The Mets overcame a 6-3 deficit – courtesy of a Fernando Salas gopher ball – and a rain delay to squeak out a 7-6 win over the Phillies at Citi Field. This marks seven wins in the last eight games for the surging Mets.
Powered by home runs by Lucas Duda, Asdrubal Cabrera, and T.J. Rivera, the Mets needed every run in support of a not so great day by their pitching staff. Zack Wheeler, fresh off the D.L. threw three scoreless frames before giving up two runs and getting pulled in the fourth inning. He lasted just 81 pitches, but there have been no reports of injury…yet. Erik Goeddel finished the inning and went one more, allowing an earned run of his own before giving way to Salas who coughed up the lead and then some on a three-run home run to Tommy Joseph. Things didn’t look good for the Mets as the storm clouds rolled in.
Down 6-3 in the bottom of the seventh, the Mets refused to lose and the bats came to life for a four-run rally. Rivera hit a solo shot, followed by an RBI single from Wilmer Flores and a two-run home run by Cabrera. Following a rain delay, the Mets bullpen took over and a combination of Paul Sewald and Addison Reed shut it down in the last two innings. Salas, in an odd blip of the scoring rules, gets credited with the win (his ERA now stands at 6.31) while Reed notched his 14th save. The Mets won this game despite Salas, Wheeler’s short start and three fielding errors. A win is a win and the Mets are alive for the moment.
Tomorrow they go for the home sweep with a match up of two guys who are each 1-4 with ERAs well over five – Rafael Montero and Nick Pivetta. Pivetta, a 24-year-old rookie righty from Canada throws hard but is still trying to figure out how to get out Major League hitters. Let’s wish him well but hope he doesn’t figure it out just yet. Let’s go Mets!
Before the season, there were strong mentions of having Wheeler do the “Smoltz rehab”, meaning he would pitch out of the bullpen at least a season and build up his strength. The Mets should revisit that as he lacks stamina and control to pitch deep into games.
Also:
– Following his two out RBI double, how does Jose Reyes get picked off trying to steal third?
– Yoenis Cespedes looks out of shape, and just plodding out there. Can Nimmo get on the field?
– Asdrubal Cabrera looks just fine at second base. Showcase Walker and get something for that $17.2MM.
– Sewald gets alot of K’s for a guy that has a high batting average against and doesn’t throw hard. That slider is awesome.
– Let’s at least feast on the second division clubs and see if we can get healthy enough to put up a fight against the big boys. In this analysts view, the Mets are still considered “Sell”.
From a live perspective, there’s something just off about Yoenis. Maybe he’s still gimpy?
Too soon to say whether Mets are buyers or sellers, still bringing in the data. They will tell us soon enough.
At this point, we know for damn sure we’re better than the Phillies.
BTW, when did you get promoted from “fan” to “analyst”? Is that something that automatically kicks in after X-many comments?
James, MLBTR yesterday said the Mets are “open for business”. They list Bruce, Duda, Granderson, Cabrera and Reed as potential pieces to move. The Mets could use this as a soft sell or even a retooling, but it needn’t be a total tearing down. With Alderson declaring the possibility of Walker, Familia and Harvey all coming back soon, there are moves this team can make.
Alderson doesn’t seem to make long term decisions in the bullpen and there are enough options to let Reed leave for a prospect and maybe re-sign him later, if need be.
You can’t bench Yo for Nimmo unless he is hurt. One could argue all we see is hurt from him, but if he can be out there, then there is 27.5M reasons he needs to be in there. Nimmo is far enough down the depth chart right now that it would take something like the day after a lon night game.
The Mets came back twice in this game. Bruce seems to find a way to get the RBI and Duda with the first go ahead shot. TJ Rivera is continuing to impress as a bench player. Cabrera has been great since healing and coming off the DL. The Mets have enough depth to utilize the 10 day DL to their advantage but seem reluctant to do so and play short instead. Nimmo is also filling in a niche and drawing positive attention to the way he plays the game.
There is nothing wrong with the Mets offense as they were the reason they won the game. Wheeler at least looked healthy but is not the pitcher he was from pre June 7th. TC made a very good move taking him out before he imploded. Reed is 14/16 in saves. Instead of trading him they should extend him. He is a reliable relief pitcher. If the Mets add another “Reed like” pitcher in the winter it will go along way to solving their bullpen problems. A sweep is needed but even the Phillies win 1 of 3 games they play. Let’s Go Mets!
The danger of beating extremely bad teams is in full view. Yes of course you are supposed to beat them, but don’t forget what the Dodgers and Nats etc, you know, those playoff teams, did to us. Is there some magical way of stars colliding that the Mets make the post season? I guess the answer is yes, but the probability is so small that to ignore being better postured for the future would be folly.
The Mets should be sellers to take any advantage of returns they might get. Any FAs we want could be re-signed.