Jose Reyes
In case everyone forgot with his golfing and his stint on the disabled list, Yoenis Cespedes changed his walk-up music from his personal song . . .
. . . to one of the songs from The Lion King. Specifically, he went with the “Circle of Life.”
Apparently, Cespedes wants to remind everyone, he’s the king around here. Not the prince. THE KING!
King Cespedes has drawn inspiration from the song celebrating his kingdom as it has inspired him to circle the bases while he gives the Mets new life:
Now, with Cespedes once again firmly establishing he’s king around here, Jose Reyes has provided him with his crown:
Long Live King Cespedes!
There was little optimism for tonight’s game. The Marlins were starting Jose Fernandez, who absolutely owns the Mets. Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera couldn’t play due to injury. That left the Mets with an extremely short bench as the team sent down T.J. Rivera to make room for Rafael Montero.
Yes, that Rafael Montero. In the biggest game of the biggest series of the year, the Mets led off with Montero against Fernandez because Jacob deGrom needed to have a start skipped with his recent struggles. In the biggest undersell of the century, this was far from optimal.
Also suboptimal was the strikezone. Montero, who has not dealt well with adversity in his career, was squeezed all night. He issued six walks in five innings. In four of the five innings he pitched, he was on the verge of a meltdown. But then something funny happened. Montero bore down.
He got out of a jam in the first by striking out J.T. Realmuto. In the fourth, he got out of a bases loaded jam by getting the opposing pitcher, Fernandez, to ground out. In the fifth, he induced a ground ball from Marcell Ozuna, and third baseman Kelly Johnson started the inning ending 5-5-3 double play.
It was ugly at times, but Montero pitched an effective five innings to give the Mets a chance. His final line was five innings, two hits, no runs, none earned, six walks, and three strikeouts. It may not be an outing that would earn him another start, but it was a courageous outing that shows he may still yet have a major league future.
Sean Gilmartin and Jerry Blevins each followed Montero’s effort with a scoreless inning if their own meaning the Mets got through seven scoreless innings. It also meant the Mets successfully outlasted Fernandez, who was brilliant again.
Fermandez’s final line was six innings, three hits, no runs, none earned, four walks (one intentional), and six strikeouts. While not particularly noteworthy against this team, the Mets were 0-6 with RISP against him.
It became a battle of the bullpens, and the one guy you counted on most was the one who sprung a leak. Ichiro Suzuki hustled his way to a two out double off Addison Reed. Alejandro De Aza made a good play on the ball, but Ichiro is just that fast. Ichiro would then score on a Xavier Scruggs RBI double.
The Scruggs double was an absolute laser that Yoenis Cespedes didn’t have a real chance to get even at 100%. Still, he took a real baffling route to the ball.
The Mets, specifically Jose Reyes, would respond in the bottom half of the inning. Reyes lead off with a double off reliever A.J. Ramos. Ichiro misplayed the ball, but Reyes was getting to second regardless. Reyes tagged and moved up on a deceptively deep De Aza fly ball. Normally, you’d question running on left fielder Christian Yelich who has a cannon. However, with him back pedaling, Reyes made a great read and took third.
Cespedes then stepped to the plate with the crowd a buzz. Ramos would throw a wild pitch allowing Reyes to score. Ramos would come down on Reyes’ shoulder, but Reyes would stay in the game.
Cespedes and Curtis Granderson would follow with singles, but the Mets couldn’t push either home.
Jeurys Familia pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. He wasn’t available to go deeper as he was due up third in the bottom of the ninth. Terry Collins couldn’t double switch him in as he had no bench to do that.
After the ninth, the Mets really had no bench. With two outs in the ninth, Rene Rivera was announced as the pinch hitter against the lefty Mike Dunn. Don Mattingly countered with the right-handed Nick Wittgren. Then in a move that made no sense Collins went to Jay Bruce as Collins was the only one who expected Bruce to hit one out of the park. He didn’t meaning the lone position player left was Walker, who couldn’t play due to his lingering back issues.
Josh Smoker picked the Mets up with a lights out 1-2-3 tenth where he struck out two of the three batters he faced. Smoker has gotten progressively better with each and every outing since he was recalled, and he earned his first major league win because, well, Cespedes.
With two outs in the tenth, Cespedes hit the walk off at a time the Mets desperaty needed it. They were almost out of pitchers. They had no more bench players, and he bailed them out evening the Mets with the Marlins in the standings.
Game Notes: With the short bench, deGrom grounded out while pinch hitting for Montero in the fifth.
Pennant Race: The Nationals beat the Phillies 4-0. The Cardinals beat the Brewers 6-5. The Pirates lead the Cubs 6-3 in the seventh.
In case you forgot why the Mets went on a run last August, you were reminded of it tonight. The Mets got dominant pitching from Noah Syndergaard, a home run from Yoenis Cespedes, and completely dominating an inferior team in a 12-1 victory.
Overall, Syndergaard seems to be back in a groove after struggling while adapting to pitching with bone spurs. He only made one mistake to Freddy Galvis in the third giving the Phillies a very short lived 1-0 lead.
Syndergaard would shake it off and dominate the Phillies from there on out. His final line was seven innings, two hits, one run, one earned, two walks, and seven strikeouts. He is now 12-7 with a 2.55 ERA and close to getting himself back in the Cy Young race.
He would get a lead in the bottom of the third on an Asdrubal Cabrera two run homer:
Asdrúbal's third homer in the last 24 hours. He has the power! ?#Mets 2-1 | Btm 3 pic.twitter.com/n3n5DJcZxg
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 28, 2016
It was the first of four Mets homers on the night, and it was another huge game for Cabrera. He was 3-4 with two runs, two RBI, one walk, and the aforementioned homer.
The Mets next homer would come from Cespedes – who else?
The Lion King walkup song is suiting him well. ? #LGM#Mets 5-1 as we play the 5th. pic.twitter.com/jlT5T1TZOE
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 28, 2016
The three run shot scored Syndergaard and Jose Reyes, who did his job setting the table tonight going 3-5 with two runs.
The Mets then blew the doors open in the seventh scoring six runs. Alejandro De Aza hit a two RBI bases loaded double off the center field wall and just past the leaping Odubel Herrera. Kelly Johnson then hit a pinch hit grand slam to make it 11-1.
New dad Neil Walker then hit his 23rd homer on the season in the eight to make it 12-0. The home run ties his career high.
With that, the Mets are flexing their muscles again, and they are taking advantage of bad baseball teams to beef up their record. Tomorrow the Mets go for the sweep.
Game Notes: Jay Bruce was given what was called a mental day off. His injure leg had nothing to do with it. Curtis Granderson continued his struggles going 0-4 with a run, walk, and a strikeout.
Pennant Race: The Nationals lost to the Rockies 9-4. The Cardinals lost to the Athletics 3-2.
Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera let everyone know right off the bat the Mets were not going to take a second division club lightly by hitting back-to-back homers to start the bottom of the first.
"Watching these guys take off, I'm ready to dye my hair blonde." – Ron Darling. https://t.co/7sWZupyJDP #Metshttps://t.co/vw2V7WN511
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 27, 2016
They also brought their gloves. After Cabrera made a nice play in the fourth, Reyes followed up with a better one:
At the time, it preserved a Bartolo Colon no-hitter. Colon would lose it in the fifth on an Odubel Herrera hustle double. Herrera scored after the Mets gamble of intentionally walking Peter Bourjos, who is hitting .179 in the second half, to get to the pitcher Adam Morgan. Morgan hit an RBI single to close the gap to 2-1. That’s as close as the Phillies would get.
In the bottom of the fifth, Wilmer Flores made it 6-1 with a grand slam off Morgan:
Wilmer. Flores. CRUSHED! https://t.co/HgRyjgt2in #Mets #LGMhttps://t.co/xEUwvKJkQ3
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 27, 2016
Once again both Flores and this iteration of the Mets lineup just crushes lefties.
In the sixth, the Mets would put the game out of reach off Phillies reliever Frank Herrmann. Travis d’Arnaud hit an RBI double, and he would come around to score on Cabrera’s second home run of the game. It was the first time he homered from both sides of the plate. It gave the Mets a 9-1 lead effectively ending the game.
The Phillies would touch up Colon a bit in the eighth to close the gap to 9-4, but in reality it was just putting lipstick on a pig. Colon was terrific in every way tonight starting with a quick defensive reaction in the first:
Bartolo doing him. #Mets #LGM pic.twitter.com/WmgahMWWGv
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 26, 2016
He didn’t just help himself in the field, he helped himself at the plate going 2-3 with two runs and a double . . . yes, a double.
His final line was seven innings, six hits, four runs, four earned, two walks, and six strikeouts.
On what was a terrific day for the Mets, Cabrera put the capper on the night with a terrific defensive play in the eighth. Reyes tried to bare-hand a ball at third, and he missed it. Cabrera backed him up, and dive to tag out Aaron Altherr.
After a second lackluster appearance by Sean Gilmartin and his bleeding thumb, Terry Collins wasted no time in bringing in Jeurys Familia even though it wasn’t a save situation. Familia got out of the first and second no out jam to preserve the Mets 9-4 win.
Game Notes: Neil Walker was activated from the paternity list, and he went 1-3 with a run and a walk. T.J. Rivera was sent back down. Jay Bruce returned to the lineup as well, and he went 0-4 with the golden sombrero. Curtis Granderson sat against the left-handed again.
Pennant Race: The Nationals beat the Rockies 8-5. The Marlins are losing to the Padres 6-3 in the ninth. The Pirates are leading the Brewers 5-4 in the sixth. The Cardinals lead the Athletics 3-1 in the seventh.
One of the long forgotten storylines of the early part of the season was the Mets couldn’t hit left-handed pitching. For their careers, Curtis Granderson and Lucas Duda have mostly struggled against them. That effectively neutralizes two of the best bats in the lineup. Terry Collins ices a third when he refuses to play Michael Conforto against lefties.
With the Mets injuries and Sandy Alderson remaking the roster on the fly, the Mets now destroy left-handed pitching.
It starts with new (and old) leadoff hitter Jose Reyes. In his career, Reyes has always been a slightly better right-hand hitter than he was a left-hand hitter, but this year the splits are even more pronounced. In 25 games against righties, he is hitting .254/.289/.408. However, in the 17 games against lefties, he is destroying them hitting .342/.419/.605. Each and every game, he sets the pace.
Usually playing across the diamond from Reyes is Wilmer Flores who suddenly turns into Babe Ruth when a lefty is on the mound. Flores has played 44 games against lefties, and he is hitting an astounding .344/.392/.678 with three doubles, nine homers, and 22 RBI. Flores OPS+ against lefties is 176. To put how good that is in perspective, that 176 is better than Paul Goldschmidt‘s and Jose Altuve‘s. Goldschmidt and Altuve currently led their respective leagues in those categories.
Rounding out the infield is Neil Walker who has been a completely different hitter against lefties this season. Walker entered the year hitting .260/.317/.338 against lefties. This year, he is hitting .327/.383/.612 against them. He has more than doubled his homers against lefties this year.
In the outfield, with Juan Lagares going down with injury, the Mets eventually replaced him with Justin Ruggiano. He has been the Mets center fielder when a left-handed pitcher starts a game. In his seven games against lefties, Ruggiano has hit .400/.471/.867, and he had a monster home run against Jaime Garcia:
It’s not a fluke for him either. In his eight year career, Ruggiano is hitting .276/.340/.530 against lefties.
When you add these bats to a lineup that already has Yoenis Cespedes, you have a team that mashes lefties. You have a team that knocks Madison Bumgarner out after five innings. You have an offense that can do anything no matter who is on the mound. You have an offense you believe can go the postseason as the second Wild Card.
As if the Cardinals weren’t evil enough, they sent Adam Wainwright of all people to the mound to end the Mets season. Fortunately for the Mets, they had the better right-handed with a terrific curveball on the mound.
That’s right. In the most important game of the season, the 2011 34th round draft pick Seth Lugo took to the mound, and once again he was terrific. His final line was 5.0 innings, two hits, no runs, none earned, three walks, and five strikeouts. He only lasted five innings as he left the game with a cramp in what was a hot and humid day.
Lugo was never supposed to be in this spot, but there he is. Better yet, much like Jacob deGrom in 2014, he’s taken advantage of an unexpected opportunity.
The Mets offense took advantage of a struggling Wainwright and a bad Cardinals defense.
In the fourth, with the Mets already up 1-0, Curtis Granderson would reach on a Jhonny Peralta error. He’d go to third on a Wilmer Flores double. Both would then score on an Alejandro De Aza RBI single expanding the Mets lead to 3-0. Flores, De Aza, and the Cardinals defense would conspire again in the fifth to blow the game open.
The Mets had Yoenis Cespedes and James Loney on with two out, and Wainwright seemingly induced Flores to hit an inning ending ground out. Instead, second baseman Greg Garcia booted it allowing Flores to reach and Cespedes to score. De Aza would then really make the Cardinals pay:
Ale-ale-jandro! 3-run jack for De Aza. 7-0 #Mets!!https://t.co/tp7FTpj6H8
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 26, 2016
Just like that it was 7-0 Mets.
Wainwright’s final line was five innings, nine hits, seven runs, two earned, two walks and three strikeouts.
The story of the night, aside from Lugo, was Flores and De Aza. Flores was the surprise starter with a right-handed on the mound and Neil Walker on paternity leave. De Aza got the start with Jay Bruce dealing with some type of leg injury.
Flores would go 2-4 with three runs and sac fly RBI. De Aza would go 2-4 with two runs, five RBI, one walk, and a homer.
De Aza would also rob Matt Carpenter of a homer on the Cardinals first at bat of the game.
The Mets offense just exploded in the night. Everyone but Jose Reyes, Cespedes, and Granderson got at least two hits. However, even they reached base two times a piece. Reyes and Cespedes also drew a walk, and Granderson reached on the error.
The 10 runs the Mets put up made up for some ugly bullpen work. Jim Henderson, Josh Smoker, and Sean Gilmartin combined to allow six earned runs.
Fortunately, the Mets offense put up 10 runs to win the game 10-6. With that, the Mets took two out of three from the Cardinals bringing them back to 3.5 games behind them for the second Wild Card. It also allowed Lugo to earn his first major league win.
Game Notes: Loney hit cleanup and went 3-5 with three runs snapping his August cold streak. Asdrubal Cabrera was 2-5 with an RBI double. Rene Rivera was 2-4 with two RBI, a double, and a walk. His two RBI came on a single that went to the wall.
Pennant Race: The Pirates are tied with the Brewers 2-2 in the eighth. The Nationals beat the Orioles 4-0. The Marlins lost to the Royals 5-2.
For some reason or other, the Mets went with an injured and bad Jon Niese over a healthy and ready Robert Gsellman. One thing was for certain, no matter who started, the Mets needed an early lead and hold on.
The Mets just did that. Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera led off the game with back-to-back singles, and then they pulled off a double steal. Cleanup hitter Wilmer Flores then hit a three run homer to give the Mets a 3-0 lead.
Niese would give it right back even with Ron Darling saying, “Don’t shoot the messenger, but Niese is 55-3 with a three run lead.”
Niese allowed three of the first batters to reach base narrowing the lead to 3-1. Then his knee became too much for him. Terry Collins then went to Gsellman with one out and runners on first and second. Gsellman was greeted by a Yadier Molina game tying RBI double.
Gsellman would escape the first without allowing another run. Gsellman would be in trouble most of the night, but he would bend but not break. He was really helped by some terrific Mets defense.
Asdrubal is a vacuum. #LGM #Mets 6-3 | End 4 pic.twitter.com/ttHR8efTAK
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 24, 2016
Even with the struggles, Gsellman would earn his first win in his first ever game. His final line was 3.2 innings, two hits, no runs, none earned, three walks, and two strikeouts.
Gsellman was in line for the win as the Mets offense responded immediately to losing the lead. Travis d’Arnaud would hit a one out single and move to second on a Gsellman sacrifice bunt. Reyes then singled him home as it seems every time d’Arnaud finda his way into scoring position, Reyes singles him home. Cabrera then doubled home Reyes to make it a 5-3 game.
Justin Ruggiano effectively closed the book on Cardinals Jaime Garcia with a monster home run:
Garcia only lasted four innings himself in taking the loss allowing seven hits, six runs, six earned, and one walk with six strikeouts.
Things calmed down once it became a battle of the bullpens. Alexander Reyes flashed his dominant stuff shutting the Mets down over 2.1 innings.
Josh Smoker pitched two tension filled innings, but he only allowed one run on a monster Randal Grichuk solo homer in the sixth. There wouldn’t be another as Yoenis Cespedes robbed Stephen Piscotty of a homer:
It was an even bigger play when you consider Cespedes seemingly tweaked his quad chasing down a liner in the first.
In the seventh, Jerry Blevins and his tight firearm left a runner on with one out. Jim Henderson would then make his first appearance since coming off the DL. He got the Mets out of the inning, and he punctuated it by striking out Jedd Gyorko looking to end the inning.
Like every other Mets pitcher, Addison Reed pitched into trouble, but he got out of it unscathed. Jeurys Familia was the only one of the Mets seven pitchers to have a 1-2-3 inning in recording his 42nd save.
At least for one night, the Mets and Cardinals switched places. The Cardinals were 2-10 with RISP leaving 11 men on base. The Mets were 5-10 with RISP including a James Loney ninth inning RBI single to make it 7-4.
The Mets have finally won three in a row since the All Star Break. The Mets are now 3.5 games back of the Cardinals in the race for the second Wild Card.
Game Notes: Neil Walker missed the game as he is on paternity leave. His wife gave birth to a baby girl, Nora Vail Walker. T.J. Rivera is taking his spot until he returns. Curtis Granderson didn’t start with the lefty starter. Jay Bruce would go 0-5 with two strikeouts. He is now two for his last 22.
Pennant Race: The Marlins lost to the Royals 1-0. The Nationals lost to the Orioles 8-1. The Pirates beat the Astros 7-1.
Seth Lugo was the surprise starter tonight as Steven Matz couldn’t go due to a shoulder injury (shocking, I know). Lugo would be terrific and efficient.
Lugo’s final line was 6.2 innings, seven hits, three runs, three earned, one walk, and three strikeouts. The line would’ve looked better had it not been for Collins’ managing. Overall, Lugo only needed 69 pitches. Not bad for a guy that Mets were hoping could provide five serviceable innings.
One area that Lugo wouldn’t help himself was on the basepaths. After failing to lay down a sac bunt, he found himself in the basepaths and hilarity would ensue on a Kelly Johnson two out single.
On the single, Tim Teufel first didn’t give a sign, and then threw up the stop sign after Lugo put his head down as Hunter Pence made a good throw home. Lugo saw this, and he headed back to third. Only issue was Jose Reyes broke for third when Lugo broke for home.
The Giants first got Reyes into a run down. As this was happening, Lugo had pretty much no choice but to break for home as there were two outs. As Brandon Crawford was seemingly the player paying attention in the fifth inning, he caught Lugo trying to sneak home. Lugo would be thrown out in the ensuing rundown.
The Giants returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth. Pence dropped a “double” between the rangeless Asdrubal Cabrera and centerfielder for the day Granderson. Eduardo Nunez then hit a line drive right at Granderson while Pence took off for home. Easy double play.
Just to make sure the fifth inning would set back baseball 50 years, James Loney booted a Joe Panik grounder. Lugo would the get the opposing pitcher, Johnny Cueto, out to put an end to the nonsense.
Still, Lugo would take the loss as the only run support he received was a Granderson second inning homer into McCovey Cove.
In the seventh, Lugo was lifted after the Giants announced Gregor Blanco as a pinch hitter. Terry Collins countered with LOOGY Jerry Blevins. Bruce Bochy, being a vastly superior manager, countered with the switch hitting Ehire Adrianza. Both he and Denard Span hit RBI singles making it a 3-1 game.
The Mets rallied in the eighth starting with a Reyes one out single. It was another terrific night at the plate for Reyes going 4-4 with a double. However, despite him getting to second as Brandon Belt threw one into his back on a Johnson pinch hit. Hr wouldn’t score as Jay Bruce hit into an inning ending double play.
Josh Smoker made his major league debut in the bottom of the inning. He’d get charged with two runs as Jeurys Familia, with some help from a Ryan Lochte neon yellow haired Cabrera made an error, couldn’t get out of the inning. Erik Goeddel relieved Familia and was greeted with a Conor Gillaspie two run homer making it 8-1.
With that, the Mets have lost three in a row and are now two games under .500.
Game Notes: Cabrera and Yoenis Cespedes returned from the DL with the Mets sending down Ty Kelly and T.J. Rivera.