The Mets fell behind early, staged a ninth inning comeback but fell on the short side of a 5-3 game Thursday night in San Diego in the opener of an 11-game road trip.
- Jacob deGrom had neither his best velocity nor command. Much like in the World Series, he was unable to put away batters once he got to two strikes. He seemed less than pleased in the dugout when Terry Collins pinch hit for him in the top of the sixth inning but he hadn’t really pitched well enough to take that position.
- Colin Rea gave the Mets fits with his big curve and a fastball that reached 93 at times. Thanks to the shift, and a nice sliding catch by CF John Jay, he took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Yoenis Cespedes delivered a two-out single.
- Trailing 5-0, the Mets rallied for three runs in the 9th inning. Curtis Granderson, who was the victim of Jay’s fine catch earlier, made sure no one could rob him as he blasted a homer to center leading off the ninth, which chased Rea.
- David Wright drew his second walk of the game and one out later, Cespedes cracked a two-run blast. But the Mets could get no further, as Lucas Duda and Neil Walker both lined out to end the game.
Cespedes had to explain his one hit to the opposite field as if he “cheated” by hitting the ball where they ain’t. I call that good hitting.
Rea was dominant but the shift did save him some hits.
I would love to see Granderson start every game with a bunt basehit against the shift.
Conforto needs the day off against the lefty and Walker could use a rest just because they are playing 17 straight days.
The Mets killed two ninth inning rallies by hitting two home runs and scoring three runs.
I don’t know if you actually watched the 9th, but the Mets didn’t kill their rallies by hitting the HRs. In fact, it was probably more of a sparkplug than a buzzkill.
What was slightly flawed was their approach in the 9th, in that everyone wanted to hit a HR, but only half of them did.
Granny got to 2-0. He hit a HR.
Wright got to 2-0. He ended up walking. This is where the problem begins.
Conforto gets to 2-0. He hits a shot to left center but ends up being caught.
Cespedes gets to 2-0. He hits a HR.
Duda first pitch swinging hits it hard but it’s caught.
Walker gets to 2-0. He also lines out.
The Mets needed baserunners in the 9th. 5 of the 6 players got to 2-0, but “only” 2 get their desired result of a HR and 1 walks. This is probably a bit harsh, because 5 runs is a monumental task to come from, but after Wright gets on with the walk there was an inkling of hope that the Mets could have come back, and they just needed baserunners. Conforto and Cespedes both swung big, and one did achieve, but in the big picture the Mets needed both to reach base to have a chance, and it might have been more helpful if they tried to draw the walks instead like Wright.
So it is much easier to get a hit that an HR, but the top 5 spots in the line up do nothing except swing for the fences. The odds of hitting a HR are bad enough, and expect to hit four of them is ridiculous. If this is the totality of the offensive approach, when this team faces good pitching, it could be quite rough.
Very good pitching is rough on all teams. Every single one.
The lack of speed hurts this team, as they couldn’t take advantage of a Thor-like weakness.
But that has zero to do with “approach.” They are who they are. Unless you want to change the roster, you’ve got to accept that this is the team.
Of corse I have to accept it as I am powerless to change it. I do not like it however.