“I’d like to thank everyone who made this day necessary.” — Yogi Berra
This day was extremely necessary. A win tonight guarantees — at worst — a split in Los Angeles, which is exactly what the Mets want.
The Mets took the crucial first game of the 2015 National League Division Series with a tried and true formula: outstanding pitching and ultra-clutch hitting. They rode Jacob deGrom’s beautiful right arm for seven innings. When Tyler Clippard faltered in the eighth, Jeurys Familia rode tot he rescue once again. deGrom was nothing short of stellar: seven innings, five hits, one walk — and that one was intentional — thirteen strikeouts, no runs.
Meanwhile, some guy named something-something Kershaw matched the Hirsute Hurler almost pitch-for-pitch. Almost. Daniel Murphy cracked a long solo shot into the Mets’ bullpen leading off the fourth, and that was it for most of the game. Kerswhaw tired and got wild in the seventh, loading the bases on three walks. Captain David Wright delivered the “ultra-clutch-ness” with a base hit over second baseman Howie Kendrick’s head for two insurance runs. Clippard fomented a brief uprising in the eighth, but Familia came on for the four-out save and quelled any hint of a threat.
Winning this first game, beating Kershaw — widely hailed as the best pitcher on the planet — is one of the keys to the Mets making a long run in these playoffs. The fact that deGrom was a bit better on this night is startling and gratifying.
It’s Noah Syndergaard vs. Zack Grienke — the second best pitcher on the planet — tomorrow. Let’s hope he can back up deGrom nicely.
A few thoughts:
– Kershaw was their best pitcher and would have stayed in even with 113 pitches if not for his previous playoff failures by being kept in too long.
– Postgame comments from Mattingly make me think that the Dodgers aren’t taking the Mets seriously. He was speaking without passion. All the Mets interviewed – Murphy, Wright, Collins, DeGrom – had a passionate voice. Maybe I’m seeing it wrong, but I like to see fire and passion. Wonder how much the Dodgers actually have…
It’s all about the pitching. Great night for Jake who rather anonymously is really in the peer class of Gooden and Seaver. Incredible.
And to Murph and Wright…well done.
I thought TC made an excellent decision to let JDG pitch the 7th inning. The easiest thing to do would have been to pinch-hit for him in the top of the inning and then go Reed-Clippard-Familia the rest of the way. No one in the mainstream media would have questioned it because his pitch count was right around 100 and using those three pitchers in that order was pretty much the team’s M.O. the last six weeks.
But deGrom’s best innings were the fifth and the sixth. Taking him out would have been a moral victory for the Dodgers. Instead, he stays in, retires the side in order and gets two more strikeouts.
No one will confuse this Dodgers team with the ’27 Yankees but deGrom went on the road against a team that won 92 games and retired the last 11 batters he faced. It was a great outing.
While I’m glad it worked out obviously, bunting two guys into scoring position with two outs doesn’t even give you a chance at a sacrifice fly. If that very close outside pitch to Granderson was called a strike or Wright’s liner is caught, that tying run in the eighth off Clippard leads into extra innings where it could be a different result. If deGrom were bunting with no outs, then personally, I could see your point better. Not looking to knock Collins, but just replying to your post.
Gus, it worked. Mad worked perfectly. We don’t sac fly well and then there’s tons of pressure. I thought it was an excellent move and nearly a hit to boot. Besides a fly out is a fly out and the runners were not in a position to be sacrificed. The options at scoring are greatly improved. The pressure to deliver from the mound is much greater.
Agreed, about leaving deGrom in for the 7th inning. Doing so increased the likelihood of cashing in a lead, converting it into a win; and with Stephen Matz available it was a departure from conventional strategy to utilize the Mets’ greatest strength, starting pitching.
Good point. Agreed. I definitely wanted him to stay in the game. At that point, I’m counting outs — and how many I’m asking for from the bullpen. 6 was a much better number than 9.
Clippard is a concern moving forward. That was a good pull, too.
Great win guys.My dad passed away last Thursday so I don’t think I will be checking in to the chatter any time soon.LGM!
That stinks, Steevy. On behalf of everyone at Mets360, we’re sorry for your loss and we hope for the best for you and your family.
Our deepest condolences Steevy. We wish you family strength and peace to your dad.
Thanks.I’ll be back in top form criticising TC and insulting opposing players by the WS. 🙂
I hope Clippard can get his stuff together, he is a huge piece of that bullpen. At this point, I would use Reed over Clippard in high pressure situations.
Clippard looked very hittable. Collins needs to face reality and use Reed in these situations. This is the post-season!
Let’s go Mets! Still checking in for the articles on a day to day basis. Wish I was more active in the Chatter.
Bring on Greinke!
I thought deGrom batting in the 7th was absolutely the right move (but I wanted him to swing away). Clippard had a rough outing but TC made the right move by bringng in Familia for four outs. If Mattingly brought in Jansen for Kershaw would we be celebrating?
I thought TC put together a good lineup. Murphy, Duda and Granderson all had hits. In the seventh Duda, Tejada and Granderson all took walks. The plan was to not swing at pitches out of the strike zone and build up the pitch count. That strategy works in all innings, not just the early innings. Flores is a free swinger so Tejada over Flores was the right choice by TC. Cuddyer was the only failure in TC’s lineup but what manager bats 1.000?
The IBB to Pederson was managing scared.
The double switch with Johnson worked well as Murphy made some good plays at 1B.
I am still smiling that my favorite Met got the clutch hit.
TBS was awful.Poor strike zone graphic and pitch count. I never knew if they shifted on Granderson with runners on second and third in the 7th before two strikes. If they showed it then it was quick . SNY is so much better.
Insert Conforto tonight in left and tweak the alternating lefty/righty batting order and end up with another victory. LGM
And the pitch count-pitch info box flashed up so quickly and it had so much info that in the half second it was up it was impossible to see anything. At least we had Ronnie who could share a lot of good mets info. But we are indeed spoiled by SNY coverage.
Yeah, maybe insert Conforto for his defense, hey? This game could very easily have turned on Cuddyer’s misplays.
Cuddyer is the other issue. He looked particularly immobile out there. He doesn’t bring enough offense to offset that kind of defense, which really hurt in terms of pitch could (at best), but on other days it could cost the Mets a game.
Game 3, TC has to really consider Lagares in CF vs. lefty.
Not easy, and I am sympathetic to Cuddyer and Collins on this one. As I noted a couple of months ago, I do criticize the handling of Conforto during the season, leaving him at this point wholly unprepared to face LHP in a big situation. He should have gotten some starts during the season, just in case Cuddyer can’t go.
And right now, it looks like he’s very close that point.
Regarding Comforto batting against lefty’s during the season: I would have done it, but I’m not prepared to land on Collins for not doing it. There was a title to be won, after all.
And, not to claim that this is a consistent point but, if I felt that Conforto was a better option against a lefthander NOW, I sure wouldn’t dissuade myself from plugging him in just because he didn’t face much lefthanded pitching over his two months in the majors. He has faced lefty’s in the minor leagues, in college, etc. We’re not talking about Wally Backman here; he can hit lefthanders fairly well.
Whether Conforto is the best option in that situation is another matter. Watching Cuddyer last night was a powerful argument that he might be; but to his credit (usually), Collins operates with a longer fuse than I do.
Agree with most of your points, but I would use Lagares in CF and Cespedes in LF vs. LHP.