Peter Alonso
The New York Mets faced off against the Los Angeles Dodgers in a series the Mets and their fans had hoped would be an NLDS preview. Judging what we saw in this series, if this was a preview, Major League Baseball would’ve been thrilled, but it seems like this won’t be the series they’ll get:
1. Not only did the Dodgers beat the Mets, they beat the best the Mets could throw at them. This is the biggest sign the Mets were just not good enough to claim the Wild Card or have a real shot at the World Series.
2. Pete Alonso, Michael Conforto, and Jeff McNeil combined to go 0-for-25 with two walks and five strikeouts. If they’re going to do that against any opponent, the Mets have little to no chance of winning no matter how good their starting pitching is.
3. For the most part, the starting pitching was really good too. Jacob deGrom further cemented his being the Cy Young front runner going toe-to-toe with Hyun-Jin Ryu. After that game, deGrom was the only starter in the National League in the top five in innings, strikeouts, ERA, WHIP, FIP, ERA+, bWAR, and fWAR. If that’s not a Cy Young Award winner, we don’t know what is.
4. Back in 2015, when Zack Wheeler was on the precipice of being traded with Wilmer Flores for Carlos Gomez, Wheeler called Alderson to ask to not be traded, so he could pitch for this Mets team in a pennant race and hopefully win a World Series. He got his chance, and he took full advantage of the opportunity pitching great against the Dodgers limiting them to one run over seven.
5. In that game, Wheeler got a number of big outs. After allowing a leadoff double to Joc Pederson in the sixth, he struck out the next three. After allowing a single to Gavin Lux putting runners at first and second with one out in the seventh, he struck out the next two.
6. Wheeler showed more emotion he ever has in a Mets uniform, and the way he is closing out the season, it is a reminder the Mets are going to have to do better than the qualifying offer for him. They are going to need to lock him up if they want to legitimately have an opportunity to win in 2020.
7. The criticism of Mickey Callaway for lifting Wheeler was inane. He saw Wheeler was tired, and Wheeler admitted as such. He was turning over the game to Justin Wilson and Seth Lugo, who have been great all year. This is the exact opportunity you want, and they didn’t deliver.
8. There’s no need to criticize Wilson or Lugo. They’ve been great all year. Just lament what could have been and tip your cap to them for being what they’ve been to this team.
9. You can’t help but think that a year or two ago Juan Lagares robs that Enrique Hernandez double in the ninth, and if that was the case, Lugo gets out of that ninth unscathed.
10. The only Mets starter who did not pitch well was Noah Syndergaard. Of course, the Mets thought it more important to send a message to him by having Wilson Ramos catch him than to set him and the team up for success by having Tomas Nido or Rene Rivera catch him.
11. For all the talk of the desperate need for Ramos’ bat in the lineup, he was 1-for-10 with a walk and three strikeouts in the series, and he is hitting .211/.268/.368 over the past two weeks. That should’ve been a further indication he should have sat when Syndergaard started, but you know, messages trump winning.
12. That next message came during Sunday Night Baseball. All season long, Jessica Mendoza has refrained from offering insight into what the Mets are thinking about anything or any one player. However, during the broadcast, she took the time to smear Syndergaard and pretend like the whole issue was blown out of proportion.
13. Saying Syndergaard needed the training wheels taken off was both a stupid thing to say and an unwarranted insult. Syndergaard is the last Mets pitcher with a World Series win. He has proven to be the only pitcher in Major League Baseball who has matched zeros with Madison Bumgarner in the postseason. But sure, he needs his training wheels taken off like Greg Maddux did in his career, or A.J. Burnett did as he helped pitch the Yankees to the 2009 World Series.
14. It’s interesting how Mendoza offered insight on Syndergaard, but there was no discussion on the Mets thinking on Wheeler, who was an impending free agent, when she was discussing the starters available in free agency. That makes the shot all the more unwarranted.
15. If not for Rajai Davis, the Mets likely get swept as the Mets starters did not do anything at the plate against the excellent Dodgers starting pitching. Seeing him deliver, it makes you question why the Mets wasted so much time on Aaron Altherr, Keon Broxton, Gomez, and whatever flew through the 40 man roster this year.
16. Actually, there was one Mets starter who delivered – Brandon Nimmo. His RBI triple was a huge hit. The same goes for J.D. Davis‘ homer off Clayton Kershaw. Other than that, the Mets starters did little to nothing.
17. When you break it all down, this was a series where the Mets showed they could stand toe-to-toe with the Dodgers, but they also showed they are not good enough to beat the Dodgers right now. Sure, it’s possible in the NLDS the Mets could still pull it out like they did in 2015, but it’s an uphill climb to get to that point.
18. The Mets are really behind the eight ball being four back with 13 games left in their season. The good news there is the Mets next 10 games come against the Reds, Rockies, and Marlins. That means a 10-0 stretch is not out of the question, and if they do that, it can make the final weekend all the more interesting.
19. Ultimately, no one in that Mets clubhouse deserves any blame. They gave the Mets everything they could give, and they’ve played their hearts out. Really, if you want to blame anyone, look at the front office who completely failed to build the type of roster that was needed to win this year.
20. Lets just enjoy the final stretch of the season and do post mortems later. This team still has a pulse, and they’ve earned our faith and belief in them. No one should speak of them being done until they are actually done.
On Thursday, I had the privilege of being to be invited on the Simply Amazin‘ Podcast. On the podcast, I mentioned Wilson Ramos, Tomas Nido, Rene Rivera, Pete Alonso, Gerson Bautista, Jarred Kelenic, Jeff McNeil, Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia, Brad Brach, Daniel Zamora, Seth Lugo, Robert Gsellman, J.D. Davis, Dominic Smith, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, Marcus Stroman, Luis Santana, Keon Broxton, Felix Valerio, Juan Lagares, Luis Guillorme, Paul Sewald, Luis Avilan, and others.
The Mets are not interested in doing all they can do to grab the second Wild Card. No, they’d rather prove a point and send a message to Noah Syndergaard than do everything they can do to win a pivotal game.
Despite Syndergaard pitching like a Cy Young caliber pitcher with Tomas Nido and Rene Rivera behind the plate, the Mets started Wilson Ramos. After all, as an organization, you’d rather be invested in the 31 year old catcher than the 26 year old pitcher who is the last Mets pitcher to both win a World Series game and have a scoreless postseason start.
Well, as is usually the case, Ramos couldn’t get the low strikes, and as is typically the case, he wasn’t calling for Syndergaard to throw those pitches. The ball was elevated, his pitch count was going up, and eventually he hung one to Gavin Lux who hit a three run homer capping off a four run inning.
With Clayton Kershaw, it was game over. In his 12 year career, he’s lost just one game where he’s had four runs of support. He’s now 104-1. As was expected, he shut down the Mets offense because he’s Kershaw.
Throw in Jeurys Familia, Luis Avilan (why is he allowed to face RHB), and Walker Lockett getting roughed up to that tune of five runs combined along with the Mets only getting one home with the bases loaded in the seventh, you get a 9-2 loss.
That’s on a day the Cubs won pushing the Mets to 3.0 games back of the second Wild Card.
There were a couple of middle fingers to Syndergaard and the fans in this game from the Mets. Despite the purported need for Ramos to catch Syndergaard due to his offense, Juan Lagares would start, and Pete Alonso would sit. Finally, Nido would catch the ninth.
Hopefully, sending this message to Syndergaard was worth it. Judging by the score and losing a game in the standings, it wasn’t making this just a petty decision to cut their noses to spite their ace.
Game Notes: The Dodgers have won nine straight at Citi Field. That’s 10 straight if you include Game 4 of the 2015 NLDS.
The Mets have swept the Arizona Diamondbacks, and once again they are back in the thick of the Wild Card race after having played their way out of it. This has been one of the most mercurial seasons in team history setting forth what should be a fun emotional roller coaster ride over the final 16 games.
1. If you want to get off to a great start, there is no better way to accomplish that than starting with Jacob deGrom. He proved that by going seven innings of shut out ball. When you follow that up with Seth Lugo for two innings, there is no team in baseball that has a chance.
2. To put into perspective how incredible deGrom’s season was last year, he may be the leader in the clubhouse for the 2019 National League Cy Young award, and his ERA this year is a full run higher than it was last year.
3. In terms of this year’s Cy Young Award, tonight will be the second time over his last three starts where he faces off against another Cy Young leader. He pitched better than Max Scherzer the last time out, and this time he is facing off against Hyun-Jin Ryu, who has not been the same pitcher he was in the first half.
4. It is not just deGrom who is pitching great for the Mets lately. Zack Wheeler has three straight starts of 7.0 innings and just one earned. It might’ve taken a little more time than expected, but second half Wheeler finally arrived, and it could not have happened at a better time.
5. As good as deGrom and Wheeler are going, that is nothing compared to Steven Matz at Citi Field. This year, he is 7-1 with a 1.94 ERA at home. This is part of his pitching very well in the second half with a 2.52 ERA limiting opposing batters to a .227/.281/.364 batting line.
6. Then Marcus Stroman followed this trio with his best start in a Mets uniform. With him keeping the ball on the ground, you got a glimpse on just the pitcher the Mets thought they were going to get when they traded for him.
7. On Stroman, you see the impact a catcher can have on a pitcher. With the Blue Jays, Stroman had a 44.2 GB%, but when Wilson Ramos was catching him, it went down to 44.2 percent. Yesterday, the Diamondbacks only got the ball in the air 40.7 percent of the time.
8. This is another reason why we should note Noah Syndergaard‘s objections over Ramos are fact based. Even if it’s not, there is clearly a psychological impact upon him. Really, if the Mets are interested in winning, they would pair Syndergaard up with Tomas Nido or Rene Rivera.
9. What was surprising was seeing Nido homer yesterday. That wasn’t as surprising as Juan Lagares having a two home run game. We had Gary Cohen’s voice cracking as evidence of that. It was a great moment for Lagares who has been a good Met likely playing his final games in a Mets uniform.
10. Homers were a theme in this series with the Mets setting a team record hitting five homers in two straight games. They also set team records for homers at home in a season (114) and homers in a series (13). What is really surprising about this stretch is while everyone went homer happy, Pete Alonso didn’t hit one over the final two games.
11. Alonso is struggling now in an 0-for-12 stretch with seven strikeouts. Things must be getting to him as he took time to go into the clubhouse and shave his mustache mid-game. Unfortunately, it didn’t work, and it may get worse with the Dodgers coming into town with Ryu, Clayton Kershaw, and Walker Buehler.
12. Of course, it was not all bad news with Alonso. He had a two home run game to surge to the Major League home run lead. However, that was nothing compared to his getting first responder cleats for the entire team. That was an incredible move which not only shows character, but it also shows he gets it.
13. The fact Alonso was forced to go that route is because yet again Major League Baseball refused to permit the Mets to wear the first responder caps. They did it while touting Sammy Sosa running with the American flag, and Mike Piazza hitting that homer.
14. They also sell special 9/11 patched caps. That’s Major League Baseball for you. They won’t let players do the right thing because it would interfere with their ability to profit off of a tragedy were many Americans lost their lives, and they continue to do suffering from 9/11 related illnesses.
15. It was not only special to see all the Mets wearing them, but specifically the local Mets like Matz, Stroman, Todd Frazier, Rajai Davis, Joe Panik, and Brad Brach. On that note, Matz pitched six shutout innings, and Frazier would homer wearing those cleats.
16. Matz wearing them was reminiscent of John Franco wearing an FDNY cap in the Mets first game post 9/11. With respect to Matz, he has undertaken charitable work to help those first responders, and due to his efforts he has been a Roberto Clemente Award nominee for the second straight year.
17. On Frazier, he his red hot right now. He has hit three homers over two straight games, and he is playing his usual good defense at third. He is getting hot just at the right time because the Mets need their absolute best from everyone right now.
18. That is something which has made this Mets team really special. They are all giving what they could give. Robinson Cano is playing as much as his leg would allow, and based upon what we heard from Mickey Callaway, J.D. Davis is doing the same. Brandon Nimmo has returned from a potentially season ending injury to play great. Brach is dealing with a shoulder injury, and Justin Wilson has an elbow issue. Right now, everyone is giving this team what they can. That deserves the fans’ love and admiration.
19. We’re also seeing players doing all they can to come back. Dominic Smith is hitting off a tee and running. Robert Gsellman is throwing on the side. They are both doing this despite both having suffered what really was season ending injuries. Again, say what you will about this team, but this is a special group of players.
20. The 1999 Mets overcame a two game deficit over the final three games of the season to force a one game playoff. This team has 16 games. Anything is possible.
Not too dissimilar from what Todd Zeile did in 2001, Pete Alonso took it upon himself to be a leader and get cleats to honor the first responders. He did it because he knew the hats would not be permitted, and based on past MLB behavior, they would be confiscated.
Just like Zeile, Alonso deserves all the credit in the world. The same can be said for the teammates who risked punishment from Major League Baseball for defying (directly or indirectly) them. Those players should be lauded as well. Do you remember their names?
Luis Avilan Brad Brach Tyler Bashlor Robinson Cano Michael Conforto J.D. Davis Rajai Davis Jacob deGrom Edwin Diaz Jeurys Familia Todd Frazier Drew Gagnon Luis Guillorme Sam Haggerty Juan Lagares Walker Lockett Jed Lowrie Seth Lugo Steven Matz Chris Mazza Jeff McNeil Brandon Nimmo Tomas Nido Joe Panik Wilson Ramos Rene Rivera Paul Sewald Amed Rosario Marcus Stroman Noah Syndergaard Zack Wheeler Daniel Zamora Justin Wilson
In 2007, the Mets were seven games ahead with 17 games to play. We all know that season ended with Tom Glavine melting down against the Florida Marlins. That humiliating collapse is not a good memory for Mets fans, but it should serve as a reminder that anything can happen.
There are better and more positive stories in Mets history on this point.
The 1969 Mets entered September five games back of the Cubs, and they’d go 24-8 to finish the season and win the division going away en route to winning one of the more unlikely championships in professional sports history.
In 1973, the Mets entered September 4.5 games of the Cardinals and Pirates. The “Ya Gotta Believe” Mets pulled it off with a 82-79 record. They’d then push off one dynasty another year by beating the Big Red Machine in the NLCS, and they’d come within one game of knocking off another.
As we know, recent history hasn’t been as kind. The 1998 Mets entered September just one game out of the Wild Card. On September 21, they were one game up in the race only to lose their final five games including getting swept by the Braves. What made that all the more difficult was they only needed to win just one game to tie the Cubs and Giants for what was then the only Wild Card spot.
In 1999, it did seem like there was going to be another collapse with the Mets losing seven straight in October, and they’d lose five of six to the Braves with Chipper Jones telling Mets fans to get their Yankees jerseys out of the closet. They’d get some help sweeping the Pirates to over come the two game deficit with three games remaining in the season before Al Leiter‘s one hitter propelled them to the NLDS.
Heading to the future, the Mets collapsed in 2007, and they did it again in 2008 with Jerry Manuel going to Scott Schoeneweis to end the season. There were bleak times ahead before the 2015 and 2016 season. In terms of 2016, it was a somewhat similar situation to this year where a down National League allowed the Mets to linger in the race.
It should be noted that 2016 team was just 1.5 games back of he St. Louis Cardinals for the second Wild Card. It was not the five game deficit this Mets team faced. In any event, that whole run left a bitter taste as Jeurys Familia allowed a three run homer to Conor Gillaspie to end that season.
Overall, it has been quite a mixed bag for the Mets in these late September Wild Card races. We’ve seen them collapse in 1998 and 2007. We have seen them force a one game playoff in 1999 and go on a magical run. Under a different system in 2016, they got to that game, but they couldn’t win it.
No matter how you break it down, there is one theme for all of those years – the Mets had a chance. As we have seen you have a chance even if you are down seven games with 17 remaining. You can look at that all as a negative all you want. That’s your prerogative.
However, this Mets team has Jacob deGrom, Zack Wheeler, and Steven Matz pitching great. Seth Lugo is the best reliever in baseball. Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, and Michael Conforto have played great all year, and Todd Frazier seems to be getting hot at the right time. There are so many more positives behind these players.
At the end of the day, there is legitimate reason for hope. As long as there is hope, there is every reason to believe the Mets can pull this off. We should all be excited at the opportunity before this team.
LETS GO METS!
Tonight’s game was about the Mets and the Diamondbacks facing off against one another in a fight to claim the second Wild Card. However, the day was much more than that.
We were reminded about that throughout our days. For many, it remains a point of pain and reflection. In terms of baseball, it’s a difficult escape when you’re a Mets fan because the Mets story will be forever tied to 9/11.
We were reminded of that during Edgardo Alfonzo‘s in-game interview. In addition to discussing the Brooklyn Cyclones NYPL Championship, he talked about the events of 9/11 and all the Mets did including their wearing the caps.
Those caps have been a sore point amongst Mets fans as MLB has refused to since allow them on the field. They rejected efforts by the Wilpons, David Wright, and many other players. They rejected the efforts from this year’s Mets team. That was until Pete Alonso found a work around – cleats.
Pete Alonso orchestrated the Mets’ wearing of commemorative 9/11-themed cleats tonight.
He planned it for weeks, ordered & paid for everybody’s shoes and enlisted other clubhouse leaders (including Jacob deGrom) to get everyone on board. pic.twitter.com/fiJbYCU8mq
— Tim Healey (@timbhealey) September 12, 2019
As Alonso would tell it, after MLB refused to let them wear the caps, he took it upon himself to organize getting everyone cleats. As he noted, he didn’t nor did his teammates seek permission because they knew it would only lead to MLB refusing to allow them to wear the cleats.
Pete Alonso found out the shoe size and brand for all his teammates and ordered custom cleats for September 11. His reasoning: pic.twitter.com/5f9VAIEhJu
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) September 12, 2019
This was a play right out of Todd Zeile‘s book. Much like in 2001, every single Mets player would wear the cleats.
That includes local players like Steven Matz (who also has charity events for the first responders), Todd Frazier, Joe Panik, Rajai Davis, and Brad Brach.
They were the cleats Frazier wore during his two homer game tonight, and they were the cleats Matz wore as he pitched seven scoreless.
You pick a spot, he'll hit it out. pic.twitter.com/pkpCyDOhgN
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 12, 2019
They were the cleats the players wore as they batted around in a five run first. In addition to Frazier, Jeff McNeil would also have a two home run night. Brandon Nimmo also homered, and he’d have the quickest home run trot in the majors this year.
When all was said and done, on today of all days, the Mets had nine runs on 11 hits. As incredible as that coincidence was, Alonso’s leadership and comments were all the more so.
After the game, Alonso would say, “I don’t just want to be known as a good baseball player. Hopefully, I want to be known as a good person too.”
In behalf of all Mets fans I can say we know you as a very good baseball player and an even better person.
After not having his typical second half run, Zack Wheeler had turned it on of late allowing just one earned in each of his past two starts. He’d do the same tonight.
It initially didn’t seem like that was going to be the case tonight. In the first inning, he immediately got into trouble. Ketel Marte hit a leadoff single, stole second, and he cane home on an Eduardo Escobar RBI single putting the Mets down 1-0.
After that first inning, Marte continued to give him fits doubling and walking, but Wheeler would find his way around his getting on base without yielding another run.
What helped Wheeler was his ability to get the big strikeout. In fact, he’d strike out seven Diamondbacks in the game. It’s the highest amount of strikeouts he’d have in a game in over a month.
The other thing working for Wheeler was his getting two double plays. After all was said and done, he’d have a final line of 7.0 IP, 7 H, R, ER, 2 BB, and 7 K.
For him, it was a matter of who was going to provide the offense as Zac Gallen completely shut down Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso who combined to strike out six times in six at-bats. This made Gallen the first ever pitcher to strike out McNeil three times in a game. He’d fly out in the seventh to avoid his first golden sombrero.
With the Mets two big bats atop the lineup being completely shut down, the Mets needed someone to step up. That someone would be Todd Frazier.
In the bottom of the second, Frazier hit a go-ahead RBI double. On the play, the Diamondbacks had a perfectly executed relay, and upon replay it appeared they got Amed Rosario at the plate, but the initial safe call was upheld.
D-backs challenge call that Amed Rosario is safe at home plate in the 2nd; call stands, runner is safe. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/xFgwow6Y3Q
— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) September 11, 2019
What was interesting about that play was in the fourth, it appeared Brandon Nimmo avoided Alex Avila‘s tag when the Mets ran a contact play with Wheeler at the plate.
Mets challenge call that Brandon Nimmo is out at home plate in the 4th; call stands, runner is out. Powered by @Mitel. pic.twitter.com/ybUzkR5JRP
— MLB Replays (@MLBReplays) September 11, 2019
At least tonight, those two calls evened out for the Mets.
Nimmo being on third on that play was a point of contention for Keith Hernandez. On Frazier’s fourth inning RBI double, his second of the game, it appeared as if Josh Rojas might’ve been able to make a play.
Instead of going to second, he stopped just a little more than halfway. As a result, he couldn’t score on a ball which hit the top of the wall meaning Robinson Cano would score the only run on the play.
This meant a 3-1 instead of a 4-1 lead on a night when Seth Lugo was unavailable.
In the eighth, Brad Brach allowed a long opposite field homer to Escobar to make it just a 3-2 lead.
With two out and nobody on, Mickey Callaway wasn’t messing around by going to Justin Wilson for the four out save.
After a walk to Rojas, Adam Jones flew out to end the inning. While it was just two batters, Wilson had to work needing 10 pitches to get out Jones and 15 pitches total.
To put it in perspective, since coming off the IL, he only threw more than 20 pitches three times over 26 appearances. Perhaps that is why Edwin Diaz was warming as the inning began.
Wilson was asked to do something he hadn’t done since April 2. It wouldn’t be pretty. Really, it wasn’t pretty at all.
Nick Ahmed led off the ninth with a single, and he’d be on third after a fielder’s choice and a Kevin Cron pinch hit single past a diving Rosario. That’s when all heck broke loose.
Marte hit a ball to Alonso freezing Ahmed at third. With it sinking, Tim Locastro froze at first and Ahmed at third. While Alonso dove, he couldn’t complete the catch.
He immediately picked up the ball and stepped on first. Then, instead of getting Locastro, who was dead to rights, he tried to pick Ahmed off third. With Ahmed getting back safely, the Mets all-time leader in walk-off hits, Wilmer Flores, stepped up to the plate.
Despite Wilson clearly tiring and everyone running around with their heads cut off,Callaway stuck with Wilson. His faith was rewarded as he struck out Flores to end the game.
After the 3-2 win, the Mets are tied in the loss column with the Diamondbacks and a four behind in the loss column to the Cubs.
Game Notes: Callaway said Frazier started over J.D. Davis because Davis needs days off. It should be noted Davis hurt his leg about a month ago. In Brooklyn, Edgardo Alfonzo led the Brooklyn Cyclones to the NYPL Championship. It’s their first championship since they were awarded one in the wake of 9/11.
If you want to win a game, the best possible formula is Jacob deGrom and Seth Lugo. Tonight, that’s what the Mets had, and it led to a separately needed win against a Diamondbacks team ahead of the Mets in the Wild Card standings.
For his part, deGrom was great furthering cementing his Cy Young case. His final line was 7.0 innings, three hits, one run, one earned, one walk, and 11 strikeouts. That one? Well, that was courtesy of our old “Friend” Wilmer Flores.
But that wasn’t as damaging as a homer as a run against deGrom would normally be as deGrom actually received run support tonight. In fact, two of the three runs scored for him came off the bat of Pete Alonso who hit his 46th and 47th homers of the year.
Your major league HR leader.
4⃣6⃣ and counting… pic.twitter.com/qJWAPd1eSG
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 9, 2019
Is this guy good? Asking for a friend. pic.twitter.com/5r71hysahc
— New York Mets (@Mets) September 10, 2019
The other run came courtesy of an Amed Rosario RBI single in the fourth scoring Wilson Ramos. What made that interesting is Ramos had reached on a double against the shift. That shift was an unorthodox two outfielder shift. Presumably, this was implemented in response to Ramos’ ground ball rates, and yet, his hitting the ball up the middle was an automatic double.
Going back to deGrom, what makes him so impressive is how he is dominant no matter what part of the game. He rips through the order the first, second, and third time through. The lineup turns over a fourth time just briefly. He gets the bad and good hitters. For example, he struck out Ketel Marte three times.
Another note here is deGrom controls all parts of the plate. He gets batters out north, east, south, and west. While we’ve seen his recent rise to dominance correlate to pitching up in the zone, he did it working the lower half tonight.
If a team thought they’d get a respite when he leaves a game, they’d be wrong as Lugo followed him to pitch the final two innings. The fresh Lugo was economical striking out four of the six batters he faced needing just 21 pitches to earn his fifth save of the year.
With the win, the Mets gained a game on both the Diamondbacks and Phillies. It’s still an uphill climb, but the Mets are still alive.
Game Notes: Alonso surpassed Darryl Strawberry and some other guy by reaching base safely for a 34th consecutive game.
On Friday night, the Mets led 4-2 heading into the ninth inning. Mickey Callaway then sent Edwin Diaz out there to earn the save. In the offseason and April, this would’ve seemed like a no-brainer. However, not hasn’t been the case all year. Everyone has lost faith in him.
After a Jean Segura one out single, J.T. Realmuto homered to tie the game. It was the 14th homer he allowed all year, which is just one fewer than he had allowed over the previous two seasons combined. It was the latest down point in a series of down points. In a bit of irony, he’d get the win because of the Mets two out rally culminating in a Pete Alonso walk-of win.
On Saturday, the Mets were tied 4-4 heading into the sixth inning. After Paul Sewald allowed a leadoff double to Rhys Hoskins. After a sacrifice bunt, Luis Avilan came in and had perhaps his worst outing of the season allowing an RBI single to Phil Gosselin before allowing a two run homer to Maikel Franco. Why Avilan was left in to face Franco is anyone’s guess.
With the Mets rallying back in the sixth to make this a 7-6 game, Callaway turned to Justin Wilson, his second best reliever, to start the inning. For the first time since he came off the IL, Wilson didn’t have it. When he didn’t have it with Scott Kingery hitting a two run homer off of him, Tyler Bashlor came in to relieve him.
For his part, Bashlor would walk Sean Rodriguez and allow a double to Franco. Then, for reasons which confounded everyone, Andrew Knapp and his career .219/.329/.322 batting line was intentionally walked to allow Bashlor to face Bryce Harper, who was pinch hitting for reliever Mike Morin.
Bashlor, and his MLB career 4.6 BB/9, which includes a 6.6 this year, was allowed to face Harper with the bases loaded. You could see the walk coming a mile away, and arguably, the walk, driving home the Phillies 10th run of the game, could be argued to be a much better outcome than what could’ve happened if Harper made contact.
With the season on the line, and in the highest leveraged situations the Mets faced all year, the bullpen gave up six runs over two innings. That was after Diaz blew the lead on Friday night. While the bullpen melted down in those two games, Mets fans watched on bewildered and horrified. Do you know who else was watching on?
Somehow, in the latest in a series of the Mets biggest series of the season, Lugo didn’t throw one pitch. Not one. If memory serves, he didn’t even soft tossing let alone warm up in any of those games. Potentially, the Mets chances at winning a Wild Card went by the wayside while the team’s best reliever watched it happen.
As horrible as we all feel, you could only imagine how Brad Brach felt. Remember, he was a member of that 2016 Orioles team who lost to the Blue Jays in 11 innings as Zack Britton, clearly the best reliever in the game that year, never entered the game. At some point, you have to wonder if he was having flashbacks.
With respect to Lugo, it should be remembered he threw two innings on Thursday. That was a day game after a night game, and in that night game, he threw an inning. That’s three innings over a 24 hour period. That’s a lot for a reliever with known UCL issues. It’s a lot for a reliever the Mets have been careful in trying to get him rest so as to not burn him out or injure him.
What we don’t know is whether he was unable to rebound after throwing those three innings. We also don’t know if Callaway was waiting for a late inning situation on Sunday which never presented itself. No matter what the case, the only thing we know is with the season on the line Lugo didn’t throw a pitch. If there is no injury issues, and there very well may be, that’s inexcusable.
The only thing more inexcusable than that is the fact that the Mets do not have another arm who could get a key out or pitch a scoreless frame in those three key innings.