Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it.
For at least the fifth time this year, Buck Showalter opted to send back a middle reliever when he didn’t have to, just to get the platoon advantage against a non-elite hitter. Joely Rodriguez got the last out of the eighth inning and Adam Ottavino was ready to pitch the ninth. But because the immortal Brendan Donovan was coming up, Showalter left Rodriguez in the game. Donovan walked and eventually scored the winning run, giving the Cardinals a split of the doubleheader.
The Mets had 1-0 and 2-1 leads in the game but Taijuan Walker surrendered both of those short leads. He gave up two extra-base hits in the fifth inning and was lucky only to give up two runs. But that put the Mets on the short side of a 3-2 score.
But in the eighth inning, the Mets tied the score, as Jeff McNeil singled to left field to drive home Francisco Lindor. The Mets caught two breaks in the inning. The first was a foul ball down the left field line that dropped between two fielders, extending Lindor’s AB. He eventually drew a walk. The second was the catcher having a passed ball on what should have been an inning-ending strike three to Eduardo Escobar, putting Lindor in scoring position.
That set up Showalter for the Perverse Platoon Ploy, which blew up in his face. Again.
In the first game the Mets got a big boost from Trevor Williams. In his first start this year, Williams was thrown into a no-win situation and got bombed in two innings. This time he delivered four scoreless innings. The radar gun said 92 for his fastball but it looked like it had more life than that.
He was followed by Jake Reed, who had a white-knuckle first inning but emerged from it without any runs. Showalter sent Reed back for a second inning and It was like a different pitcher, as he mowed the Cardinals down in the sixth.
Meanwhile, the Mets batters had some really good swings, with Lindor, Escobar and Dominic Smith all putting better ABs together than they’ve had in a long time. And McNeil continued to have good trips to the plate.
Smith had a leadoff single and scored the first run of the game in the second inning. In the third, McNeil doubled in Lindor and Smith doubled in McNeil to put the Mets up, 3-0.
Drew Smith gave up a solo homer in the eighth inning to Paul Goldschmidt and Edwin Diaz put on two runners in the ninth. But overall, the first game was excellent for Showalter and the pen, as the relievers gave 5 IP and allowed just 1 R.
The win in the opener came on the heels of Sunday’s loss and it raised the Mets’ record to games immediately following a setback to a remarkable 12-1. Tough to have losing streaks with that type of bounceback effort.
Didn’t see much of either game, but turned it on in the ninth just in time to see Escobar not look the ball into his glove so he couldn’t find the handle and the go ahead run scored. Kind of a payback for Arrenado’s error a few weeks back. Speaking of Arrenado, it was real cool to see Ottavino strike him out in the ninth for the second out. Clutch pitching by “O” until a check swing by a fooled hitter couldn’t be handled by Escobar.
Consecutive losses now that the Mets had runners in scoring position with one out in the ninth and two guys struck out in a row to end the game. Ten years is a long time, but in year one Lindor’s bat has developed a hole in it…
If Nimmo is out for a while, I’d like to see Davis playing more… even in right field and put Marte in the middle. This team is slumping offensively.
The Cardinals tried to give the Mets game two, but they couldn’t take it. When teams try to give away games, great teams pounce on it.
Our catchers are like having a pitcher hit. Looking forward to Alvarez coming up.
The Mets tied the game because of a passed ball on Escobar’s strikeout followed by Jeff McNeil’s single. Ironically, it was Nido’s passed ball that allowed Donovan to get to third so that he was in a position to score on the “infield single” by St. Louis’ O’Neill.
Gut Reaction : they had the opportunity to sweep but had to settle for a split. In their last two losses they had opportunity to tie or when in the ninth inning but 2 batters struck out instead of making contact. That is troublesome.
Yes, the perverse platoon ploy strikes again.
Escobar, Smith and Davis are not contributing. There are signs that they’re breaking out. If they don’t start hitting within 2 weeks then the Mets should explore bringing in a bat for their lineup.
Eppler a good move when he identified Megill, Peterson and Williams for depth starters. The three could be a fifth starter in the majority of teams in the MLB. Good job.
Old school baseball men are stubborn, and Buck may be no exception. The more his PPP doesn’t work, the deeper he might dig in his heels. I sincerely hope he doesn’t. Clearly Brian’s assertion and stats to back them up that suggest the PPP is a bad move have gotta reach Buck and Hefner as well. Bullpen looking vulnerable too often.
It’s still early and most things have worked out well and some things not so well. Falling into the latter category, the PPP has to be phased out of Buck’s go-to-moves. I trust he wants to win more than he needs to be right.
Two games now where a simple safety squeeze ties the game… just sayin’… The offense is slumping… JD looked bad against a mediocre LHer, Lindor still terribly erratic, Pete on a minor chase-fest, Jankowski needs to square something up. But seasons are like this… always some players down while others carry the day. Nimmo, Canha, McNeil, LouieG holding on, but we need a few guys to step it up.