, it was Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling calling this simulated game. It was about getting to hear this again:
"And the ball game is over!"
The virtual Mets bring home the W with Gary, Keith, and Ron on the call to bring their record to 20-16 ?? pic.twitter.com/qof8jsHQGd
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 6, 2020
Good teams pull out victories late in games. They show resiliency and rise to the challenge. In tonight’s simulated game, we see how good this Mets team could’ve been had they actually played games:
Down 3-2 in the ninth with the threat of their winning streak being snapped, Brandon Nimmo led off the top of the ninth with a double. Amed Rosario went the other way advancing him to third, and Dominic Smith hit a game winning two run homer to give the Mets a 4-3 victory.
The home run happy Mets also got homers from Yoenis Cespedes and Jeff McNeil. Justin Wilson earned the win in relief, and Edwin Diaz recorded the save.
Michael Conforto got the Mets on the board in the first with the first of his two homers in the game. In the simulated world both Conforto and the Mets are red hot:
Early on this was a back-and-forth affair with both teams scoring in the first two innings. The Marlins led 4-3 until Jeff McNeil tied it on a solo homer in the fifth.
In the sixth, Yoenis Cespedes hit a two run homer giving the Mets the lead for good. When all was said and done, Michael Wacha got the win, Edwin Diaz got the save, and the Mets won 9-5.
In the first game of this series, the Marlins offense exploded. In the next game, the Mets responded. In tonight’s game, no one could score:
From the Marlins perspective, you knew this was likely coming with Jacob deGrom on the mound. Jake was Jake shutting out the Marlins for seven innings.
Robert Gsellman, Edwin Diaz (2 IP), and Justin Wilson shut the Marlins down to keep them scoreless through 11. That allowed Brandon Nimmo to be the hero as he hit a walk-off homer to give the Mets a 1-0 extra inning victory.
Keston Hiura and Justin Smoak hit a pair of two run homers in the second inning off of Jacob deGrom giving the Brewers an early 2-0 lead. The Mets responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning with a Wilson Ramos solo shot and a Jeff McNeil two RBI double to take a 3-2 lead.
Smoak tied the game back up in the fourth with an RBI double. Ramos’ fifth inning RBI single retook the lead.
Christian Yelich homered off Robert Gsellman to tie the game in the seventh. Gsellman would load the bases that inning, but Jeurys Familia would get out of the jam.
It was Ramos again in the seventh with a go-ahead RBI single scoring Michael Conforto giving the Mets a 5-4 lead.
The Mets would win the game by that score after Edwin Diaz recorded the save. That means the Mets are undefeated this year when wearing their black jerseys on Friday.
In the third, Pete Alonso ripped an RBI single, and later that inning, Robinson Cano hit a sacrifice fly scoring Michael Conforto giving the Mets a 2-0 lead over the Braves.
Michael Wacha would make that lead stand holding the Braves to one run over 5.1 innings. Brad Brach, Jeurys Familia, Seth Lugo, and Edwin Diaz combined to pitch 3.2 scoreless to preserve the 2-1 victory.
The Mets feel behind 2-0 before Michael Conforto hit a tying two run homer in the first. In the fourth, Wilson Ramos had his own two run shot.
The Mets held on to beat the hated Atlanta Braves with Marcus Stroman picking up the win, and Edwin Diaz getting the save.
The Mets blew a few leads in this one including a 2-0 first inning lead courtesy of solo homers by Pete Alonso and Yoenis Cespedes. Unfortunately, Rick Porcello wouldn’t get out of the inning without the Brewers tying the game up.
A Brandon Nimmo two run shot in the second gave the Mets another two run lead. However, the Brewers would not only tie it, but they’d also take the lead heading into the ninth.
With Josh Hader on the mound, the Mets staged a great comeback in the top of the ninth.
The Mets tied the score with back-to-back doubles from Cespedes and Robinson Cano. Nimmo hit one which ate up Keston Hiura to give the Mets a 6-5 lead.
That chased Hader, and the Brewers went to David Phelps. Amed Rosario doubled, and Dominic Smith hit a pinch hit sacrifice fly to give the Mets a 7-5 lead.
Edwin Diaz got the first two out in the ninth before getting into trouble, allowing a run to score, and Luis Rojas going to Seth Lugo for the one out save. When Lugo got the only batter he faced out, the Mets won 7-6.
Heading into the 2020 season, many anticipated Steven Matz and Amed Rosario would have breakout seasons. In the simulated game against the Milwaukee Brewers, we got a look into what that might’ve looked like:
Through six, the only run scored in the game was off a Rosario solo shot. At that point, Matz was straight dealing, and as such, Luis Rojas let him hit for himself in the top of the seventh.
That appeared to be a mistake when Eric Sogard homered off Matz to start the bottom of the seventh.
Jeurys Familia relieved him, and he’d pick up the win. Pete Alonso led off the eighth with a ground rule double. Jake Marisnick pinch ran for Alonso, and he’d eventually score on a Yoenis Cespedes sacrifice fly.
Seth Lugo bailed Dellin Betances out of an eighth inning jam, and it wouldn’t be pretty, but Edwin Diaz would get out of a bases loaded jam to earn the save in the Mets 2-1 win.
These are hard times for us all, and we’re desperately looking for anything close to normal we can get. We got that tonight with Gary Cohen, Keith Hernandez, and Ron Darling announcing a simulated game:
It was phenomenal. They were talking about the gameplay. The hard to see neck tattoos. How poor the caps looked. Brandon Nimmo not smiling or hustling to first on a walk, and Jeff McNeil not swinging at everything. There was also Gare taking a shot at the Astros every chance he got.
In the end, Jacob deGrom outlasted Justin Verlander, and the Mets won 2-1 with J.D. Davis getting the game winning hit in the same ballpark where he used to get the signs.
In addition to the Mets getting the win to improve to 3-7, it was also nice to see Yoenis Cespedes come off the simulated IL, and Edwin Diaz get the save. Mostly, at least for one night, it was great having GKR back in our lives because for one brief moment, everything seemed at least a little normal.