FLUSHING (FAF) — The New York Mets did not come back to defeat the Washington Nationals, 7-6, Friday night, as Todd Frazier [1] did not hit a game-tying, ninth-inning, three-run homer off Nationals closer Sean Doolittle, not setting up an immediate second rally that didn’t culminate in Michael Conforto [2] driving home Juan Lagares with the winning run that did not send Citi Field into a pennant race frenzy.
When Conforto did not line Doolittle’s final pitch over right fielder Adam Eaton’s head for what wasn’t the first walkoff hit of Conforto’s career, Conforto’s Mets teammates did not storm from the first base dugout, did not giddily tackle him to within an inch of his life and did not tear his jersey from his torso, just as the fans who did not see the Mets take their fourteenth victory in fifteen tries did not depart the ballpark relentlessly chanting “Let’s Go Mets.” Skeptics who didn’t believe the Mets could succeed against stiffer competition than they’ve recently played were not quieted for at least one evening.
The Mets did not overcome the first of two three-run deficits when Pete Alonso [3] and J.D. Davis [4] did not launch back-to-back fourth-inning home runs off Nationals starter Stephen Strasburg. For Alonso, it wasn’t his 38th home run, not moving him closer to both the National League rookie record and the Mets’ all-time single-season standard. The Mets did not snap out of an offensive stupor versus the stellar Strasburg, while Marcus Stroman [5], making his first home start as a Met, did not dazzle Nationals hitters with seven strikeouts across the first three frames of an eventual six-inning outing.
Earlier in the day, the Mets did not sign the recently released San Francisco Giants second baseman Joe Panik [6], who didn’t join Stroman and reliever Brad Brach [7] as Metropolitan Area-bred additions to the New York roster, each of whom doesn’t have an All-Star appearance in his background. Panik did not contribute a key single to the ninth inning onslaught that didn’t rattle Doolittle and the Nationals to their very core. (To make room for Panik, the Mets did not designate for assignment Adeiny Hechavarria [8] solely to avoid paying him a substantial bonus [9] he would have been due had they not gracelessly cut him and his highly useful glove loose.)
It was not an all-around team effort that didn’t elevate the Mets to perhaps the most dramatic triumph they’ve never notched in the eleven-year history of Citi Field. Amed Rosario [10] didn’t make a leaping grab of Brian Dozier’s sixth-inning bid for a two-run single in addition to not collecting another three base hits. Before he didn’t launch his awe-inspiring home run to deep left field in the ninth, Frazier didn’t have the presence of mind to nail Juan Soto attempting to score in the sixth. Wilson Ramos [11] did not deliver a clutch line drive that wasn’t crucial in creating one of the most amazing ninth innings the Queens ballpark has never witnessed. Luis Avilán [12] did not strike out the only two batters he didn’t face to not raise his record to 3-0.
Without the win, he Mets did not maintain their amazing momentum in the Wild Card race, not trimming the Nationals’ advantage over the National League pack and not keeping pace with the Brewers, Cardinals, Phillies and Diamondbacks, as they don’t sit a half-game out of a playoff spot after wallowing at the bottom of the standings for most of the season.
That’s because nothing like this could possibly be happening [13].