I suppose every good party is followed by a helluva hangover.
The Mets drew within half a game of the Braves with an unlikely victory Thursday night, passed them in the standings with an absolute beatdown on Friday … and then reality set in. Saturday was Spencer Schwellenbach muzzling them, whoever he was. And Sunday … well.
Sunday started off as a carbon copy of Saturday’s game, as David Peterson looked unbeatable early and then very beatable in the middle innings. But it came with the added frustration of the Mets forgetting how to hit with runners in scoring position.
Francisco Lindor led off the first with a single … and was erased on a double play.
Pete Alonso led off the second with a double … and was still there after a lineout and a pair of Ks.
Tyrone Taylor led off the third with a double … and managed to get to third, but no further.
Leadoff doubles are gimme runs — a ground ball behind the runner and a deep enough flyout and you’ve got a run without the benefit of another hit. Though “another hit” is always a good strategy.
The Mets couldn’t manage either, until the fifth. Already down 4-0, Taylor led off with another double. This time, Ben Gamel bucked the trend with a single, with Taylor sent home instead of held at third. Aggressive, but Ramon Laureano hadn’t made a play all weekend. Guess what? He made this one, throwing Taylor out at home and making it crystal-clear that this wasn’t going to be our day.
And indeed it wasn’t. Ryne Stanek‘s debut … you know what, let’s draw a discreet curtain across it as a welcome gift for the second-newest Met. Jesse Winker made his debut, as well, and didn’t give up any runs (yay!) but then that’s because he was pinch-hitting and struck out (oh). Not that sending Winker to the mound could have made things much worse.
And so the Mets wound up back where they started before their long weekend’s adventure, older and perhaps warier. They look a little different now; they’ll probably look a little more different by the end of the week. They could use another starter and one gets the feeling they’ll secure one.
They could also use a time machine, should David Stearns find one on blocks in a rival executive’s front yard.
Did you see the video of Peterson coming off the mound in the 4th inning with his left, pitching hand shaking like an involuntary palsy? That’s the inning he lost it. Then he pitched fine again in the 5th inning, like he did in the 1st 3 innings. Peterson said he asked to pitch the 6th after his strong 5th and that he’s okay, but I hope that gets checked out.
Ryne Stanek made a 1st impression like Mychal Givens’s in 2022. It’s easy to forget that, according to his 2022 game log, Givens mostly posted zeroes after his ugly 1st outing. Hopefully Stanek got it out of his system in a game the Mets weren’t going to win anyway by the time he came in, and he’ll be a fireman the rest of the way.
3-1 would have been a success. I can chalk up Saturday to an opposing pitcher on his game and Megill being Megill. They should have won Sunday. 2-2 isn’t a disaster, though. They ended the series holding onto a wildcard at least.
The Braves made a statement that just because they’re injured and they’ve stumbled into the wildcard scrum, they’re not going to give up and drop out of the race. It sucks to lose Senga the rest of the way after he tantalized us with bonafide ace stuff for 5 innings. But it’s not like the Braves haven’t been losing their top starters. They may have lost Lopez, too. (And yes, finding out that Lopez was pitching hurt makes the failure to score off him all the more frustrating.)
“They could use another starter and one gets the feeling they’ll secure one.”
If that doesn’t come from outside or the minors, I hope Butto gets a shot at starting while Megill replaces him in the Lugo role that seems like Megill’s proper role. Butto has been vital and excelled in the Lugo role, but the Mets need another starter who’s not Megill, and Butto deserves the opportunity. If it doesn’t work out, then switch them back.
My impression of Stanek yesterday was that his inning was very Diekman-like. Then Diekman comes in and produces another Diekman-like inning. And Pete’s home run was not worthy of an OMG, only a BFD.
For the last 2 games, OMG was pronounced “Oh. My. God.”
Iglesias didn’t bring his bat to the 2-hole.
Diekman finally DFA’d.
He had a moment of glory when he struck out Judge, but he reverted to type vs Atlanta.
Too bad, as Diekman seemed to have potential earlier in the season.
Come on David. I was just starting to trust you again. Shake that left hand just a bit harder next time, OK?
All that and another clutch home run by the soon-to-be free agent…