Well, that was a disappointing day all around. Before the game we learned Steven Matz would miss his scheduled start on Thursday due to a sore back because he…slept wrong. Hey, I sleep wrong all the time, but I’m not a highly trained athlete. I’m wondering if this is helicopter-parenting from management, or if this kid is just kind of fragile. Don’t get me wrong, I love him. He reminds me of Joe DiMaggio. I just hope he can be as dynamic in the postseason has he’s been in the regular season.
But onto the game. We scored five in the first via a Daniel Murphy three-run homer, followed by a Michael “I’d like a picture please” Conforto two-run shot. It’s in the bag, right? Sadly, Logan Verrett walked four to his five strikeouts, and allowed three runs to score in 4.1 innings. Erik Goeddel and Jon Niese salvaged the fifth, but in the sixth Hansel Robles and Bobby Parnell gave up three runs combined and recorded just one out. Not clutch pitching, guys, and a poor showing for postseason consideration.
And Yoenis Cespedes got hit in the hand by an errant pitch! Mets Nation collectively held it’s breath. Thankfully it appears to be “a bruise of the left middle and ring fingers” Anthony DiComo reported for MLB.com. Still, time will be missed, and we’ll have to wait until Thursday to see what the plan is. The Mets without a productive Cespedes are a very different looking team.
Dreariest game ever.
The expanded rosters have to go. It’s way too much.
That was the worst baseball game Ive ever seen. I couldnt even make it to the end despite desperate measures. That was unacceptable in Little League.
I had the luxury of going to this game and i can attest to the dreariness and sloppiness. I didn’t keep track of the all the bullpen changes, but counting the logs a total of 17 pitchers were used, including a stretch for the Mets where they had to use 8 pitchers to get 7 outs (is that a record?)
Gary aptly compared it to the 2008 Mets, when Jerry Manuel was making changes on a batter to batter basis, to the matchup his way through the game. It’s a strategy that almost never works.
When these managers impose too much of themselves into proceedings, it’s usually a recipe for failure. Goeddel going in, getting an out, and then getting yanked for Niese was particularly galling. Exactly the kind of misuse of Niese that is consistent with the great flaw in this organization’s thinking, thinking every LHP is automatically a LOOGY and trying to force a guy into a role he’s not suited for.