Jeurys Familia served up a two-run homer in the 10th inning, sending the Mets to a 6-5 loss in the opening game of their series with the Dodgers Friday night at Citi Field.
The whole game was a roller coaster ride. Unfortunately, it left the Mets having to use Familia for the third straight game and the results were predictably bad. Was Aaron Loup not available? Regardless, it was the third time this month that Familia has allowed a run and that’s not even counting times he let inherited runners score. He just doesn’t belong in a close game in the late innings and the sooner the Mets realize that, the better.
The Dodgers hit three sacrifice flies en route to a 4-0 lead. But the Mets tied the game in the seventh inning, with Dominic Smith contributing an RBI single and Jeff McNeil driving in two runs with a bloop hit. The final run scored as Pete Alonso dashed home on a passed ball.
The Mets were set up to win the game in the ninth inning with their best hitters up. But Dominic Smith’s hard-hit grounder turned into an out thanks to a nice play by the shortstop and Brandon Nimmo’s shot down the left field line was turned into an out on a fine running play. Alonso struck out to send the game to extra innings.
The Mets got a run back in their half of the 10th but were mostly shut down by Kenley Jansen, a guy they’ve never had any success against. Coming into tonight, the Mets had scored just 3 R in 28.1 IP against Jansen. He finished with an unearned run in 2 IP. Hopefully neither Jansen nor Familia will be available tomorrow.
What a comeback only to be dashed by Familia. Shows how much he needs to go. Assume he will be a throw in with any offseason trade. The old adage of good pitching beats good hitting is still true. Kudos for Diaz to get us to the bottom of the ninth still tied. We all know that non- save situations is his Kryptonite. Hard to believe with Smith’s average against lefties that he was not out in LF to start the game. Where the hell are the analytics that are supposed to be used? I think he and McNeil need to be staples in the lineup. Conforto has just not earned that right this season, probably his last with us. All he had to do was hit his .270 with 30 HRs and he would have become a very rich man. Now that Jake might be done for the season, can we hold onto until Lindor and Baez come back? Can we get Thor pitching relief before the end of the month so he is playoff eligible (ya gotta believe) and? This game was there for the taking and now we face Buhler and Scherzer, never an easy task. At least the five runs was a bonus. We have a great home record and need to improve on that starting today. As far as talk about picking up the recently released Arietta who has been awful since the end of April, the question is would he be effective for an inning or two in relief? Keep the faith. We are right in it in this sub par division. Has ‘73 written all over it.
The most ridiculous thing was McCann overthrowing a ball back to the pitcher, which lead to a run!
Rojas looking at L-R matchups, so he brought in Familia! Loup the better choice, but Luis was probably worried he’d be criticized for bringing in a lefty to face right-handed batters.
Sigh…..
Mets sloppy play. The pen is gassed and the starters average 5. Despite this they had a the winning run at the plate for a walk off. This is supposed to be entertaining. Oh to be a Met fan.
Rojas explained that Smith needed a day off and, facing righties the next two games, decided to sit him against Urias. Can’t argue with that. Dom still had huge chances in this game… hitting the ball pretty hard pretty consistently… right at shifted Seager… tough luck. Mets scored four runs with no balls (except Conforto’s double) being hit hard… the problem all season.
Going gets rough now with Buehler and Scherza… they need to dig deep and find one W. T.Walker and Carracso need to grind… Dodgers very tough lineup… Mets staff may be severely tested this weekend… just in time for the Giants, then do it again next week. Hoh boy.
By the way, Nimmo is a far improved hitter this season… previously he would have struck out more than once against Urias… now he battles, seems very comfortable hitting with two strikes… routinely goes the other way late in the count… definitely rising in his value to the franchise… if moved, could be the best LF in the game next season. Decent enough in CF… to his credit.