Yoenis Cespedes

This Is Major League II

After going to the playoffs in Major League, every expected the Indians to repeat and possibly win the World Series.  The same goes for this year’s Mets team.  Last year, the Mets dealt with injuries, which hampered their ability to score enough runs to support a young pitching staff.  The Major League II Indians had the same problems:

The parallels don’t just end with the repeated problems.  They go much further.

The once cheap Indians spent money in the offseason to help improve the club.  For the Indians, it was Parkman.  For the Mets, it was bringing back Yoenis Cespedes.

Both Terry Collins and Lou Brown had to spend time in the hospital.  It makes you question which British show Collins was watching in a Milwaukee hospital.

Matt Harvey is having Wild Thing Rick Vaughn type of struggles during the season.

Both Willie Mays Hayes and Michael Conforto went from bursting on the scene to having sophomore slumps.

Instead of going out and making a huge transaction to fix the teams’ need, they went outside the majors to help the team.  The Mets acquired James Loney for cash considerations, and the Indians acquired Tanaka.

Speaking of Tanaka, he was at Citi Field visiting the Mets right before David Wright went on the DL:

photo  Andrew Beaton‘s Twitter Account.

So far, he hasn’t helped these Mets find their marbles. Perhaps, it’s because Juan Uribe took them to Cleveland of all places. 

There are only two more steps remaining for the Mets to truly become the Major League II Indians:

  1. They need to bring back Michael Cuddyer the way the Indians brought back Dorn; and
  2. The Mets need to win one more series than they did the prior year.

Hopefully, this is the point in the season when we can cue the Mets going on an insane winning streak allowing them to take control of the NL East and get to the World Series. 

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Mets Bullpen Had One More Escape Act

As Lou Brown said, “Ok, we won a game yesterday. If we win today, it’s called ‘two in a row.’  And if we win again tomorrow, it’s called ‘a winning streak’ . . . .  It has happened before!”  That’s where Matt Harvey . He’s on a streak of good starts. 

On May 30th, he pitched seven innings allowing two hits, no runs, and one walk with six strikeouts. On June 5th, he pitched seven innings allowing four hits, one earned, and no walks with three strikeouts. Tonight, he pitched six innings allowing two hits, one earned, and two walks with eight strikeouts. That’s three straight starts allowing one run or less. That’s vintage Harvey. 

Harvey did get some help in the third when replay overturned a run:

https://twitter.com/mlbreplays/status/741439922691706881

Initially, the umpires ruled Aaron Hill got in under Kevin Plawecki‘s tag. Upon replay, it was ruled Hill was out, and the run was taken off the board. The Brewers would have to wait until the fifth to score. 

Ex-Met Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a one out triple to right, and he would score on Ramon Flores‘ sacrifice fly to left field. It was going to take a good throw to get Kirk out, but Alejandro De Aza was not up to the task. First, it got caught in his glove. Next, he double clutched. Finally, the throw was up the first base line. It was just one part of a bad game for De Aza. 

In the first, he erased a Curtis Granderson leadoff walk by hitting into a double play. In the fifth Brewers starter, Junior Guerrera, intentionally walked Granderson to load the bases with two outs to face De Aza. De Aza grounded out meekly to second. Overall, he was 0-5. 

Overall, the Mets batters weren’t hitting well. Even when Kelly Johnson hit a double in first at bat back with the Mets, he followed it up with a TOOBLAN.  With no force play, he was slow (somewhat frozen) on a ball hit to the shortstop. He was tagged out, and Harvey was nailed at first ending the inning. 

FINALLY, in the sixth the Mets gave Harvey some run support after not giving him any run support in 15 innings. Yoenis Cespedes did this:

He hit a laser to right center tying the game at 1-1. Unfortunately, that was all the run support Harvey would get as Nieuwenhuis did this to Johnson:

Harvey had a great start and a no decision.  It would become a battle of the bullpens. It was a battle of escape acts. 

Hansel Robles entered the game in the seventh, and it appeared like his struggles were going to continue. It was first and second with no outs with the newly minted Mets killer Nieuwenhuis at the plate. Robles struck him out, and then he got the next two batters to fly out to get out of the jam. Antonio Bastardo followed up with a 1-2-3 eighth. 

Jeremy Jeffres did his Robles’ impersonation in the ninth by getting out of a bases loaded no out jam. First, Plawecki popped up to second. Neil Walker pinch hit for Bastardo and struck out looking. Granderson then meekly grounded out to second. 
It was then Jim Henderson‘s turn for the Houdini act. He issued a one out walk to Jonathan Lucroy, who was pinch run for by Keon Broxton. Broxton would easily steal second, and he would go to third on a comedy of errors. Plawecki would bounce the ball 10 feet short of second, and the ball would go through Johnson’s legs allowing Broxton to go to third. After a walk to Chris Carter, he struck out Nieuwenhuis on three straight pitches, and he got Hill to ground out to end the inning. 

Henderson was then pressed for a second inning out of the pen despite his injury history. The reason was unavailable after pitching three innings in today days, and Logan Verrett will start tomorrow due to the doubleheader. After walking the leadoff hitter Flores, Henderson had to leave the game with what appeared to be a blister. That made it Jerry Blevins turn to get out of the jam. 

After a sac bunt, Blevins had a runner on second with one out, and he threw a pitch in the dirt. Flores took off for third, and he made it safely for a split second. Matt Reynolds, who was double switched into the game when Blevins entered the game, kept the tag on Flores, so when Flores oversold third, he was out. Rally over. 

Wilmer Flores then cleared the Flores’ good surname in the 11th. He ripped a one out double pushing Asdrubal Cabrera to third. After Johnson was intentionally walked, the Mets found themselves in the same situation as they did in the ninth – bases loaded and no outs. Plawecki fouled out, and then all hell broke loose. 

Reynolds hit a sharp liner at Jonathan Villar, who dropped it. He flipped the ball to Scooter Gennett, who stepped on second while Flores was standing there. By Gennett stepping on the bag, Johnson was out, but the Brewers didn’t know it.  They didn’t know it because the second base umpire somehow called him safe. They got Johnson, who was already out, in a rundown. While this was happening Cabrera scored making it 2-1. Keith Hernandez put it best when he said everybody had to do back to school. 

Jeurys Familia then came in and recorded his 21st save in his 21st chance to end all of this tomfoolery. 
Game Notes: Harvey is the all-time leader for winless starts in which he’s allowed one run or less through a pitchers first 78 starts. It gets better:

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Granderson Leads the Way

Curtis Granderson was all the offensive support Bartolo Colon would need. 

Colon pitched seven innings allowing eight hits, one earned, and no walks with two strikeouts. He also helped himself by picking off Scooter Gennett in the third. 

Colon got into some trouble in the seventh. Old friend Kirk Nieuwenhuis hit a two out double to right just missing a homerun. Then Neil Walker took a sharply hit groundball off the chest. Nieuwenhuis was hustling all the way, and he would score right before Kevin Plawecki could apply the tag. It narrowed the score to 2-1. The Mets would get out of the inning when Plawecki’s one hop throw just beat Hernan Perez. It was a great tag by Asdrubal Cabrera off a tough throw to handle. 

The offense was essentially Granderson just like it was most of last year. He had the keynote address and a double in the third setting up the second run of the game. He scored the second run of the game off a Yoenis Cespedes RBI single. On the night, Granderson was 2-3 with two runs, a double, a homerun, and an RBI. Granderson’s double was particularly impressive because it went opposite field. 

The Mets blew it open in the eighth. The Mets loaded the bases with no outs, and Plawecki got a two RBI single through the drawn-in infield. The Mets could’ve had more, but Wilmer Flores pulled a TOOBLAN. With the play right in front of him, he kept going.  The ball was cut-off, and Wilmer was out on the basepaths. 

Lost in the TOOBLAN is how well Flores is hitting of late. He was 3-4, and he is hitting .476 over the last seven games. Another piece of good news was seeing Juan Lagares enter the game for defense. It was even better seeing him stretch a single into a double in his lone at bat. However, his sliding into second headfirst with a torn ligament in his thumb was cringeworthy. 

It was also cringeworthy seeing Matt Reynolds pinch hitting for Walker. It’s not a good sign especially after Walker took that hot shot off the chest. The good news there was Reynolds had another good pinch hit. He had an RBI pinch hit single scoring Lagares to make it 5-2. 

Even more cringeworthy was Terry Collins  decision to bring Addison Reed into the game after he pitched two innings yesterday. He would allow Gennett to hit an RBI double making it a 4-2 game. It would break his 15.1 inning scoreless streak. Jeurys Familia would close it out with a 1-2-3 inning with 2 strikeouts. He’s now a perfect 20/20 in save chances this year. Dating back to last year, he has 36 consecutive saves. 

Overall, it is nice to get some games in against bad teams to allow the Mets to get back on track. The Mets are now 4-0 against the Brewers, and they have now won two in a row. 

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Mets Battled for This Win

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:

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:

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No One Is Hitting

With the Mets injuries, it’s easy to blame the lack of offense on the Mets supposed depth. It’s true. The Mets backups have been dreadful:

These players haven’t done their jobs, and they have hurt the Mets. However, while the Kellys and the Campbells of the world get the blame for hitting the way you reasonably anticipate them to hit, the regulars who haven’t been hitting have not faced the same scrutiny.  In fact, the Mets right now have five regulars still in the lineup and four of them are just flat out not producing:

  • Asdrubal Cabrera – Since April 27th, Cabrera is hitting .227/.278/.355 with only 10 extra base hits in 151 plate appearances.  Over that stretch, he is striking out in 23.8% of his plate appearances.
  • Michael Conforto – Since May 1st, in what is now being infamously referenced as the Madison Bumgarner Effect, Conforto has hit .160/.224/.311 while striking out in 31% of his plate appearances.  He only has seven extra base hits over this stretch.  Terry Collins once had concerns with him lefties.  Right now, Conforto isn’t hitting anybody.
  • Yoenis Cespedes – Since May 25th, Cespedes is hitting .086/.132/.114 with no homeruns while striking out 34.2% of the time.  He is once again dealing with a hip issue, and he is clearly frustrated saying he is “a little lost at the plate right now.” (ESPN).
  • Curtis Granderson – Since April 30th, Granderson is hitting .180/.269/.375 while striking out 28.3% of the time.  His problems have been analyzed before show he’s hitting the ball on the ground more and it getting beaten by the shift.  So far, Granderson is not making the necessary adjustments.

Then again, no Met is making the necessary adjustments right now.  The end result is a putrid offense that is the worst offense in the major leagues.  According to Baseball Tonight, since May 12th, the Mets are the last in the majors in runs per game (2.8), OBP (.282), and strikeout rate (28%).  The team is also second to last in slugging (.354).  These numbers would look a whole lot worse if Neil Walker wasn’t hitting.

Overall, this isn’t the July 2015 Mets that had Campbell and John Mayberry hitting in the middle of the lineup.  There are legitimate hitters in this lineup who just aren’t hitting.  We can all analyze who the Mets should get to be their possible long term solutions at catcher, first, and third in the event any of those injured players aren’t able to return.  However, the simple truth of the matter is that unless the players currently here start hitting it’s not going to matter if the Mets make another move at the deadline.

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Twin 3-1 Losses Isn’t Niese

You knew it was going to be a long day when Jon Niese dominated the Mets in game one of the doubleheader. 

Niesepitched seven scoreless innings allowing two walks while striking out two. This unrecognizable man even recovered shrugged off an error turning a Steven Matz double into a triple by getting the next couple of batters out to escape the jam. For his part, Matz battled through five innings allowing eight hits, two earned, and two walks while striking out eight. 

It wasn’t a good outing for Matz, but he fought through it and limited the damage as much as he could. The problem is he got no help. The Mets didn’t score until Curtis Granderson hit an eighth inning homerun. Before that homer, Granderson was 2-53 as a Met against the Pirates (not an exaggeration). Granderson’s homerun was too little too late what would be a 3-1 loss. 

The nightcap was more of the same with another 3-1 loss.  

Terry Collins trotted out the same lineup as the first game, with the exception of the requisite swap of starting catchers, hoping for a change. Instead he got more of the same. It was made all the worse by the loss coming against a Juan Nicasio whose 4.75 ERA does not appear long for the Pirates rotation, especially with Jameson Taillon‘s much anticipated major league debut tomorrow. 

Overall, Nicasio pitched five innings allowing three hits and one earned with two walks and seven strikeouts over five innings. As if that wasn’t bad enough, he pulled off a successful butcher boy in the fifth setting up the third run of the game. Nicasio pulled the bunt back and singled off the glove of Jacob deGrom. The play moved Chris Stewart to third. He later scored on a John Jaso double. 

Like Matz, deGrom didn’t have his best stuff, but he mostly kept the Pirates at bay. He pitched six innings allowing six hits and three runs with no walks and no strikeouts. Like Matz, the Mets offense abandoned him. The only run scored was on a Kevin Plawecki RBI single scoring Michael Conforto in the fifth. 

There’s just no sugar coating it. The Mets offense was, and has been, putrid. They played 18 innings, and they only collected nine hits while scoring two runs. They went down 1-2-3 in nine of the 18 innings. 

Asdrubal Cabrera was 0-8, and he hasn’t had a hit in last 14 at bats. Yoenis Cespedes was 0-7, and he’s 3-36 in his last 11 games. Michael Conforto was 1-6, and he’s been hitting .160 since the end of April. These are three important bats in the lineup. Even without the Mets injuries, the Mets still need these guys to hit. They’re not, and their struggles are magnified because the Mets need them more than usual. 

Simply put, if they’re not hitting the Mets aren’t winning. They didn’t hit today, and the Mets were swept in both ends of the doubleheader. 

Notes: About the only good thing that happened today was Neil Walker got loud ovations before his first at bat of both ends of the doubleheader. It was a classy move for a classy player. Eric Campbell was the 26th man in the second game of the doubleheader. He didn’t play. 

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The 26th Man Limits Needlessly Limits the Mets

In 2012, Major League Baseball enacted the 26th Man Rule to help teams deal with their pitching issues created by doubleheaders.  The rule states that if a team has a doubleheader they can call-up a player from their 40 man roster to be available to play in both ends of the doubleheader if the doubleheader was scheduled at least 48 hours in advance.  In the event that the doubleheader was not scheduled at least 48 hours in advance, a team can call-up a player from the minor leagues, but that player would only be available in the second game of the doubleheader.

Now, since this is the Mets only trip to Pittsburgh, there were only two possible dates to schedule the doubleheader.  The first was today, June 7th, and the second was Wednesday, June 8th.  Considering the fact that the first game of a doubleheader is going to start at 4:05 P.M. today, it was practically impossible for the teams to schedule this doubleheader 48 hours in advance.  Basically, both the Mets and the Pirates were prevented from having a 26th man on their roster for both ends of the doubleheader because the schedule only has the Mets going to Pittsburgh one time this season.  In essence, Major League Baseball has created a rule that is not in conformity with its schedule.

Accordingly, the Mets are going to have to pitch Steven Matz and Jacob deGrom today and try to figure out what they are going to do over the weekend.  It’s likely that they are going to have to start Logan Verrett this weekend because they are not going to want to start Matz or deGrom on three days rest.  The Mets could avoid this situation by having Verrett start today.  It’s feasible, especially considering that Verrett last pitched on June 1st.  He’s well rested, and if he’s going to have to make a start, why not make it now?  The reason is that because this is a doubleheader, the Mets are going to need each and every single one of their bullpen pieces.

Alternatively, the Mets could call-up a starter from AAA to make the spot start in the second game.  However, this situation isn’t feasible for a number of reasons.  First, the likely starter, Sean Gilmartin,  last pitched on June 3rd meaning he would have to make a start on short rest and after a cross-country flight.  The Mets could go with Gabriel Ynoa in the second game since it is his turn in the rotation.  However, the Mets may not want Ynoa to make his major league debut after a cross country flight, and they may not want to complicate their AAA rotation thereby pushing a young pitcher past the point they realistically should pitch.  Finally, the Mets might not feel Ynoa is ready to pitch in the big leagues yet.

Realistically, the Mets don’t have a viable pitching option.  Accordingly, the Mets are going to go the position player route.  It’s not a bad decision either.  You don’t want Yoenis Cespedes playing both games on a sore hip.  Juan Lagares isn’t available to hit today with a torn ligament in his thumb. As much as the Mets may need another pitcher, they also need another position player.  Accordingly, Eric Campbell is going to be that guy.  Campbell will be available to play first, second, third, left, right, or pinch hit.  Knowing Terry Collins, he just might have Campbell do all of the above in the second game since there is going to be a lefty starting in the second game of the doubleheader.

However, he’s not going to be able to do any of that in the first game as he’s unavailable to be used.  Apparently, Major League Baseball believes you only need a 26th man on the roster when you have time to plan out how you are going to use your roster and not when you are pressed into making quick decisions.  The 26th Man limitations are without merit, and they need to be removed immediately.

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Mets Don’t Have that One Big Trade Piece Like They Did Last Year

Since Michael Fulmer‘s call-up on April 29th, he is an astounding 6-1 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.175 WHIP.  In his last four starts, he is 4-0 with a 0.32 ERA and a 0.635 WHIP.  These are great numbers from any rookie.  It’s all the more incredible when you consider he’s only made three starts in AAA.  The 23 year old is showing everyone why he was considered a potential ace, and why the Tigers wanted him in the first place.

It’s also a reminder that the Mets used their biggest trade chip last year.

While the Mets farm system is still stocked with pitching talent, there aren’t any pitchers with the upside of Fulmer, at least not any that are as close to the major leagues as Fulmer was last year.  Now, the Mets do boast some terrific position player prospects like Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario.  However, neither one of those players are close to ready to being major leaguers.  While these players are highly thought of around baseball, they are certainly not going to fetch a player of Yoenis Cespedes‘ caliber at the trading deadline.  That’s a huge problem for the Mets.

Right now, the Mets are without Lucas Duda, David Wright, and Travis d’Arnaud due to severe injuries.  The Mets don’t know the long-term status of Juan Lagares and the torn ligament in his left thumb.  Hopefully, d’Arnaud, who has started rehab games, can catch with the torn labrum. Realistically, all the Mets can do with each of these players is put a timetable on when they think they could return not fully knowing when these players can return.  As the Mets are waiting to figure this out, they are playing a group of players that are having problems just to reach the Mendoza Line.  The big solution they have so far was to acquire James Loney. Loney has been good so far, but he is still the player who was released by the Tampa Rays and was playing for the San Diego Padres’ AAA affiliate.  In short, the Mets are going to have to go out there on the trade market and obtain some players that can help them at catcher, first, and third.

The Mets have the pieces to make those deals.  However, they may not have the pieces to make that blockbuster deal that everyone wants.  The Mets don’t have the one big trade piece that could solve the issue at one or more positions.  The reason why is the Mets went all-in on the 2015 season.  The result was the Mets making it to the World Series. At the end of the day, the 2016 Mets may be hamstrung by what happened in 2015.

With that said, Sandy Alderson is a very good GM.  He has swung some good trades while he has been the manager of the Mets.  The deals he made with the Braves for Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe as well as the deal he made with the Arizona Diamondbacks for Addison Reed were absolute coups.  Alderson was able to acquire quality major league pieces without giving up much of anything.  The Mets are going to need the same type of performance this trading deadline, especially since he doesn’t have the same assets he had last year to get the job done.  It’s not going to be easy.  It’s going to require some creativity.  However, if anyone can do it, it’s Sandy Alderson.

 

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At Least Matt Harvey Was Good

You’re not going 162-0. It’s simply not going to happen. Even the 108 win 86 Mets lost 54 times. Your only hope is that when the Mets lose they can provide you with something positive. 

Matt Harvey did that. 

Harvey did take the loss, but he lost 1-0 against Jose Fernandez, a great pitcher in his own right. Harvey was good again today. He pitched seven innings allowing only four hits, one earned, and no walks with three strikeouts. He was averaging 96 MPH with his fastball.  Harvey built upon his last start. This is a other sign the Harvey of old is coming back:

Ultimately, no one wants to see the Mets lose. However, this loss is more acceptable than most as Harvey took another step forward. Getting Harvey back to form is more important than the outcome of any game. 

The Mets just had to tip their caps to Fernandez, who was awesome against the overmatched Mets backups:

Fernandez is difficult for any lineup. It’s even worse for a lineup without David Wright (DL – neck), Travis d’Arnaud (DL – shoulder), Yoenis Cespedes (DTD – hip), and yes, even Juan Lagares (DTD – presumed sprained thumb). About the only positive from the game from an offensive standpoint was Michael Conforto and James Loney going 1-3. Both hitters got hits in what has been a good series for both. 

The Mets now travel to Pittsburgh where Neil Walker gets to face his old team. Making the matchup all the more interesting is the fact that old friend Jon Niese takes the mound. 

Game Notes: Harvey recorded his 500th career strikeout in this game. Harvey fell to 1-18 in his career when the Mets give him two runs or less of run support. In those games, he has a 2.53 ERA in such games. 

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All Hands Were on Deck

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:

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. 

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