Jeurys Familia
Noah Syndergaard set the tone for the night by battling through the game.
He absolutely gutted out six innings. There was a Pirate in scoring position four of the six innings. Even with Rene Rivera behind the plate, the Pirates were 4/4 in stolen base attempts. He surrendered a career high five doubles. He allowed two in the first, and when the Mets tied the game in the fourth, he gave the Pirates the lead right back. He still hung in there. He allowed seven hits, three runs, two earned, and two walks with five strikeouts. The unearned run was the result of Neil Walker‘s error in the first. It was part of a tough homecoming for Walker:
#Mets Neil Walker has two errors at PNC Park tonight.#Pirates Neil Walker never had two errors in ANY SERIES at PNC Park.
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) June 9, 2016
Neil Walker has three errors in his "homecoming" series. He never even had two during any home series with the #Pirates (h/t @Tony_Eichler).
— Ryan M. Spaeder (@theaceofspaeder) June 9, 2016
With the way the Mets have been going offensively lately, and with the Pirates starting phenom Jameson Taillon, Syndergaard was going to have to help himself at the plate. He did.
In the fifth, he hit a leadoff double, and Alejandro De Aza would sacrifice him over to third. Michael Conforto hit a sacrifice fly, which would tie the score at 3-3. The Mets scored their first two runs in the fourth when Ty Kelly hit his first career homerun. It was a nice parting gift for him as it appers likely he will be demoted after today’s game due to the Mets re-acquiring Kelly Johnson.
In the seventh, Jim Henderson allowed the Pirates to take a 5-3 lead with a rough inning. He allowed a leadoff walk to Andrew McCutchen. Then after Gregory Polanco just missed a homerun, he ripped a go-ahead double to right-center. He moved to third on Walker’s second error of the game, and he would score on a Josh Harrison sacrifice fly.
The Mets would battle back again. In the eighth, De Aza would get a leadoff walk, and he would score on a Conforto homerun. The Mets would then load the bases, but they would fail to get a runner home to break the 5-5 tie. Kelly would pop out to short left, and Curtis Granderson, pinch hitting for Rivera, would ground out killing the rally.
The Mets would get another chance with the bases loaded in the tenth. This time Collins pinch hit Wilmer Flores for Kelly. Flores hit a one out bloop single to give the Mets the 6-5 lead. The Mets wouldn’t score another run, but they got all they needed.
Addison Reed got the well earned win. With the Mets bullpen being a bit taxed, Collins asked him to pitch two innings. Despite a slight dip on velocity, Reed pitched two scoreless innings. It was another great outing for him in what has been an incredible year for him.
Jeurys Familia come on in the 10th and recorded his 19th straight save this year. Of course on this night, it wasn’t an easy save. Familia walked the first two batters before getting Sean Rodriguez to hit into the 6-4-3 double play. Familia walked the next batter, and Plawecki stopped the ball with his face preventing the tying run from scoring. Familia then struck out David Freese to finally end the game and the losing streak.
Overall, there was a lot to like. The Mets offense got going again. Conforto was 1-3 with a run, three RBI, a walk, and a homerun. Yoenis Cespedes went 3-5, and he scored the game winning run. The Mets snapped their nine game losing streak against the Pirates dating back to last year.
Game Notes:
Prior to tonight, the last time the Mets defeated the Pirates, Jonathon Niese was the winning pitcher. Also, Thor was still in the minors.
— Ed Leyro (@Studi_Metsimus) June 9, 2016
David Wright is gone for who knows how long. Yoenis Cespedes was scratched right before the game with a hip issue. When you don’t have the big bats in your lineup, you’re doing to need everyone to pitch in to try to help secure the victory.
As usual, Juan Lagares provided Gold Glove defense:
Sorry, the gap's closed today: https://t.co/ZAOFAXw8FG #Juanderfulhttps://t.co/hr1USxY5HI
— MLB (@MLB) June 4, 2016
It was an important catch as the game was 3-2, and that hit could’ve put the game out of reach. Instead, the Meys got new life.
That’s when James Loney made his contribution. Loney led off the inning with a double and moved to third on a passed ball. Loney then scored on an RBI single by surprise starter Michael Conforto. Conforto has been struggling badly of late, but today he was 1-3 with a run scored, a walk, and two RBI. Conforto later scored on an RBI pinch hit single from Matt Reynolds. Reynolds had to pinch hit for Lagares, who left the game with an apparent injury, which may or may not have been related to that amazing catch.
Seemingly every Met contributed to this 6-4 win. Wilmer Flores was 3-4 with a run and a walk. Neil Walker scored two runs, and Asdrubal Cabrera scored one as well. He also stayed in a game where everyone seemed to get knicked up a bit. Bartolo Colon pitched in and out of trouble allowing only one run over five. Jerry Blevins, with a little help from Lagares, bailed out Hansel Robles in the sixth. Jim Henderson pitched a scoreless 0.1 innings, and Addison Reed pitched a scoreless eighth. Alejandro De Aza had a two out, two run double in the the ninth. Jeurys Familia recorded his 18th save. As you can see, pretty much everyone contributed to this win, save Kevin Plawecki.
He has an error in the second when he took a throw from Flores and couldn’t find homeplate with his foot or tag the runner. In the top of the third, he hit a double and was immediately picked off second. In the eighth, he couldn’t get down a sacrifice bunt. It was a tough say for him on what was a terrific day for his teammates.
So long as the Mets role players and lesser starts keep stepping up like this, this is going to be a special season.
The narrative going into the game was Noah Syndergaard‘s golf trip would have a negative impact on his start. It seemed to be the case when Syndergaard allowed a first inning solo homerun to Marcell Ozuna.
Instead of struggling from that point forward, Syndergaard did what he’s done all year. He dominated. Syndergaard pitched seven innings allowing six hits, two earned, and one walk with nine strikeouts. All Syndergaard needed was some run support.
Fortunately for Syndergaard, the Mets provided him with more than one run of support. That was the main difference between this game and Jacob deGrom‘s start on Wednesday. The main reason was Wilmer Flores started at third instead of Ty Kelly. In the fourth, Flores broke a 1-1 tie by getting a two out broken bat bloop RBI single scoring Yoenis Cespedes.
Unfortunately, Syndergaard would relinquish the lead in the sixth. The rally was built upon a Christian Yelich double to shortstop. Yes, shortstop. Asdrubal Cabrera, who hit a fourth inning homerun, dove and got a piece of the ball. It was just enough to slow it down so Yelich could get to second and Martin Prado could go to third. Prado would subsequently score on a Ozuna’s sacrifice fly. The Mets would need Flores to get things started again. He did.
In the seventh, Flores got a rally started by drawing a leadoff walk in the seventh. The Marlins then pulled starter Tom Koehler and brought in the lefty, Mike Dunn, to face James Loney. Loney made the Marlins pay by hitting the first pitch he saw for a homerun. It was Loney’s first homerun for the Mets and his 100th career homerun. The homerun broke a 2-2 tie.
Just for good measure, Flores got another rally started with a leadoff double in the ninth. He moved to third on a long fly ball from Loney to center. He JUST MISSED another homerun. Rene Rivera, on the other hand, didn’t. He hit an absolute bomb to left center giving the Mets a 6-2 lead. It gave the Mets a big enough lead to let them relax after losing two straight games in which they had a lead in what were tight scoring games.
Addison Reed pitched a scoreless eighth because that’s what he does. The four run lead allowed Jim Henderson to pitch a scoreless ninth thereby allowing Jeurys Familia a night off.
This was a great game for the Mets and Flores in particular. He finished the night 2-3 with two runs, one RBI, one walk, and one double. With David Wright‘s most recent injury, the Mets need Flores to step up and take over third base. He did that tonight. If he continues playing like this the Mets will be able to weather not just this storm, but also anything else that comes their way in 2016.
Game Notes: The struggling Michael Conforto was dropped from third to sixth in the lineup. He was 0-4 with two strikeouts dropping his average to .246.
The Mets walked 13 times . . . THIRTEEN . . . and only scored one run in a 13 inning game they lost 2-1.
The Mets once again trotted out an ugly lineup reminiscent of July 2015. David Wright is still unavailable with the neck injection, so Terry Collins decided to go with Ty Kelly over Wilmer Flores. Yoenis Cespedes was out of the lineup as he informed Terry Collins he needed a day off. It was an ugly lineup reminiscent of a July 2015 lineup. It doesn’t help that Michael Conforto is still struggling. With today’s 0-6 with the golden sombrero, Conforto is now one for his last 21. With that said, the Mets had to win the 2015 way. They needed deGrom to be dominant. He was, but it wasn’t enough.
Jacob deGrom‘s velocity continued to tick up a bit with him getting it back up to the 95 MPH range on occasion. He had a season high 10 strikeouts. He had allowed only three hits and no runs over six, and he was at 92 pitches, and due up to lead off in the seventh inning. Terry Collins let him go back out there.
For the second day in a row, Todd Frazier hit a homerun. He tied the score at 1-1.
That matched the Mets offensive output. James Loney got a second inning rally started by walking. He moved to second on a Juan Lagares sacrifice bunt (really looked more like a bunt for a base hit, but that’s official scoring for you). Rene Rivera then came up and hit a one out RBI single to make the score 1-0. It was the first time Loney reached base and scored a run as a Met.
The Mets tore through their bullpen, including but not limited to, an injury to Hansel Robles. Logan Verrett came in, and he eventually gave up the winning run in the 13th in a rally started by a double hit by Matt Albers, an American League relief pitcher.
It was a bad loss capping off a poor 2-4 home stand. The Mets bench is inexcusably bad even with the injuries. The Mets need to make some moves.
Game Notes: Don Draper took his hatred of the Mets to the next level by sending Roger out there to interfere with Melky Cabrera resulting in interference being called costing Loney a chance at bat. It is the four year anniversary of Johan Santana’s no-hitter.
Seemingly out of nowhere, the Dark Knight emerged as not only the protector of Gotham, but also as a figure that gave people hope. After eliminating Gotham of the evils of villains like Ra’s al Ghul, the Falcone crime family, and the Joker, the Dark Knight found his body weary from the constant battles. He took a back seat as other emerged, Jim Gordon and Harvey Dent, to fight the good fight.
A new villain emerged that neither Gordon, Dent, or really anyone could handle. Bane. Initially, the Dark Knight sought to take on Bane in his own. He was a shell of himself. Bane quickly dispatched of him while breaking his back in the process. The Dark Knight is then left battered and beaten in the Pit prison. No one ever escapes this Pit. In reality, once you’re here, you’re gone forever. It seems like the Dark Knight we all knew and loved was gone forever.
Instead, he chose to fight on. He got stronger. He did the impossible and made his way out of the Pit and back to Gotham. Some of his old friends were gone, but he still had Gordon. He also had John Blake and Selina Kyle. They fought back, and against all odds, they were victorious. The Dark Knight had returned just when Gotham needed it most.
Looking at all of this, yes, Matt Harvey is the Dark Knight.
In 2013, Harvey arrived and gave us all hope that the Mets could win another World Series. In 2015, he pushed his body to the limits no one has ever pushed themselves post-Tommy John surgery. He, along with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Jeurys Familia, pitched the Mets into the World Series.
Whether it was the innings, the bladder problems, or his dietary issues, Harvey isn’t the same. This year he’s 3-7 with a 6.08 ERA and a 1.688 WHIP. He’s getting beat up by hitters, the media, and his Captain. Harvey seems broken. He appears to be at the bottom of a Pit that he has no means to escape.
Harvey can and will fight back as only the true Dark Knight can. In the interim, deGrom and Syndergaard will continue the good fight. They’re now joined by Steven Matz. In the end, we know the Mets will be victorious. We know Harvey will once again be Harvey. Just remember how this script goes. In the end . . .
THE DARK KNIGHT RISES!
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.
Its astounding how much 2016 is paralleling 2015. This year, like last year, 46 games into the season, they trail the Nationals in the division. Interestingly enough, this is not where the parallels end.
Catcher
Last year and this year, Travis d’Arnaud had a significant injury forcing him to miss a significant period of time. This pressed Kevin Plawecki into assuming the starting catcher’s job, and he struggled. However, Plawecki kept on catching because his backup was a good defensive poor hitting catcher. Last year was Anthony Recker. This year it’s Rene Rivera.
Back Issues
Last year, the Mets faced the prospect of not knowing when or if David Wright could return due to his back problems. As a result, Eric Campbell played many more games than the Mets ever anticipated he would. The same thing is happening now as a result of Lucas Duda‘s stress fracture in his lower back.
Minor Leaguers Not Ready for the Majors
With the rash injuries last year, the Mets trotted out the likes of Daniel Muno and Darrell Ceciliani to try to fill in the gaps. It didn’t work. This year the Mets have pressed Matt Reynolds and Ty Kelly into action. Reynolds and Kelly are having similar difficulties.
Rotation Issues
Last year, Jon Niese and Dillon Gee were having the worst years of their careers thereby putting the pressure on the other starters. The Mets were stuck in a holding pattern about making a change as the obvious replacement, Noah Syndergaard, still needed a little more time. This year it is Matt Harvey struggling while the obvious replacement in the rotation, Zack Wheeler, still needs more time to get ready to pitch in the majors.
Colon Dependability
At this point last year, Bartolo Colon was 7-3 with a 4.82 ERA and a 1.20 This year Colon is 4-3 with a 3.44 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. This year and last year the Mets have been able to count on Colon to take the ball every fifth day and give them a chance to win.
Mid 30’s Corner Outfielder
Through May 25th last year, Michael Cuddyer was hitting .250/.328/.372. This year Curtis Granderson is hitting .204/.304/.413. Like Cuddyer last year, the Mets are relying heavily on Granderson, and unfortunately, they are not getting the production they need from them.
Second Year Starter Stepping Up
Last year, Jacob deGrom went from Rookie of the Year to All Star. He emerged as the ace of the staff. This year that honor belongs to Syndergaard. Syndergaard has been dominating on the mound like deGrom did last year. He’s a likely All Star, and he’s quickly become the staff’s ace. Honorable mention should go to Steven Matz here as well.
Call for the AA Prospect to Get Called Up
Last year with a rash of injuries and offensive ineptitude, Mets fans shouted from the rooftops that Michael Conforto should be called up to the majors from AA. This year the fans have begun the same with Dominic Smith due to Duda’s injury and Campbell playing there everyday.
Jeurys Familia
Last year, Famila was as dominant as anyone at the end of the game. He started the year a perfect 13/13 in save chances. This year Familia is back to his dominant form. He’s a perfect 16/16 in save chances. As in 2015, Familia is going to slam the door shut.
The Two Team Race
Last year the Braves were the upstarts that faltered. This year will be the Phillies. However, when the dust clears, this is really a two team race between the Mets and the Nationals for the NL East.
Just remember that no matter how bad things got last year, the Mets still won the division by seven games. This year the Mets have a much better team across the board. We may sometimes forget this when the Mets slump or have a couple of injuries. However, this is a much better Mets team that can win the division. This is still a World Series contender. That’s the overriding lesson from 2015.
Tonight promised to be a pitcher’s duel, and it did not disappoint. The difference in the game was Max Scherzer made two mistakes and Noah Syndergaard made none.
Curtis Granderson took the first pitch from Scherzer, and he homered to right. Scherzer would be careful with Granderson the rest of the game. Granderson would finish the night 2-2 with a run, RBI, the aforementioned homerun, and two walks. It appears that Granderson is breaking out of his May slump.
The Mets needed it too. Before the first pitch, the Mets discovered neither Lucas Duda or David Wright would be available. Wright’s back flared up necessitating he sit. Duda’s own back issues re-emerged requiring him to receive an injection and sit. In their stead, Eric Campbell and Matt Reynolds manned the corners. It was Reynold’s major league debut. He played third, batted ninth, and wore Wright’d glove. Campbell and Reynolds each went 0-3. Campbell struck out twice, and Reynolds struck out once.
It was a lineup reminiscent of last July. Like last July, Granderson provided the offense. Like last July, Michael Conforto came to the rescue. In the third, he homered to right to make it a 2-0 game. Syndergaard did the rest.
Syndergaard pitched seven innings only allowing five hits, no earned, and no walks while striking out 10. He had the pitches coming in at 100 MPH. Before the game, Bryce Harper said at the ESPN Upfront event he was curious as to what would happen against the 100 MPH fastball. The answer was an 0-3 night with two strikeouts against Syndergaard.
Aside from the two mistakes, Scherzer matched Syndergaard pitch for pitch. He allowed three hits, two earned, and three walks while striking out 10. He did all he could do, but he didn’t get much help from anyone other than Daniel Murphy.
It was Murphy’s first game back at Citi Field since signing with the Nationals in the offseason. In the first inning, he made a sparkling defensive play robbing Campbell of a hit:
Daniel Murphy knows this Citi pretty well: https://t.co/adZAVppFSs pic.twitter.com/Ti2okeEWOq
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) May 17, 2016
After that play, Murphy would get his first official at bat against the Mets. Before the at bat, Murphy would get a well deserved ovation:
Murphy would foul out to third. Before his next at bat, he would be booed. Murphy responded by dropping a single over the head of his replacement, Neil Walker. Overall, Murphy would go 1-3 dropping his batting average from .400 to .399.
Despite Murphy’s and Scherzer’s efforts, the Mets shut down the Nationals. Addison Reed and Jeurys Familia came on and slammed the door shut. The Mets won 2-0, took sole possession of second place, and moved within a half-game of the Nationals. The Mets can take over first place with a win tomorrow.
Game Notes: Kevin Plawecki had a nice game going 1-3 and throwing out Ben Revere trying to steal a base. It was only the fourth runner in 33 attempts thrown out while Syndergaard was on the mound. Of course, Oliver Perez entered the game and got his only batter out. Here was the Mets pregame video tribute to Murphy:
Thank you, Murph!https://t.co/bna7xfzZWX
— New York Mets (@Mets) May 17, 2016