Executive Summary
deGrom dealt. De Aza, d’Arnaud dingered. Mets 7, Yankees 1.
Discussion and Analysis
New and controversial acquisition Jay Bruce debuted in right field, batting third. He popped out to left field, grounded to first and struck out looking twice. Of course, Bruce was not acquired for his bat, but instead to inspire the Mets to greatness, as he admirably did last night. Michael Conforto looked particularly rejuvenated, driving two balls hard the other way as he did so many times down the stretch last season. Perhaps Bruce and Conforto can coexist in Citi Field’s greenspace.
Jacob deGrom was wonderful. He struck out eight in seven innings, allowing merely four hits and one walk. Displaying his trademark athleticism, deGrom also singled to left field in the bottom of the third, tallying the Mets’ first baserunner against Masahiro Tanaka. Then Alejandro De Aza, who was selected by random lot to play center field, turned on a hanging Tanaka splitter and lined it over the right field fence for a home run. deGrom’s trip around the bases didn’t hurt his pitching performance; he retired 12 in a row from the second through the sixth, striking out the side in the fifth. Mark Teixeira broke the streak with a double to left, but deGrom retired Brian McCann and Didi Gregorius to end the threat. deGrom even hit a five-hop single up the middle in the seventh to knock Tanaka out of the box.
When Tanaka left the game down 5-0, so did Terry Collins’s senses. The Yankees brought in a lefty to relieve Tanaka given that De Aza was up. Rather than appreciate the opportunity for De Aza to take a pressure-free plate appearance against a southpaw, Terry called on Yoenis Cespedes to pinch hit. The same Cespedes who’s been removed from several games and missed several more with a strained quad muscle. The same one who will likely DH during the upcoming interleague games played in American League parks. Collins must have been watching with a clenched sphincter when Cespedes smoked a grounder that bounced off Starlin Castro’s glove at second base, forcing Cespedes to run hard to beat out the late throw. Collins immediately instructed Curtis Granderson to pinch-run. I finally understand what it must have been like for Texas Rangers fans to watch Ron Washington all those years.
New-old Met Jon Niese finished up the final two innings after deGrom departed. His performance hearkened back to classic Niese appearances, which you may recall for qualities like “base on balls” and “hanging curveball hit for home run.” But why re-acquire Niese if you can’t throw him for two innings in a 7-0 blowout?
In any event, it’s lovely to see the Mets thoroughly dominate their cross-town rivals. Let’s not forget, however, that the post-trade-deadline Yankees have given up on the 2016 season. The Mets must win these games if they have any hope of reaching the playoffs.
Contemporaneous Thoughts
By peripherals alone, Addison Reed is having the best #Mets relief season of all time. pic.twitter.com/txahLlVj1Y
— Scott D. Simon (@scottdsimon) August 3, 2016
GKR-isms
“It’s not often you get eight guys on the transaction list all in the same day.” — Gary
“Isn’t it interesting the Mets have all of these outfielders, and yet De Aza now is getting the most playing time.” — Gary
“Is there any less baseball-passionate town than Atlanta?” — Gary, nearly sweeping today’s GKR-isms
“It will make you grimace, quiver and quake.” — Keith, on fouling a ball off one’s shin
Coda
The Mets remain at least two games out of the second wild card, but they get to start Steven Matz against the Yanks’ TBD in the Bronx tonight. Advantage: Metropolitans.
Photo Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports