Of course it had to go this way. Of course. Sometimes, baseball is a completely illogical game. The Mets came into this game starving for runs, hoping Noah Syndergaard could hoist them onto his strong back and eke out a win. There was to be no mere eking tonight, though.
Manager Terry Collins had to juggle his lineup, even hours before the game began, losing Juan Lagares to his chronic sore thumb. Lagares would join Neil Walker and Michael Conforto as unhealthy scratches, but still unworthy of a DL stint. All this makeshift outfit could do was pour out 11 runs on 19 hits, a far cry from their so-called “production” so far in the month of June. To wit: coming into tonight’s game, the Mets hadn’t scored more than two runs in any inning since May 27 vs. the Dodgers. Tonight, they scored three in each of three separate innings. It started right off the bat. Curtis Granderson led off the game with Texas League bingle into left. Asdrubal Cabrera followed with a solid base hit to right center and Yoenis Cespedes walked. Bases loaded, nobody out and you could hear the groaning from Met fans far and wide: after the shenanigans this past weekend, the Mets stood a better than even chance of leaving those runners right where they were. Ah! Not so fast! Wilmer Flores hit a slow dribbler up the first base line that was fielded by Pittsburgh starter Jeff Locke and tossed to first as Granderson scored. The groaning got louder when Kelly Johnson popped up to the catcher, but Matt Reynolds saved the day with a squirmy ground ball just inside the third base bag for a two-run double.
Staked to a 3-0 lead, Syndergaard blew through the Pirate lineup, retiring 17 straight Buccos after John Jaso’s single on the first pitch of the game. By the time he was through, the Mets had hit a couple of homers — courtesy of Messers Johnson and Flores — and plated six other runs on various combinations of singles and doubles. Syndergaard lasted one out into the ninth inning before tiring and giving way to an almost superfluous Jeurys Familia to nail down the win. Syndergaard’s pitching line: 8.333 IP, 5 H, 0 BB, 11 K, 2 R, 1 ER.
Hadn’t had one like this in awhile. I’d forgotten what it was like.
Bartolo Colon tries to take the rubber game of this set tomorrow night.
Syndergaard is a Beast. That is one heavy mix he’s throwing!!!
Well, to say it’s a nice win is obvious.
– Really should have avoided putting Familia in an 11-1 game. Doesn’t anyone get their throwing done in the bullpen any more?
– Lagares, Conforto, Walker are injured players. DL them and: 1. Let them get healthy. 2. Bring up enough players to have a full roster. What’s with this “we’ll see” crap on three players?
– Glad to see Reynolds keep getting clutch hits. No better way to make a fan love you than to be clutch.
– At the beginning of the game, Ron Darling said: “I think it’s time the Mets got off the home run train and start stringing some line drives together and just look to keep the line moving.” Ronnie, I wish I could run over there and hug you!
Familia needed the work, meaning: to face live batters. Hadn’t pitched in five days. It’s crazy to complain about this.
Injuries are tricky, that’s understood. Hopefully the Mets are basing decisions on the professional assessment of doctors — you know, people who actually know what they are talking about. Walker is supposedly close to returning. The Mets were hoping that Lagares could play through this pain (others have done it). On Conforto, I hope they are conservative, but I have no idea the true extent of the injury, so I can’t reasonably complain about something I know nothing about.
Reynolds can’t really hit. Two of his clutch hits on the road were a slow roller between 1B and 2B and a soft liner to SS that was dropped & then butchered by the Brewers defense. Neither was hit even moderately hard. Neither makes him particularly “clutch.” Glad to see him hit that grounder down the line last night. But I’m not seeing much from him at this point.
I don’t think HRs are the problem. And while I’m at it, I think RISP stats are pointless. The problem is that these guys collectively don’t hit for average. Yes, let’s hear it for good old BA, it’s better than BABIP! The current Mets aren’t very good hitters. Meaning: They don’t get a lot of hits. I don’t think it’s because of the wrong approach or too much emphasis on crushing balls over the wall. I think it’s because of the injuries and a corresponding lack of talent in the batter’s box.
Well James, since they don’t have off days coming up until Monday, let’s see how that works out.
Familia was also getting knocked around last week because of consecutive use.
Doctors seem to know as much as the payers tell them to know. If you are interested in seeing how a model franchise handles fatigue and injury, check some of the articles posted here in the past and how the Pirates handle injuries. Then, compare their injury time lost to the Mets.
Too, I believe Reynolds first hit was an RBI single with two outs; and his “hit” against the Brewers was a force out at second.
Lastly, before the game Kevin Long had a meeting with his players imploring them to use the whole field. And, Ron Darling harped on it in the warmup to the game, check your archive. But, what do they know?