Ageless Bartolo Colon didn’t bring his A game and the Mets were down 3-0 when he departed after 5 innings. But Yoenis Cespedes saved the day, limping off the bench where he was nursing a sore knee to launch a game tying pinch hit 3-run homer in the 7th inning. Cespedes wasted no time, attacking the first pitch he saw from the previously sharp lefty Brandon Finnegan. David Wright‘s clutch 2-out, 2-strike RBI single later in the inning gave the Mets the lead and got Citi Field rocking on this damp April night.
Logan Verrett (how about “Pleasant Surprise” as his nickname?), Addison Reed, and Jeurys Familia held the Reds scoreless for the last four innings to lock down the 4-3 win. Michael Conforto and Curtis Granderson contributed two hits apiece, Neil Walker turned a highlight reel worthy double play and Kevin Plawecki filled in admirably behind the plate for the once-again-injured Travis d’Arnaud. The one low point in this terrific game was Wilmer Flores who continues to struggle at the plate and tonight, in the field at first base.
The Mets won in improbable fashion, bringing their win streak to five games and making their record now a more impressive sounding 12-7. The Mets go for a home sweep of the Reds tomorrow night with Matt Harvey on the mound.
I thought Collins had a good night.
He pulled Colon at the right time, got multiple innings from Verrett but didn’t try to go too long with him on a night he didn’t have his best stuff and he got Cespedes an AB with the platoon advantage against a guy who was gassed.
Mets now 4-4 in one-run games.
Collins looked like a genius tonight.
I prefer Vulture Verrett as his nickname, after all, two wins in two nights!
Verrett did a nice job of eating up innings like a long man should. The previous night he was used as a short man. It reminded me for the way Carlos Torres was used by TC. Verrett is a valuable piece as a spot starter and long man. I hope he is up to the task of this type of usage.
A hot Duda sat vs a LHP even though he had a .350 Avg, 2 HR and 5 RBI’s in the last seven games and the other Met power hitter was sitting on the bench with an injury. Flores was given the opportunity but he he is still in a hitting funk and played an inexperienced and shakey first base. Flores has to begin hitting LHP to be useful. The Mets can’t send him down to get some at bats because he is out of options and surely would be gobbled up if placed on waivers. Flores needs to do it on the major league level and adjust to his sporadic playing time. I am rooting for him to do it as he can be a valuable piece for this team.
Reed and Familia are solid back end pitchers. Familia has pitched in 11 of 19 games so I hope TC sits him today. even with the off day tomorrow.
Cespedes should also sit to give him the extra day off.
Let’s get the sweep!
Familia on pace to appear in 94 games. Obviously it’s early but I couldn’t agree more about the rest.
There are enough options to get through 7, 8, 9 to give Familia an off day.
It looks to me like Flores (likely with the help of Kevin Long) has altered his swing and bat position a bit. He looks lost at the plate right now even though his fundamentals may be better. Hopefully he’ll put it together and become productive.
Meanwhile after they showed a brief interview clip with Plawecki he slammed a ball to right center that Billy Hamilton made a great catch on. Then in his next AB he laced a solid single to right center. If he could start providing offense then d’Arnaud won’t be missed much during his rotator cuff absence.
Sometimes Collins’ in-game decision making leaves us all shaking our heads. But sometimes, he seems to have a crystal ball. Last night was one of those nights.
I have a few hopes right now. 1) Plawecki can stop up. 2) Flores can figure it out. 3) Harvey gets back on track tonight.