What was supposed to be a double header got relinquished to a five-hour-delayed single game following non-stop rain. Zack Wheeler and the Mets didn’t seem to let it phase them though as they blew out the Marlins 13-0.
Wheeler pitched one of the best games of his career, tossing eight scoreless innings Other than a rocky seventh inning that followed a high scoring Mets turn, Wheeler was dominant all night. Wheeler blew threw the first six innings in very efficient fashion and then got into a jam in the seventh. The Marlins threatened with three singles (and a Tomas Nido dropped popped up didn’t help) but Wheeler induced a double play to end the inning and strand the bases loaded. That inning padded what had been a ridiculously low pitch count, but Wheeler still finished with just 89 pitches on the night. Given that the Marlins had three nobodies slated to bat in the ninth, he would have had a great shot at a complete game shutout. But, such things aren’t valued anymore in the modern era and so Manager Mickey Callaway opted to bring in Paul Sewald to close it out with a mop-up inning.
Interesting to note, Sewald seems to have dropped his arm slot a notch and seems to be coming completely side arm now instead of 3/4. It seemed to help him keep the ball low, so perhaps there will be a second life to this kid.
On the offensive side of the ball, the Mets remembered that Jacob deGrom wasn’t pitching and beat up on Trevor Richards, and then reliever Ben Meyer too. The Mets jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning courtesy of a Jose Reyes RBI double, a fielding error, and then a Jeff McNeil triple. Then in the fourth, Amed Rosario blasted a three-run home run to put the lead at 6-0, but the Mets weren’t done. In the sixth inning they blew it wide open with an RBI single by McNeil, then a grand slam by Jay Bruce and a two-run home run by Dominic Smith.
It was a rare blowout win for the Mets. Too bad there were only a few hundred or so fans left in the stands following a five-hour rain delay to see it. The series concludes at 3:10 pm today with a double header featuring Steven Matz and Jason Vargas vs. Sandy Alcantara and Jeff Brigham. The two Marlins starters have just three career starts between them, though watch Alcantara – he’s going to be a star.
Several bits of Mets news were announced during the lengthy rain delay…Jay Horwitz, the Mets VP of Media Relations, was honored with a ceremony as it was announced that he will transition into a new role as VP of Alumni Public Relations and Team Historian…Peter Alonso was named the Sterling Minor League Player of the Year…Beginning next year the Mets radio broadcasts will move up the dial from WOR 710 AM to WCBS 880 AM…Finally, an organizational announcement will be coming today regarding the plans for David Wright.
I am beside myself with smiles to be leaving 770 WOR behind.
CBS owns WFAN too, and they offered them this deal when they were moving the Yankees to The Fan.
do i pick up 880 in Philly suburbs???….we’ll see
The Wright Announcement:
The identification (last week) of Jeff Wilpon as the person/point man that Wright will deal with is a present reality….and it’s scary to think that He’s the “GM” going forward.
Either way, this is pure melancholy…. David Wright is obviously incapable of playing baseball, whether his kids want to see him play or not!
Wright is in a very distorted place…he’s beloved as the face of the Mets…as a Great Ballplayer….. he will not be as well regarded as a Guy Hanging on and Holding this team back.
He and the Mets will face several choices…sadly, all financial—- how to keep the insurance and David’s money flowing. At the point He retires based on this injury, does insurance still cover him??? Does his contract still cover him?
He has another 40-50 years as “The Face of The Mets” ahead of him. That has value for Him and for The Franchise.
Let’s see them get this Right, somehow!!!!!!
Editor’s Note – This comment removed for not being on topic.