It was quite a night.
The Mets found out tonight that 7 HR > 4 E’s and a closer who blows a save in his third straight game, as they powered out a 15-11 win in 11 innings over the Reds in Cincinnati Monday night.
Back-to-back homers by Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil staked the Mets to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. By the bottom of the second, they trailed 7-3 thanks for four errors which led to five unearned runs.
But the Mets chipped away, scoring three runs in the fourth inning, two coming on a homer by Michael Conforto. Then they tied the game in the fifth on a long ball by Dominic Smith.
The Reds went back ahead in the seventh inning, as Seth Lugo allowed an inherited runner to score. But the Mets took the lead in the eighth on a pinch-hit two run homer by James McCann. Lugo went out for the bottom of the eighth and fell behind 3-0 to leadoff hitter Joey Votto. He then threw what appeared obvious to everyone but the home plate ump ball four. Instead, the Mets got a gift strike call. Seemingly energized by the call, Lugo proceeded to strike out the side.
Edwin Diaz entered the ninth inning with a one-run lead and was attempting to break a personal two-save losing streak. But he was done in by his own bobble on a comebacker that could have been a game-ending double play but instead put a runner on second base.
Then a managerial blunder contributed to Diaz’ demise. With a base open, a red-hot hitter at the plate and a reserve infielder on deck, interim manager Dave Jauss – taking the reins due to Luis Rojas’ two-game suspension for arguing – opted to pitch to All-Star Jesse Winker, who already had two hits in the game. Winker tied the game with an RBI double.
The Mets scored a run in their half of the 10th but the Reds did the same in the bottom of the inning.
In the 11th, the Reds returned the favor with a similar managerial blunder. The Mets had runners on the corners with one out and McNeil coming to bat, with the pitcher on deck. The Mets were playing with a short bench and had already used all of their position players, so a pitcher was going to bat. But the Reds pitched to McNeil and he delivered an RBI single.
Just promoted Anthony Banda, who pitched the bottom of the 10th, took his turn at bat and hit a bullet down the third base line. Unfortunately, it was right at the 3B, who threw home to get the lead runner. But it turned out not to matter, as Kevin Pillar hit a 3-run homer to put the Mets up by four. Conforto followed with his second homer of the night to give the Mets their final run.
The Reds rallied in the 11th, forcing Jauss to go to Trevor May for the final two outs. May, pitching in his third straight game, recorded his second-consecutive save, finally ending a game that went 4:45 total.
This game surely showed the power we had expected from day 1 that has been lacking. The early errors looked more like a replay of the Bad News Bears and was even more absurd at the sure handed players making them. Nice to see Conforto gaining his stroke and while it was a mistake to pitch to Winkler, even if it meant putting the go ahead run aboard, Jauss certainly hit the right buttons getting two critical HRs off the bench. That and his post game interview was as entertaining as any I have seen in ages. He was funny, personable, explained he had lots of managerial experience, even though I was not familiar with him at all, and he smartly played the Mets party line in talking about the closeness of this team from the owner down to the trainers to I’m sure the batboys/girls. While Eickoff was done in by his fielders and we had little confidence in him, if someone had told us before the game that he would give us almost 4 innings and only be down a run, we would have been thrilled. Of course we wouldn’t have thought it would be 7-6. Can’t wait for tonight.
Gut Reaction: it is a fun win because they won. I wouldn’t have pitched to Winkler but I wouldn’t have pinched hit for Nido with McCann either. The bullpen is over worked. They have to trade for a reliable starter that can give them innings, and soon. Why can’t Walker start today? I know that it would be an unorthodox move but maybe it would be a solution.
Clearly they need a starter, and they should trade yesterday for someone to plug the hole. Berrios, Jon Gray, German Marquez, or Cole Hamels (not ready to pitch this week)… go out and get someone and move forward.
I like the feeling around Jauss…. I’m already tried of Rojas and his “cool demeanor”… until he loses it while being dead wrong… a clownish move.
I think Rojas is a good guy, I just don’t think he has the in-game confidence to pull switches, use his gut, and win close games. Especially weak with regard to the bullpen.
You have been on and on abt Rojas all season and his inability to win close games, not the right man for the job etc. Yet the mets are 19-15 in 1 run games. Know how many teams have that many close victories? Only thr Mariners at 20.
The man got thrust into the job a week before spring training last year then had to mamage his rookie year during Covid. He s had half his roster on the injured list including at one pt jjst abt ebery single significant contributor. He benched McCann in favor of Nido when McCann sucked and Nido was hitting. Then McCann got hot and he put him at 1b while Alonsonwas out and the guy played great. When Nido cooled McCann was back at catcher.
The Mets have been in first place for nearly 3 months and if the manager doesnt get some credit for that I dont know what to tell you. At this pt Rojas is a finalist for Manager of the year and I hope Sandy extends him.
I agree with BoomBoom. There’s been a lot of criticism about Rojas every time the Mets lose. A lot is about bullpen management, and I think some of that has been justified at times, but we also have to realize that we are second guessing with the benefit of hindsight, and also not being privy to all of the information that Rojas has about how guys are feeling each day. There’s also been comments about how he doesn’t know how to win games, doesn’t create offense (not sure what that means – bunting I guess?), etc.
We are quick to give credit to the bench mob for stepping up, and it’s well deserved, but it seems logical to me that the manager should also get some credit for the fact that guys are coming out to play every day and not quitting on him. I think Rojas has improved from last year and I hope that continues.
“manager should also get some credit for the fact that guys are coming out to play every day and not quitting on him”
I cringe every time i hear someone try to use this “reason” as a support for a manager.
First of all what does a team quitting even look like? Walking off the field? There may be times where player gives up on an at bat but it’s impossible to see 25 guys all “give up” And playing poorly isn’t the same as giving up.
Secondly, these players are getting millions to play the game so there are massive personal financial incentives to play well.
And finally this team is still even in contention so why would the thought have quitting even come across any player’s mind?
Last night Jauss was the one at the helm, not Rojas, and the Mets did not “give up” so the idea that without a certain manager the team will “give up”” is ludicrous. It’s like saying a smart kid who does his HW with teacher A will suddenly stop doing his HW if teacher A is fired and replaced with teacher B
What a team quitting looks like is guys not putting out 100% effort that you can see on the field. Players with multi-million dollar guaranteed contracts don’t always have a personal financial incentive to play well (think Cano when he’s not suspended for drugs). The point is that there is more to managing a big league team than just making pitching changes which is what Rojas seems to get killed for here each time they lose. I have no idea whether the players like playing for Rojas or not, and often we won’t know that until after he’s let go and people are more willing to talk, but the team’s results are good, especially considering the injuries they’ve dealt with. Based on that, I don’t see any reason to have a major issue with Rojas as a manager. I don’t always agree with the bullpen decisions, but I don’t see how that’s cost them a lot of games. If you think that they would be X number of games better with a different manager, that’s fine, but what are the reasons and how do you quantify them?
You asked about how to quantifying bullpen moves yet you do not have the same expectations for player effort and quitting.
How do you know that they won’t play “harder” under Jauss versus Rojas? Maybe they are only giving 75% effort right now and that with a different manager they would play at 90% effort.
You say it’s impossible to quantify bullpen moves and i say it’s impossible to quantify quitting. But It’s much easier to analyze bullpen moves though than it is to analyze team effort, and hence why most of the manager’s judgement is through bullpen moves.
I agree 100% – it’s impossible to quantify any of it, which is why I don’t kill Rojas every time they lose because a move didn’t work out. Most decisions are not black and white. For example, I would not have hit McCann for Nido last night, but it worked out. Does that mean that it’s the right move? Not necessarily but it certainly worked out. Just because it worked or not doesn’t determine whether it’s the right call or not. Same with bullpen moves. Some work, some don’t. There are too many folks that will kill Rojas (or any other manager) every time a move doesn’t work out, only because the result wasn’t there. They act, with the benefit of hindsight, as if it was an obvious move to do something different, when often it can be a tough call to make.
The nice thing about this site is that there is a lot more intelligent discussion here than most other blogs.
There are no metrics for managers and hence the wild range of opinions. Some think he should manager of the year, i think he’s almost as bad as Callaway was and should be fired about 3 months ago.
Even when they are metrics people can come to wildly different conclusions. For instance, even though Nido has produced this year i still think he’s a sucky player and i would release him because i think it was a fluke while someone could think he’s turned a corner and this is the new normal.
Watching pieces of the game last night, I got the feeling that I may be able to hit one out of that ballpark in Cincy. I hope if nothing else this builds come confidence for the hitters…facing mediocre to bad pitching in a launching pad does wonders.
Costs aside, I value a closer above starter and bat. Diaz is just too unreliable and I don’t see him every developing the consistency to be dependable in NY. He has the stuff but not the command. I’ll pay for Kimbrel and even see if I could sway out Diaz to offset some of the prospect cost of acquiring Kimbrel.
Let’s see if Stock can avoid the need to pitch J D Davis tonight.
We can say what we want about Rojas and his tirade, but the bottom line is that his team came back from a 6-0 deficit to win the game late, and his pen put up 8 2/3 scoreless after the incident. Whether he impacted it or not, who knows, but he has to get credit. Those old school meltdowns have little to do with right or wrong, and more to do with how the team reacts, which I’m certain Luis knows.
Last year I was pretty down on Rojas. This year I feel he’s avoided some of the obvious bonehead things he did last year. I’m fine with whatever direction Alderson wants to go with the manager.
With that out of the way – I cannot disagree more with this statement: ” Whether he impacted it or not, who knows, but he has to get credit.” This “credit” you’re assigning reeks of a participation trophy.
” Whether he impacted it or not, who knows, but he has to get credit.”
Correlation does not imply causation.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Correlation_does_not_imply_causation
Guys,
I am not saying that correlation implies causation. Frankly, I doubt highly that Rojas’s meltdown had anything at all to do at all with the outcome of the game, and even if it motivated the hell out of everyone it all came down to Conforto squaring up a mid 90s fastball.
What I am saying is different. He went off, and his team won, he gets credit…and avoids blame. That’s the bottom line in this business. I’m not giving him the game ball or any other trophy.
Ned Yost was the manager of world series championship, and as such he gets credit. Even if they won in spite of him.
At the end of the day, I found it to be good theater and quite entertaining. More so because they won.