Saturday night’s game between the Mets and Reds was one of those close affairs you’re not sure whether to call taut or merely indifferent. The Mets harried Andrew Abbott [1] but couldn’t inflict substantial damage on him; the Reds tormented Tylor Megill [2] but couldn’t put him away either. For the second game in a row, matters turned on a two-run blast by a Red — Jonathan India [3] last night, the prodigiously monikered Christian Encarnacion-Strand [4] tonight.
Though this time the margin was tighter, and so if you were feeling masochistic you could look to a misplay featuring a pair of Baby Mets: Francisco Alvarez [5] loves to make snap throws to the bases, and Ronny Mauricio [6] either didn’t get the memo or couldn’t read it quite fast enough. Alvarez’s throw sailed down the third-base line, TJ Friedl [7] scampered home, and in the end the Mets lost by a run [8].
Lost, but hey, it’s garbage time. Megill was out there working on things, just like David Peterson [9] was the night before, and those lessons may prove fruitful in some better season down the line. Mauricio got some time at third — albeit with some bruises — and his bat still looks live. Alvarez had a fine game at the plate, which shouldn’t be overlooked in the closing weeks of a season that’s taxed him physically and mentally as never before.
And your recapper spent the afternoon and early evening in a house without power, courtesy of the winds of Hurricane Lee blasting by to the east of Maine. Besides bringing down a critical power line somewhere, those winds felled a big pine that settled across the dirt road to the house.
As an ax wielder, I’m a heckuva blogger. Still, this unanticipated mission was eventually accomplished, and though I braced for a couple of nights of eating Pop-Tarts in the dark, the power kicked back on right after 7 pm, just in time for baseball.
Losing a meaningless game to the Reds? Not really so bad.